Bebop Spoken There

Melissa Aldana: ''Having to play a ballads album, which is something very revealing for a saxophone player, would help me to question some new aspects of how to go deeper into sound." (DownBeat May, 2026)

The Things They Say!

This is a good opportunity to say thanks to BSH for their support of the jazz scene in the North East (and beyond) - it's no exaggeration to say that if it wasn't for them many, many fine musicians, bands and projects across a huge cross section of jazz wouldn't be getting reviewed at all, because we're in the "desolate"(!) North. (M & SSBB on F/book 23/12/24)

Postage

18621 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 485 of them this year alone and, so far this month (June 14) 37

Reviewers wanted

Whilst BSH attempts to cover as many gigs, festivals and albums as possible, to make the site even more comprehensive we need more 'boots on the ground' to cover the albums seeking review - a large percentage of which never get heard - report on gigs or just to air your views on anything jazz related. Interested? then please get in touch. Contact details are on the blog. Look forward to hearing from you. Lance

From This Moment On

June

Wed 24: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 24: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 24: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 25: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Millstone, Mill Rise, South Gosforth, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 25: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £5.00. Subject: Forgotten Ones & Any Quintets.
Thu 25: Edgar Ho Trio @ Newcastle Arts Centre. 7:30pm. Free. Brilliant alto sax, piano & double bass trio. Unmissable!
Thu 25: Paul Skerritt @ Angels' Share, St George's Terrace, Jesmond, Newcastle NE2 2SX. 8:00pm. Free. Booking advised (0191 200 1975). Skerritt w. backing tapes.

Fri 26: Finn-Keeble Group @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. £9:00.
Fri 26: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 26: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 26: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 26: Clark Tracey @ Live Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Newcastle Jazz Festival. £26.00. Day 1/2.

Sat 27: OUTRI @ Live Theatre, Newcastle. 1:00pm. £13.01. 1:00-1:45pm. Newcastle Jazz Festival. Day 2/2.
Sat 27: Tees Bay Swing Band @ Richardson & Westgarth Sport & Social Club, Hartlepool. 1:30pm. Free. Open rehearsal. Note change of venue.
Sat 27: House of the Black Gardenia + Magpies of Swing @ The Cumberland Arms, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sat 27: Mark Toomey Quartet @ Live Theatre, Newcastle. 2:15-3:15pm. £13.01. Newcastle Jazz Festival. Day 2/2.
Sat 27: Alexia Gardner Quintet @ Live Theatre, Newcastle. 3:45-4:45pm. £13.01. Newcastle Jazz Festival. Day 2/2.
Sat 27: Rory Ingham @ Live Theatre, Newcastle. 5:30-6:30pm. £19.51. Newcastle Jazz Festival. Day 2/2. Ingham w. Dean Stockdale, Ian Paterson, Dave McKeague.
Sat 27: Castillo Nuevo Trio @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 5:30pm. Free.
Sat 27: Laura Jurd @ Live Theatre, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £26.00. Newcastle Jazz Festival. Day 2/2. Sat 27: Brass Fiesta @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 10:30pm. Free.

Sun 28: Musicians Unlimited: Big Band Blast @ West Hartlepool RFC. 1:00-3:00pm . Free.
Sun 28: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 28: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Table reservations (0191 261 8000). Skerritt w. backing tapes.
Sun 28: Tim Kliphuis Trio @ St Mary’s Church, Wooler. 3:00pm. £18.00., £6.00. A Wooler Arts Summer Concerts event. Tim Kliphuis (violin); Nigel Clark (guitar); Roy Percy (double bass).
Sun 28: Ruth Lambert Trio @ Juke Shed, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 28: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 28: An Evening of Jazz @ St James’ Church, Copper Chare, Morpeth. 7:30pm. Tickets: £10.00 from 01670 788869 or 01670 519923. Mid Northumberland Chorus (MD Robin Forbes, Emma Straughan, piano) w. jazz trio featuring Edgar Ho, Oscar Ho & Dave McKeague & special guest Emily Masser. Performance inc. Bob Chilcott’s A Little Jazz Mass + George Shearing’s Songs & Sonnets.
Sun 28: Led Bib @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £15.00., £12.00. JNE.

Mon 29: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 30: Alan Law Trio @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 2:00pm. Free.
Tue 30: Eva Fox & the Sound Hounds @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thursday, March 02, 2023

Wayne Shorter (August 25, 1933 - March 2, 2023)

The sad news is out that Wayne Shorter passed away earlier today. One of the major innovators of the post hard bop school via his work with Miles, Weather Report and his own various quartets he became the keeper of the flame sparked by Coltrane whilst maintaining his own identity.

I saw him but the once - at a 2013 London Jazz Festival concert at the Barbican where he defied his then 80 years with a memorable first set performance. The second set saw him with the BBC Concert Orchestra which, despite his playing, paled by comparision. 

Still the memory of that first set will remain with me until I join him. In the meantime, I've the albums with Blakey, Miles, his legendary Blue Note album Speak No Evil and my own favourite  Without a Net to remember him by. The latter title absolutely sums up his playing.

Rest In Peace. Lance

7 comments :

Russell said...

I was lucky enough to hear Wayne twice with Weather Report and, on another occasion, at the long-since closed Riverside on Melbourne Street in Newcastle where he appeared with his band featuring a young Cyrus Chestnut on piano.

Steve T said...

Many years ago I had a video about Trane which featured Wayne saying people in the audience used to shout to him 'go ahead young young John Coltrane'. Nowadays people are more likely to say the Second Great Quintet are the greatest small jazz group ever though - with apologies to Maestro Ellington - I'd happily omit the word small. Other members of the band were increasingly writing music for this band and particularly Wayne Shorter and I suspect this was why Miles started sub-titling the albums 'Directions in Music by Miles Davis.'

While he undoubtably took a back seat in Weather Report from album three onwards allowing Maestro Zawinul to forge ahead, this was one of two bands virtually everybody agrees were the greatest in the whole of Jazz/Funk/Rock/Fusion. Prior to both Shorter was one of the greatest Jazz Messenger of all and had an illustrious solo career throughout.

I too was at that gig at the Barbican and I'm guessing Lance was also tempted by the Sonny Rollins gig the following night which ended up being cancelled. I think it's fair to say he liked it more than me; the first set was okay, it was fine, though he didn't contribute much, but I didn't even last the whole of the second set. He didn't need to perform with an orchestra to be a 'serious' musician and composer.

Recently I read somewhere that there used to be an all but official acceptance that Jazz had produced a magnificent seven jazz tenor players. With apologies to Mr Getz, I find it unthinkable that such a list wouldn't now include Wayne Shorter.

Anonymous said...

Stan Getz was in the top 7 and not Wayne? Messed up

Steve T said...

I think this Magnificent Seven was devised before Wayne, or at least before lots of Wayne.

Anonymous said...

Still the fact that Stan Getz would get a mention is nothing more than institutionalised racism quite frankly ...
Trane , Joe Henderson, Dexter, sonny, coleman Hawkins , Ben Webster , Lester Young, Hank Mobley ,
Getz isn't realistically in the top 20 let alone top 7

Bill Monty said...

Racism works two ways as your list shows. Stan Getz should be on anyone's list along with Tubby Hayes.

Anonymous said...

Even if your favourites are Tubby Hayes and Stan Getz, you still can’t have them above Trane, Wayne, Joe, Dexter, Hank Mobley, Lester Young, Ben Webster, Coleman Hawkins, Benny Golson , Sonny . It’s not racist to say that. It’s black American music - the greats of the music are in the whole not white and not English so ,to include either Getz or Hayes over Wayne is very offensive. It’s ok to be more into them in terms of taste but not at all in terms of importance to the black art form that is jazz.
Trane

Sonny
Dexter Gordon
Sonny Rollins
Wayne Shorter
Joe Henderson
Lester Young
Coleman Hawkins
Hank Mobley
Ben Webster

I challenge anyone to swap any of these artists with a white tenor player in terms of importance to the lineage, with a reason that is more than just personal taste.

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