Bebop Spoken There

Donovan Haffner ('Best Newcomer' 2025 Parliamentary Jazz Awards): ''I got into jazz the first time I picked up a saxophone!" - Jazzwise Dec 25/Jan 26

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

18122 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 1086 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Dec. 31), 100

From This Moment On ...

JANUARY 2026

Wed 07: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 07: FILM: Blue Moon @ The Forum Cinema, Hexham. 2:00pm. Dir. Richard Linklater’s biopic of Lorenz Hart.
Wed 07: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 07: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 08: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £5.00. Subject: Jazz Milestones of 1976.

Fri 09: The House Trio @ Bishop Auckland Methodist Church. 1:00pm. £9.00.
Fri 09: Nauta @ Jesmond Library, Newcastle. 1:00pm. £5.00. Trio: Jacob Egglestone, Jamie Watkins, Bailey Rudd.
Fri 09: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 09: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 09: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 09: Warren James & the Lonesome Travellers @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm. £15.00.
Fri 09: The Blue Kings @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £10.00. (£8.00. adv.). All-star band.

Sat 10: Mark Toomey Quintet @ St Peter’s Church, Stockton-on-Tees. 7:30pm. £12.00. (inc. pie & peas). Tickets from: 07749 255038.

Sun 11: New ’58 Jazz Collective @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 11: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 11: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 11: Eva Fox & the Sound Hounds @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 12: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 12: Saltburn Big Band @ Saltburn House Hotel. 7:00-9:00pm. Free.

Tue 13: Milne Glendinning Band @ Newcastle House Hotel, Rothbury. 7:30pm. £11.00. Coquetdale Jazz.
Tue 13: Jazz Jam Sandwich @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

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

Tuesday, May 09, 2023

SNJO unites east and west, ancient and modern in World of the Gods

(© Derek Clark)

(Press release) The Scottish National Jazz Orchestra unites Orient with Occident and a 2000-year-old musical tradition with contemporary improvisation in World of the Gods, which tours to Greenock, Perth and Edinburgh in late May.

Composed by SNJO artistic director Tommy Smith and incorporating traditional Japanese melodies, World of the Gods was first performed in 2010 and brings the orchestra together with the percussive choreography of the Mugenyko Taiko Drummers. 

"I saw a fascinating Taiko drumming documentary full of choreography, sounds of thunder and delicacy, skill, strength, and endurance," says Smith. “But I assumed I’d have to travel to Japan to find genuine Taiko drummers.”

(© Derek Clark)
The reality was quite different. Smith, who lives near Lanark, discovered that the UK's first and only professional Taiko group, Mugenkyo were closer to hand than he could have imagined.

"Although they tour all over the UK and Europe, I was astonished to discover that their Dojo (rehearsal space) is only 5 miles from my house,” says Smith. "They were very excited about working with the SNJO, and in 2010 and 2011, we had two successful tours in Scotland and England with World of the Gods. The audiences loved the spectacle of all these drums and the energy and musicality of Mugenkyo's performances."

Over the past thirty years, Mugenkyo has become synonymous with performances that are strikingly visual and range from industrially powerful rhythms to delicately expressive sequences and have thrilled audiences from Glastonbury to Cork Jazz Festival to the Last Night of the Proms. 

(© Derek Clark)

"World of the Gods is a project we've wanted to return to for some time," says Smith. "So we're looking forward to performing it again. We can justifiably say we'll bring the rumble of thunder but also the sweet fragrance of cherry blossoms in this music." 

The Scottish National Jazz Orchestra with Mugenkyo Taiko Drummers play World of the Gods at Beacon Arts Centre, Greenock, Friday 26th May; Perth Concert Hall, Saturday 27th May; and Queen's Hall, Edinburgh, Sunday 28th May.

at

No comments :

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments ( Atom )

Blog Archive