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Bebop Spoken There

Sullivan Fortner: ''I always judge it by the bass player: If the bass player is happy, it's going to be a good night". (DownBeat, February 2025).

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

17805 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 126 of them this year alone and, so far, 51 this month (Feb.16).

From This Moment On ...

February 2025

Tue 18: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Alan Law, Paul Grainger, John Hirst.

Wed 19: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 19: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 19: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 20: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, Holystone. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 20: James Birkett & Emma Fisk @ King’s Hall, Newcastle University. 1:15pm. Free.
Thu 20: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Jazz Milestones - 1975.
Thu 20: Renegade Brass Band @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors).
Thu 20: Orange Claw Hammer + Peony @ The Globe, Newcastle.7:30pm. Orange Claw Hammer play Captain Beefheart.
Thu 20: Jeremy McMurray & the Pocket Jazz Orchestra @ Arc, Stockton. 8:00pm. Featuring special guest Zoë Gilby.

Fri 21: JazzMain @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 21: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 21: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 21: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 21: Joe Steels Trio @ The Pele, Corbridge. 7:00pm. £10.00. TBC.
Fri 21: Emma Rawicz w. Strictly Smokin’ Big Band @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm.

Sat 22: Jason Isaacs @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 12:30-2:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 22: Jason Isaacs @ Seaburn STACK, Seaburn. 3:30pm-5:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 22: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 22: Mississippi MacDonald @ Claypath Deli, Durham. 7:00pm. Blues.
Sat 22: Lindsay Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ Old Cinema Laundrette, Durham. 7:45pm. £16.50. SOLD OUT!
Sat 22: Michael Woods @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Country blues guitar & vocals.

Sun 23: Musicians Unlimited @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 23: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 23: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 23: Mark Williams Trio @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm.
Sun 23: Ruth Lambert Trio @ The Juke Shed, Union Quay, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 23: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 23: Jazz Jam Sandwich! @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 23: Mississippi MacDonald @ Georgian Theatre, Stockton. 3:00pm. Blues.
Sun 23: Mu Quintet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Sun 23: Jazz Jam @ Fabio’s, Saddler St., Durham. 8:00pm. Free. A Durham University Jazz Society promotion. All welcome.

Mon 24: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 24: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 6:30pm. 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, June 27, 2023

Album Review: Louis Stewart & Noel Kelehan - Some Other Blues

Louis Stewart (guitar); Noel Kelehan (piano)

Having been away on a longish trip to Spain I arrived home to find a delightful slice of Irish jazz history awaiting me.

After the reissue last year of Louis Stewarts wonderful 1977 solo album Out On His Own (previously reviewed on BSH), now comes another box of treasure from the musical archive of Gerald Davis, the founder of Irelands first jazz label, Livia Records. With the support of the Davis family, the record label has been reactivated by jazz aficionado Dermot Rogers and clearly he has been enjoying his explorations.

What is thrilling about this second album, Some Other Blues, also recorded in 1977, is that it is not a reissue of a previous record but a recording that has never been available before. And equally exciting is that, as well as Louis Stewart, it features one of the few recordings by another fine Irish jazz musician, pianist Noel Kelehan. Although his first love was always jazz and he led trios, quartets, quintets and big bands, Kelehans career took him into the Irish national radio and TV broadcaster RTE where he was a highly regarded musician, composer, arranger and conductor.

A Greek philosopher once said that you cant step in the same river twice, arguing that life, time (and rivers) were always in flux and changing, but he hadnt heard this record. As a young jazz fan in Dublin I heard these two musicians live in many different combinations and from the first few notes of the first track I was back there again. This is what the best jazz in Dublin in the 1970s sounded like. Superb musicians, enjoying playing together. Happy to play fast without giving the impression they were at the edge. Equally comfortable playing slow ballads and always with lyricism and feeling.

Most of the tracks are up-tempo meaning they vary from fast to warp factor 5 and the notes say that Ill Remember April has a tempo of 285 bpm. I didnt count them but I could hear each note played perfectly. Their version of Singin' in the Rain would leave even the fleet-footed Gene Kelly standing and tracks like You Stepped Out of a Dream and Minority demonstrate the two musicians virtuosity.

It is good to hear one of Kelehans own compositions, a slower tempo ballad I Only Have Time to Say I Love You and with the Tadd Dameron tune If You Could See me Now and the title track, Coltranes Some Other Blues, a rich diversity is added to the mix.

One of the excellent features of the albums issued by the (new) Livia records is that they are beautifully produced with highly informative booklets written by people with considerable jazz expertise. In this case Ronan Guilfoyle, an educator and bass player who played for a long period with Stewart and also with Noel Kelehan, describes the harmonic intricacies of particular tracks which illustrate Kelehans arranging abilities with chord-rich playing and multiple key changes and provide a perfect match to Stewart's effortless playing. For me his description of the musical techniques Kelehan and Stewart display certainly added to my enjoyment of the album.

As Guilfoyle writes it is extraordinary that Some Other Blues has taken more than 46 years to see the light of day. One can only wonder what other musical gems Livia Records are currently polishing up and I for one cant wait! (definitely not for another 46 years, anyway). JC

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