Total Pageviews

Bebop Spoken There

Steve Coleman: ''If you don't keep learning, your mind slows down. Use it or lose it''. (DownBeat, January 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

17733 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 53 of them this year alone and, so far, 53 this month (Jan. 20).

From This Moment On ...

January 2025

Wed 22: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 22: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 22: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 22: Pasadena Roof Orchestra @ Fire Station, Sunderland. 7:30pm.

Thu 23: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, Holystone. 1:00pm. Free. Fortnightly.
Thu 23: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Obituaries 2024.
Thu 23: Jason Isaacs @ St James’ STACK, Newcastle. 4:30-6:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Thu 23: Pedal Point Trio @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Fri 24: Zoë Gilby Quartet @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 24: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 24: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 24: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 24: Creakin’ Bones & the Sunday Dinners @ Lindisfarne Social Club, Wallsend. 9:00pm. Admission: TBC. Jazz, blues , jump jive, rock ‘n’ roll.

Sat 25: Boys of Brass @ St James’ STACK, Newcastle. 3:30-5:30pm. Free.
Sat 25: New '58 Jazz Collective @ Jackson's Wharf, Hartlepool. 6:30pm (doors). Free. A Burns' Night event. Jazz, swing, funk, soul, blues etc.
Sat 25: Edison Herbert Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 25: Red Kites Jazz @ Parish Hall, St Barnabas’ Church, Rowlands Gill. 7:30pm. £10.00. BYOB (tea & coffee available), raffle. Proceeds to St Barnabas’ Church. Performance feat. Shayo (vocals).
Sat 25: Jack & Jay’s Songbook @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 26: Musicians Unlimited @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: Graham Hardy Eclectic Quartet @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm.
Sun 26: Ruth Lambert Trio @ The Juke Shed, Union Quay, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: Jazz Jam Sandwich! @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 26: Tweed River Jazz Band @ Barrels Ale House, Berwick-upon-Tweed. 7:30pm. Free.
Sun 26: Gratkowski, Tramontana, Beresford, Affifi @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.00. JNE.
Sun 26: Jazz Jam @ Fabio’s, Saddler St., Durham. 8:00pm. Free. A Durham University Jazz Society promotion. All welcome.

Mon 27: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 28: ???

Wed 29: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 29: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 29: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).

Thu 30: Matters Unknown (aka Jonathan Enser, Nubiyan Twist) + support TBA @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm (7:00pm doors). £12.22 (gig & food); £9:04 (gig only).
Thu 30: Soznak @ The Mill Tavern, Hebburn. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 30: Struggle Buggy @ Harbour View, Roker, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Rhythm & blues.

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

Wednesday, June 21, 2023

Sunday night @ the Globe: Graham Costello’s Strata - June 18 (take two)

(© Ken Drew)
Graham Costello (drums); Fergus McCreadie (piano); Harry Weir (tenor sax, bass clarinet); Kevin Cahill (guitar); Gus Stirrat (electric bass)

Judging by the size of the audience downstairs at the Globe (~65 plus a few standing) expectations were high. Having seen Stirrat and Costello as part of Animal Society (led by Joe Williamson on guitar) at the Bridge in March 2020 (remembered as a highly energetic performance, and the last by JNE before Lockdown) along with McCreadie's energy and increasingly wide reputation added to the mix, along with Weir and Cahill (both new to me) I was sure that the sum of the parts would surely create some fireworks. 

Well, it did to some extent, but from a purist jazzer's point of view it was lacking in available spaces for individuals to step forward and focus on their own contribution. Once I realised that this was a new band/combination (to me) and they were promoting their new release Obelisk I settled into enjoying the overall sound being produced. 


I won't distinguish between the two sets, both were uninterrupted with segues between the ever changing mood and intensity of each part. I actually found it was a welcome surprise since overall it provided a more immersive feel to the ever-flowing, slowly changing rhythms and an overall immersive soundscape. 


The driving force was certainly the bandleader/composer Costello on drums, semi-hidden by the kit which included a spiral  'trash effect' cymbal, together with Stirrat on electric bass. Together they provided much of the driving force behind the strongly rhythmic sections. Both sets started quietly gradually gaining volume and complexity, taking us on a slowly developing sonic journey, morphing with near-repetition many times throughout. 


(© Ken Drew)
The accompanying photos also depict the dichotomy between individual and overall band performance. The colour photo, with no thanks to the harsh red and blue stage lighting which are tricky to expose and difficult to appreciate, but in black & white they buzz and somehow convey a sense of mood and energy which was there all the time.

So, an overall great night of music, of wider range and style than was anticipated. But I, like many I spoke to, went home happy to have experienced  Strata live.  Plus, there was a bonus for anyone able to listen to Jazz FM on their way home - at 10:45 they played  The Colossus  from their second album (2021).  This gave me the impetus to look further into their background and output since forming in 2016, and I strongly recommend people do just that. 


Costello's Bandcamp page states: 'I love minimalism, human repetition, improvisation, and cyclic grooves' and says 'Second Lives spans Reichian minimalism, semi-free jazz à la Binker and Moses, polyrhythmic math rock, and pensive, cinematic ambience.'   If only I'd read that first to save me discovering it during the performance and changing my expectations.  Enthralling stuff! Ken Drew

at

No comments :

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments ( Atom )

Blog Archive