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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

Sunday, September 17, 2023

Album review: Catrin Finch & Aoife Ni Bhriain – Double You

Catrin Finch (harp); Aoife Ni Bhriain (fiddle, violin, hardanger fiddle)

This album is not jazz but BSH couldn't resist reviewing it anyway. What is genre after all, and this CD has lots of apparent improvisation, repeated riffs, all the same chords as other music. But mostly it's just superb music beautifully performed. If the jazz police jammed a banjo into my back and forced a definition of the music, I'd have to admit it was closer to folk and classical.

Each track on this debut album begins with the letter ‘W’, spoken as 'Double You' and the tracks refer to the parallels that connect these two musicians and their musical affinity. 'W' is the pattern of the waggle dance that bees perform, referred to on track 8.

Most tracks play a delightful repeated riff with variations which then build to a climax and then end calmly and quietly. Instruments often alternate, playing the main riff and a bass line or another variation.

The hardanger fiddle is an entrancing instrument which has extra strings which resound to the main tune being played. I've heard this played live at folk concerts and it really is something great to hear. On some tracks of this album this fiddle gives us an otherworldly ethereal sound.

Wonder is based on a Bach prelude with chords from a Mendelssohn violin concerto; Why is based on traditional tunes from Canada; Wish is a marriage of two harp tunes, the beautiful Give Me Your Hand and The Ash Grove, both tunes familiar to all self-respecting folkies.

Waggle is all about the communication dance that bees do, and the piece is inspired by tango and gypsy jazz as well as improvisation and traditional and classical music.

These two women are both highly accomplished musicians. Ms Finch hails from west Wales and she had passed all the Associated Board Grade examinations for classical harp by age 9 and later took part in the BBC Young Musician of the Year and gained many other distinctions. She was also the first incumbent of the revived position of Royal Harpist.

Ms Ni Bhriain comes from in a suburb of Dublin. Her father played the uilleann pipes and her mother comes from a family of Irish dancers and musicians. She studied music in Leipzig and then managed to play music in both folk and classical styles. She has played violin in leading orchestras whilst also starring in Riverdance. She has since collaborated with electronic music producers and has composed concertos and ballet scores.

This album comes with an informative booklet, partly written in (I think) Welsh and Irish Gaelic and the whole package is a real gem for anyone with wide musical tastes. The CD is available from October 27 as well as in digital and Limited edition 180 gram magenta vinyl LP.

Enquiries to Tamsin Davies tamsin@mwidan.co.uk. See also www.catrinfinch.com. Ann Alex

Whispers; Why; Wonder; Wings; Wandering; Waves; Woven; Waggle; Wish

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