Bebop Spoken There

Gary Bartz: ''Music is nature's gift to man. It's the only religion. We're living in a terrible era, but what a beautiful thing music is. Look how it brings us together like religion is supposed to; and with no language barriers.'' (Jazzwise September, 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

18918 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 782 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Sept. 18.) 61.

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

September.

Sun 20: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 20: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 2:30pm. Free.
Sun 20: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 20: Tweed River Jazz Band @ Barrels Ale House, Berwick. 7:00pm. Free.

Mon 21: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 21: Lewis Watson Quartet @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. Coltrane centenary.

Tue 22: ???

Wed 23: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 23: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 23: Lewis Watson Quartet @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 7:30pm. A John Coltrane Centenary Concert (b. 23. 09. 1926). SOLD OUT!
Wed 23: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 24: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Millstone, Mill Rise, South Gosforth, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 24: Castillo Nuevo Orquesta @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. £6.50. 7:30pm (doors).
Thu 24: Arun Ghosh @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 8:00pm (7:30pm doors). £21.05. (£22.00. on the door). A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Thu 24: Shalala @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £7.00.

Fri 25: Mark Williams Trio @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. £9.00.
Fri 25: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 25: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 25: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 25: Get the Blessing + Dilettante @ The Cluny (Cluny 2), Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £18.00. + bf. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Fri 25: Jazz Sabbath @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm.

Sat 26: Adam Fairhall & Johnny Hunter: Play Mary Lou Williams @ The Cumberland Arms, Byker, Newcastle. 6:00pm. Free. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Sat 26: John Pope Quintet + Urvashi @ The Cumberland Arms, Byker, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £15.40. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.

Sunday, September 24, 2023

Wailing on the West Coast: Conte Candoli & Lou Levy - West Coast Wailers

Conte Candoli (trumpet); Bill Holman (tenor sax); Lou Levy (piano); Leroy Vinnegar (bass); Lawrence Marable (drums)

West coast jazz has, with the passage of time, become somewhat unfairly labelled as bland and, by inference, considered to be inferior to what was happening on America's east coast or, to be more precise, in NYC during the 1950s.

It wasn't a racial thing as has been suggested - musicians such as Wardell Gray, Dexter Gordon, Sonny Criss and Hampton Hawes were active in L.A. jamming and recording with their white counterparts. And it certainly wasn't a musical thing as musicians such as Art Pepper, Gerry Mulligan and the musicians on this album prove.

Last night, as I looked despairingly at the several crates of CDs I've received for review over the past fifteen years of BSH, most of which I'll never play again and will probably end up in a landfill site, I sought out something to sooth my savaged breast. I closed my eyes and pulled an album from one of the shelves that contain the albums that will never see a landfill site - at least not in my lifetime - and hit on this one from 1955.

It's a beaut! The brothers Candoli were something else. Pete (not present) lit up one of the Herman herds with his spectacular stratospheric trumpet work whilst Conte occupied the jazz trumpet chair with Stan Kenton and it was on Kenton's album Sketches on Standards that I first heard him when he blew a great solo on Pennies From Heaven.

Conte's front line partner in 'the West Coast Wailers', Bill Holman, another ex Kentonite, blows post-Lester tenor with Levy and the rhythm section - and of course Candoli - setting the studio on fire. The whole thing sparkles. The explosive Lover Come Back to me, the easy pace of Jordu and the ballads Lover Man and Flamingo, along with the other tracks have set me on a mission to dig out more albums from the Pacific coast - watch this space. I wish the late Dave Weisser was still with us - what a discussion we could have had...

I erroneously assumed that this record had originally been released on the Contemporary label as so many of the west coast albums were. However, it is actually on the Atlantic label. Lance

Lover Come Back to me; Comes Love; Lover Man; Pete's Alibi; Cheremoya; Jordu; Flamingo; Marcia Lee.

Ps: The whole album can be heard on YouTube.
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