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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

Saturday, November 18, 2023

Album review: The Hamar Concert

Espen Berg (piano).

If not hot then certainly warm on the heels of his first solo piano outing, The Trondheim Concert, which came out in October last year, Berg now releases another album of solo improvisations. Trondheim made it into my personal top two of 2022 and I suspect that The Hamar Concert will finish up near the top of my list this year. Whilst Trondheim had taken 3 years to make it from recording to release, this set took about 370 days as it was recorded around the time that Trondheim was released, though I see from his website that there has been a Nidaros Concert release in between.

On Hamar, as on Trondheim, Berg displays a wonderful, romantic lyricism. The (not so) imaginatively titled first piece Part 1a opens with a sparse waltz as if Berg is trying out the piano. Whilst this piece builds across its six minutes, even when the left hand adds weight there is still a tragic, elegiac melody riding above. It’s a Romeo and Juliet soundtrack, and we know how that ends. By contrast 1b is all weight for its opening section, thumping bass chords dominate proceedings before they fall away and are followed by elegant, wandering musings. The closing section is a mad, whirling chase; a perfect ballet score.

Part 2 is the soundtrack to a dripping spring thaw. More of that lovely, delicate elegance, though, as it develops, something more tragic begins to undermine the mood. The weight of the left hand begins to overwhelm the right before a balance is struck and they play intricately around each other; the right hand melody eventually wins out. It is really lovely stuff. Part 3 is a dramatic highlight. Almost Wagnerian it is full of sound and fury; an engrossing dense deluge of notes that breaks into a dancing film noir soundtrack. (I don’t know if Berg has written any soundtracks. Perhaps, he should.)

Part 4 is the pastoral piece, a perfect accompaniment for wide open Northumberland skies. Tumbling notes, an optimistic melody has a sparse rhythm line beneath which rises up to join the front line. I’ve already used the word ‘Lyrical’ and I wonder if these melodies would suffer or benefit from words to enhance the mood. (I see from his website that he has worked with singer Silje Nergaard - a favourite of mine from when I used to play cassettes in the car - in the past so perhaps she could have a go!).

Part 5 simply confirms what many will suspect from listening to this album, namely that Berg has three hands. It is elegant, dense, stunningly intricate but it is not mechanical or purely craftsmanship. This is rich, emotional music.

Part 6 is a joyful r 'n' b stomper of the old school to which Berg adds his own flourishes. It’s exciting, entertaining and uplifting all at once. Part 7 is more ballet music. There is so much movement and flow in some of these pieces that it is impossible not to think in terms of moving bodies.

He leaves us with another piece that embodies the elegance and delicacy that has featured across the previous hour. It’s a melody of frills over a simple rhythm, and, as with much else on the album is a thing of beauty.

I’m getting to really like Espen Berg and I have a nasty feeling that, as he is so prolific with his trio and various other groupings, it could turn out to be a very expensive addiction, probably requiring another visit to the home storage department at IKEA.

More information about Berg and his various groups and projects (and some good photos) can be found on his WEBSITE. He doesn’t have any solo dates in the UK planned but he is in London for a few days in February next year with Silje Nergaard at Pizza Express so a ticket for that might have to go on my Christmas list. Dave Sayer

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