Bebop Spoken There

Ron Carter quoting Sonny Rollins: ''What we call jazz - that's keeping the world in equilibrium. I don't care what kind of music you like out here today. It all comes from jazz.'' (DownBeat August, 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

18799 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 663 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Aug. 12) 32.

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

August

Sat 15: Tees Bay Swing Band @ Blacksmith’s Arms, Hartlepool. 1:30pm. Free. Open rehearsal.
Sat 15: Jake Leg Jug Band @ The White Room, Stanley. 7:45pm. £16.26.

Sun 16: Vintage Explosion @ Cliffe Park, Roker, Sunderland SR6 8DB. 5:00-10:30pm. £44.00 (inc. bf).

Mon 17: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 18: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Joe Steels, Paul Grainger, Abbie Finn.

Wed 19: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 19: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 20: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Millstone, Mill Rise, South Gosforth, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 20: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £5.00.
Thu 20: Edson Angus Quartet @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Thu 20: Paul Skerritt @ Angels' Share, St George's Terrace, Jesmond, Newcastle NE2 2SX. 8:00pm. Free. Booking advised (0191 200 1975). Skerritt w. backing tapes.

Fri 21: Andrzej Baranek Trio @ The Lit & Phil. 1:00pm. £8.00. Andrzej Baranek (piano); Josh Cavanagh-Brierley (double bass); Dave Walsh (drums). SOLD OUT!
Fri 21: David Gray Flextet @ Sunderland Minster. 7:30pm. Old Black Cat Jazz Club.
Fri 21: Errol Linton & His Band + Michael Littlefield & Scott Taylor @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. Excellent blues double bill.

Thursday, December 21, 2023

Album review: The Palomar Trio - The Song in Our Soul

Dan Levinson (clarinet, tenor sax); Mark Shane (piano); Kevin Dorn  (drums)

In 1933 these would probably have been among my records of the year had I or the musicians been born back then. Fast forward ninety years, records have become albums or those other Johnny-cum-lately things and bands rarely record without a bassist in their midst.

Nevertheless, if you are thinking of calling this dated you are, even unintentionally, putting musicians such as Bud Freeman, Benny Goodman, Teddy Wilson into the same bag.

Would you describe a string quartet playing Mozart or the RSC doing Hamlet in similar terms? I think not.

Unlike string quartets who do their best to faultlessly interpret Amadeus' compositions, the Palomar Trio (named after Goodman's 1935 breakthrough at the Palomar Ballroom in Los Angeles) take the conception and put their own stamp on it and, if not bringing it into the 21st century, they certainly bring it a lot closer than one might have expected. 

All three musicians are totally dedicated to the swing era and it shows!

This is the kind of jazz that would turn any session into a party, particularly down Whitley Bay way... Lance

Available on Turtle Bay Records.

Keep a Song in Your Soul; Delta Bound; In a Shanty in Old Shanty Town; Wake Up! Chill'un, Wake Up! El Radio Scuffle; Roses in December; It's Been so Long; The Day You Came Along; Rompin' in '44; Sweetheart O' Mine; River, Stay 'Way From my Door

No comments :

Blog Archive