Bebop Spoken There

David Bailey (photographer): ''When I was 16 I wanted to look like Chet Baker. He was my idol - him and James Dean.'' (Talking Pictures documentary : Four beats to the bar and no cheating April, 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

18469 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 333 of them this year alone and, so far this month (April 27 ) 67

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

April

Wed 29: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 29: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 29: Long/Remon/Zilker @ The Ship Isis, Sunderland. 7:00pm. £10.00. + £1.00. bf. Tom Remon plays Irish folk!
Wed 29: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 29: Hackney Colliery Band @ Alnwick Playhouse. 7:30pm. £25.00.

Thu 30: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £5.00. Subject: International Jazz Day & JANE AGM.
Thu 30: Duke Junction @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £14.00., £12.00., £7.00. Nadim Teimoori (tenor sax); Jeff Hewer (guitar); Martin Longhawn (organ); Steve Hanley (drums). An International Jazz Day event & the 12th anniversary of Newcastle Jazz Co-op acquiring the Globe!

May

Fri 01: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 01: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 01: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 01: Castillo Nuevo Trio @ Hotel Gotham, Newcastle. 5:30pm. Free.
Fri 01: Bede Wind Band + East Coast Swing Band @ Cullercoats Methodist Church. 7:30pm. £10.00. Tickets from: www.ticketsource.com, members of Bede Wind Band & at the door. Memorial concert for Anne-Marie Purvis, who was a member of both ensembles. All proceeds to Tiny Lives Trust.
Fri 01: Louis Louis Louis @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm. £15.00.

Sat 02: Midnite Follies Orchestra @ St Augustine’s Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. £20.00. Darlington New Orleans Jazz Club. All-star line-up.
Sat 02: Knats Masterclass & Jam II @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 1:00-3:00pm. £15.00.
Sat 02: Shannon Pearl + John Pope & John Garner @ Langley Tracks, Langley on Tyne NE47 5LA. 5:30pm (doors). £15.00. + £1.50. bf. ‘Witch-pop’ + Pope & Garner.
Sat 02: Knats + Nauta @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). £17.51., £14.33., £11.16.
Sat 02: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.

Sun 03: Chilcott Jazz Mass @ St George’s Church, Jesmond, Newcastle. 9:30am. Free. Sung communion with Parish Choir (featuring Bob Chilcott’s music). A Jesmond Community Festival event.
Sun 03: Smokin’ Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm. £10.00.
Sun 03: Ian Bosworth Quintet @ Chapel, Middlesbrough. 1:00pm. Free. Feat. guest Mark Toomey (alto sax).
Sun 03: Sax Choir @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 03: Tom Waits for No Man @ Oxygenic, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm (2:30pm doors). Neckties and Boxing Gloves album launch. £14.00 (gig & a CD); £8.00 (gig only).
Sun 03: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 03: NUJO Jazz Jam @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). £3.76.
Sun 03: John Pope & John Garner @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.00., £10.00.

Mon 04: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 04: Pete Tanton’s Cuban Heels @ The Library, South Parade, Whitley Bay. 2:00-4:00pm. Free.
Mon 04: Saltburn Big Band @ Saltburn House Hotel. 7:00-9:00pm. Free.

Tue 05: Leah Kirk (voice): Final Year Music Recital @ The Band Room, Music Studios, Assembly Lane, Newcastle University. 2:30pm. Free, open to the public.
Tue 05: Jenny Baker (voice): Final Year Music Recital @ The Band Room, Music Studios, Assembly Lane, Newcastle University. 4:20pm. Free, open to the public.
Tue 05: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Stu Collingwood (piano); Paul Grainger (double bass); Tim Johnston (drums).
Tue 05: Customs House Big Band @ The Masonic Hall, Ferryhill. 7:30pm. Free.

Sunday, January 28, 2024

Album review: Marshall Gilkes and the WDR Big Band - LifeSongs

LifeSongs is Marshall Gilke's third collaboration as leader with the acclaimed WDR Big Band. The trombonist is no stranger to Germany having spent four years in Cologne working in the ranks of the band. Composer-arranger-conductor-soloist Gilkes reunites once more with his former bandmates to present an album spanning some seventy four minutes. Nine tracks*, seven composed and arranged by Gilkes, alongside All the Pretty Little Horses (traditional) and This Nearly Was Mine (Rodgers and Hammerstein II).

As the album came together Gilkes made the observation: I realized that a lot of the themes for these pieces relate directly to life and what's going on in the world these days. The listener could be forgiven in anticipating a doom-laden exercise. Surprisingly, LifeSongs opens in upbeat fashion with Fresh Start (perhaps referencing a post-lockdown sense of optimism). Gilkes' classy trombone playing sets the tone and for the best part of an hour and a quarter the album bristles with top class ensemble work and a plethora of stunning solo contributions from within the WDR's ranks.

The soloists...variously Johan Hörlén (alto sax, Back in the Groove and All the Pretty Little Horses), Billy Test (piano, Back in the Groove, My Unanswered Prayer and All the Pretty Little Horses), the 'bones of Ludwig Nuss, Raphael Klemm, Andy Hunter and one M. Gilkes on Middle Ground (four 'bones, the album is, after all, Gilkes' project!), Andy Haderer's mellifluous flugelhorn on This Nearly Was Mine, all, without exception, are stellar performers. Gilkes himself shines on Cora's Tune, the composer's brass arrangement could work well in British brass band circles. 

The ensemble's precision playing is no better demonstrated than on Sin Filtro, a Balkan-Spanish dot-reading delight/nightmare. Make that 'delight', the WDR Big Band is more than up to the mark! The listener familiar with the work of the WDR shouldn't hesitate acquiring a copy of Marshall Gilkes' LifeSongs. Russell.                                  
Track listing: Fresh Start; Back in the Groove; Cora's Tune; My Unanswered Prayer; All the Pretty Little Horses; Middle Ground; Sin Filtro; This Nearly Was Mine; Sugar Rush.

* the digital release includes two bonus tracks.

Marshall Gilkes (arranger, conductor, trombone); Johan Hörlén; Pascal Bartoszak; Ben Fitzpatrick; Paul Heller; Jens Neufang (reeds); Andy Haderer; Wim Both; Rob Bruynen; Ruud Breuls (trumpet, flugelhorn); Ludwig Nuss; Raphael Klemm; Peter Hedrich + Andy Hunter track 6 (trombone); Mattis Cederberg (bass trombone, tuba); Billy Test (piano); John Goldsby (bass); Hans Dekker (drums); Sabeth Pérez (vocals)

LifeSongs by Marshall Gilkes and the WDR Big Band is available from Alternate Side Records (ASR017).   
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