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Bebop Spoken There

John McLaughlin: '' A Love Supreme coincided with my search for meaning in life". (DownBeat, March 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

17873 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 194 of them this year alone and, so far, 41 this month (March 14).

From This Moment On ...

MARCH 2025.

Tue 18: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Laurence Harrison, Paul Grainger, Tim Johnston.
Tue 18: Phil Bancroft’s Beautiful Storm @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £13.20 & £11.00.. A JNE-Gem Arts co-promotion.

Wed 19: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 19: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 19: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 20: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, Holystone. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 20: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Nicknames.
Thu 20: Terri Green Experience @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £15.90.
Thu 20: Lindsay Hannon Trio @ The Harbour View, Roker, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Hannon’s ‘Tom Waits for No Man’ set.
Thu 20: Ray Stubbs R&B All Stars @ Mill Tavern, Hebburn. 8:30pm. Free.

Fri 21: Paul Skerritt @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 21: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 21: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 21: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 21: Giles Strong Quartet @ 1719, Hendon, Sunderland. 7:30pm. CANCELLED!
Fri 21: New Century Ragtime Orchestra @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Featuring special guest Martin Litton (piano).

Sat 22: Jason Isaacs @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 12:30-2:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 22: Jason Isaacs @ Seaburn STACK, Seaburn. 3:30pm-5:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 22: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 22: Swamp Stomp String Band @ The White Room, Stanley. 7:45pm.
Sat 22: Rivkala @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Country blues guitar & vocals.

Sun 23: Musicians Unlimited @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 23: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 23: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 23: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 23: Mississippi MacDonald @ Georgian Theatre, Stockton. 3:00pm. Blues.
Sun 23: Tweed River Jazz Band @ Barrels Ale House, Berwick. 7:00pm. Free.
Sun 23: The Great Deceivers @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Tom Atkinson & co play King Crimson (1969-1974). Atkinson (guitar); Josh Bentham (alto sax); Stu Dawson (bass); Jeff Armstrong (drums).

Mon 24: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 24: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 6:30pm. Free.

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, January 28, 2024

Press release: New album reflects home thought from abroad

New Zealand-based Scottish drummer John Rae and his partner in music and business, pianist Ben Wilcock have released a new album, Splendid Isolation on their Thick Records (NZ) label.

Featuring fifteen tracks that reflect their respective histories in melodic jazz, free expression and the blues, the album includes contributions from Scotland and Ireland.  

Dundee-based guitarist Kevin Murray plays on three tracks. Former Black Seeds saxophonist Jabin Ward added his parts from his new home in Cork, with bassist Patrick Bleakley, from Rae's NZ band The Troubles, and saxophonist Daniel Yeabsley joining Rae and Wilcock in New Zealand.

“The best jazz is made when all the players are in the same room,” says Rae. “That’s been the case since the music emerged from New Orleans, of course. At the same time, though, if the technology is there, you might as well use it. We knew Kevin would instinctively know what was required and he worked very fast to complete the tracks. He also mastered the album for us, so it’s been a real Transworld collaboration.”

Other Scottish links are celebrated in the tune Apple Road, a tribute to Rae’s father, bassist Ronnie Rae whose extensive CV includes working with the Alex Welsh Band and gigs with Red Norvo and Tal Farlow. Rae’s Tak a Minute sounds like a Scots expression but actually refers to the Indian konnakol rhythmic language that the tune is based on.

Rae moved to New Zealand in 2008, having won admirers for his John Rae Collective (a band of bandleaders that featured saxophonist Phil Bancroft, trumpeter Colin Steele, pianist Brian Kellock and guitarist Kevin Mackenzie) and his award-winning Celtic Feet, which combined Scottish traditional-style tunes with hard-swinging jazz. Celtic Feet expanded on occasion to include a traditional pipe band and a big band horn section. Rae also played with the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra and in pianist Brian Kellock's trio. 

Wilcock lived and worked in the UK for a few years after visiting the Edinburgh Fringe with a New Zealand theatre company. As well as listening avidly to, and learning from, Thelonious Monk, Oscar Peterson, Ahmad Jamal, Erroll Garner, Bill Evans, George Shearing and Benny Green, he has worked with drummer Bob Moses and multi-reeds specialist Bennie Maupin and appeared extensively with blues, soul and R&B musicians. 

Splendid Isolation was recorded over two years and Rae and Wilcock are pleased with the results.

“There are elements of both chaos and beauty and again, that’s true of a lot of jazz,” says Rae. “We set out to make an album that reflects both Ben and my musical experiences and at the same time looks forward. It’s jazz for the twenty-first century and ahead of its release we’ve had positive feedback from as far afield as Atlanta, Newcastle and Melbourne. So I think we might have achieved our aims.”

Splendid Isolation is available now from Thick Records -

https://www.thickrecords.co.nz/latest-releases 

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