Bebop Spoken There

Donovan Haffner ('Best Newcomer' 2025 Parliamentary Jazz Awards): ''I got into jazz the first time I picked up a saxophone!" - Jazzwise Dec 25/Jan 26

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

18146 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 24 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Jan. 7), 24

From This Moment On ...

JANUARY 2026

Fri 09: The House Trio @ Bishop Auckland Methodist Church. 1:00pm. £9.00.
Fri 09: Nauta @ Jesmond Library, Newcastle. 1:00pm. £5.00. Trio: Jacob Egglestone, Jamie Watkins, Bailey Rudd.
Fri 09: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 09: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 09: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 09: Warren James & the Lonesome Travellers @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm. £15.00.
Fri 09: The Blue Kings @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £10.00. (£8.00. adv.). All-star band.

Sat 10: Mark Toomey Quintet @ St Peter’s Church, Stockton-on-Tees. 7:30pm. £12.00. (inc. pie & peas). Tickets from: 07749 255038.

Sun 11: New ’58 Jazz Collective @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 11: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 11: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 11: Eva Fox & the Sound Hounds @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 12: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 12: Saltburn Big Band @ Saltburn House Hotel. 7:00-9:00pm. Free.

Tue 13: Milne Glendinning Band @ Newcastle House Hotel, Rothbury. 7:30pm. £11.00. Coquetdale Jazz.
Tue 13: Jazz Jam Sandwich @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Wed 14: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 14: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 14: Jam Session @ The Tannery, Hexham. 7:00pm. Free.
Wed 14: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 15: Mark Toomey Quartet @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm. Free. Quartet + guest Paul Donnelly (guitar).

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

Thursday, March 21, 2024

Album reviews: Cannonball Adderley Quintet - (1) Burnin' in Bordeaux: Live in France 1969. (2) Poppin' in Paris: Live at L'Olympia 1972

(1); Cannonball Adderley (alto sax); Nat Adderley  (cornet); Joe Zawinul (piano, electric piano); Victor Gaskin (bass); Roy McCurdy (drums) + unknown vocalist on Oh Babe.

(2): Cannonball Adderley (alto/soprano sax); Nat Adderley  (cornet); George Duke (piano, electric piano); Walter Booker (bass); Roy McCurdy (drums).

Just as I  never got to see Charlie Parker live one of my other eternal regrets is that I never heard Cannonball live either and these three discs, spread over two CDs (or four LPs), only serve to place an even greater awareness of what I missed. True I heard Nat Adderley at an excellent Corner House session in Newcastle but, good as it was, nothing could compare with hearing the brothers in full flight as on these three discs.

Although a couple of  numbers are duplicated they are very different suggesting they have evolved over the three years separating the two concerts. The big difference is Joe Zawinul on the earlier and George Duke on the later one. My personal preference is for the tracks with Zawinul - I  found Duke's frenetic approach a bit too much for my less adventurous tastes although in fairness upon listening to the later concert again he does become more accessible. Maybe I've just woken up after being asleep for a hundred years. Either way both are highly recommended for those who are partial to musical soul food with a 1970ish contemporary twist.

The 16 page booklets that accompany both albums have excellent notes by Bob Blumenthal although even he is unable to identify the blues singer on Oh Babe, the encore noisily demanded by the fans in Bordeaux. MYSTERY SOLVED - see comment.

These, and many others, are due for release on Record Store Day 2024 (April 20) via Elemental Music and other labels. DETAILS. Lance

(1a): The Scavenger; Manhä de Carnaval; Work Song; Somewhere; Why am I Treated so Bad?; The Scene. (1b): Experience in ; Blue 'n' Boogie; Come Sunday; Walk Tall (Baby That's What I Need); Mercy, Mercy, Mercy; The Scene; Oh Babe (features unknown blues singer).

(2): Black Messiah; Autumn Leaves; Soli Tomba; Walk Tall (Baby That's What I Need); The Scene; Doctor Honoris Causa; Hummin'; Directions; Mercy, Mercy, Mercy; The Scene.

3 comments :

Gordon Solomon said...

Some time ago I came across a You Tube video of Oh Babe from this session. The vocalist is listed as Cannonball’s brother, Nat Adderley.

Russell said...

An internet search does indeed suggest the vocalist is Nat Adderley. Bob Blumenthal doesn't credit Nat as vocalist, perhaps he (Blumenthal) knows more than we do.

Gordon Solomon said...

Fortunately the YouTube video is still available to watch. It clearly shows Nat as the vocalist, standing holding his cornet.
Cheers.

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