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Bebop Spoken There

Kurt Elling: ''There's something to learn from every musician you play with''. (DownBeat, December 2024).

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

17630 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 16 years ago. 904 of them this year alone and, so far, 49 this month (Dec. 20).

From This Moment On ...

December

Tue 24: Lindsay Hannon & Mark Williams @ Ernest, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 11:00am-1:00pm. Free.
Tue 24: Paul Skerritt @ Mambo Wine & Dine, South Shields. 1:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.

Wed 25: Wot? No jazz!

Thu 26: The Boneshakers @ Tyne Bar, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. The 17th annual Boneshakers’ Shindig.

Fri 27: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 27: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free. Business as usual!.
Fri 27: Jason Isaacs @ Seaburn STACK, Seaburn. 3:30-5:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Fri 27: Michael Woods @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Country blues guitar & vocals.

Sat 28: Jason Isaacs @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 11:30am. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 28: Fri 20: Castillo Nuevo @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 5:30pm. Free.
Sat 28: Jude Murphy, Rich Herdman & Giles Strong @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sat 28: Ray Stubbs R & B All-Stars @ Billy Bootlegger’s, Stepney Bank, Newcastle. 9:00pm. Free.

Sun 29: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 29: Alexia Gardner Quintet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 30: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 30: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Wheatsheaf, Benton Sq., Whitley Road, Palmersville NE12 9SU. Tel: 0191 266 8137. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 30: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Exchange Sq., Middlesbrough. 4:00-6:00pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.

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

Wednesday, March 27, 2024

Book review: Kazuo Ishiguro - The Summer we Crossed Europe in the Rain - review updated.

A book of lyrics by Nobel Prize-winning author Kazuo Ishiguro to accompany songs composed by Stacey Kent's husband Jim Tomlinson from a number of Stacey's albums including one, Postcard Lovers, from her latest release Summer me, Winter me which has been released on naïve in association with ECN Music and will be showcased at Ronnie's on May 7 through to May 12.

Ishiguro raises the question as to how effective a lyric is without the music? Without that seductive melody and sympathetic harmony, do the words on their own tell a story?

Sometimes yes, sometimes no. The important thing is, do they tell a story long after the music is forgotten? Are they inseparable? Lester Young said they were, Art Pepper said they weren't. I guess that if you're playing a ballad they are but if you're playing Cherokee at twice the speed of light they aren't.

Ishiguro's words most certainly are important. They have the honesty and the bitter feeling of yearning (but with a sense of hope) that you sometimes get when reading/listening to Joni Mitchell, Tom Waits, Leonard Cohen and, going back in time, Cole Porter, Larry Hart and W.H. Gilbert.

They're clever but not just for the sake of being clever for clever's sake but because of the picture the words convey.

They're global. Often with hidden meanings. In Casablanca in the Rain, is the narrator really watching the iconic film in a cinema where the roof is leaking or is 'the rain' his/her tears?

To add to the book's appeal, each of the sixteen lyrics is magnificently highlighted by Bianca Bagnarelli illustrations. To complete the deal, the QR code at the back of the book links to songs from various Stacey Kent albums. Lance

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Faber & Faber; Main edition (7 Mar. 2024)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 116 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0571378870
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0571378876

2 comments :

Lance said...

Some of the information in my original review was incorrect for which I apologise. It has now been updated and corrected.

Hugh said...

Nice clip from BBC Radio Four's Front Row programme interviewing Kazuo Ishiguro and Stacey Kent

Audio clip with visuals from the studio:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0hlbq5q

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