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Bebop Spoken There

Sullivan Fortner: ''I always judge it by the bass player: If the bass player is happy, it's going to be a good night". (DownBeat, February 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

17777 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 98 of them this year alone and, so far, 23 this month (Feb.8).

From This Moment On ...

February 2025

Sat 15: Joseph Carville Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 15: James Birkett & Emma Fisk @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 7:30pm. £15.00. at the door; £14.35. (inc £0.35 bf) online, in advance.
Sat 15: Elkie Brooks @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 7:30pm. ‘The Long Farewell Tour’.
Sat 15: Milne Glendinning Band @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 16: MOBO Song @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 12 noon. Free, performances on the concourse. Line-up inc. Jazz Attack (on stage time TBC) & Jambone (12:20pm).
Sun 16: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Exchange Sq., Middlesbrough. 1:00-2:45pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sun 16: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 16: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 16: MOBO Awards Fringe 2025: BBC Introducing NE X MOBO Showcase @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 6:00pm. Free (ticketed). Line-up inc. Jambone, Knats, Rivkala, SwanNek.
Sun 16: The Shayo Experience @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 16: Gerry Richardson Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. .

Mon 17: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 17: Matt Forster Quartet @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 1:00pm. £9.00. at the door; £8.20. (inc £0.20 bf) online, in advance.
Mon 17: Russ Morgan Quartet @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00.

Tue 18: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Alan Law, Paul Grainger, John Hirst.

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: James Birkett & Emma Fisk @ King’s Hall, Newcastle University. 1:15pm. Free.
Thu 20: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Jazz Milestones - 1975.
Thu 20: Renegade Brass Band @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors).
Thu 20: Orange Claw Hammer + Peony @ The Globe, Newcastle.7:30pm. Orange Claw Hammer play Captain Beefheart.
Thu 20: Jeremy McMurray & the Pocket Jazz Orchestra @ Arc, Stockton. 8:00pm. Featuring special guest Zoë Gilby.

Fri 21: JazzMain @ 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: Joe Steels Trio @ The Pele, Corbridge. 7:00pm. £10.00. TBC.
Fri 21: Emma Rawicz w. Strictly Smokin’ Big Band @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm.

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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