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

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).

Fri 16: Giles Strong Quartet @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. £8.00. SOLD OUT!
Fri 16: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 16: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 16: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 16: Darlington Big Band @ The Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. Opus 4 Jazz Club.
Fri 16: Leeds City Stompers @ Billy Bootleggers, Newcastle. 9:00pm. 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

Wednesday, June 26, 2024

Album review: Sonny Rollins - Freedom Weaver, the 1959 European Tour Recordings (Resonance Records)

Sonny Rollins (tenor sax); Henry Grimes (bass); Pete La Roca, Joe Harris or Kenny Clarke (drums).

Those nice people at Resonance Records have done it again thanks to Zev Feldman, that intrepid seeker of wisdom and truth who is forever donning his fedora and trench coat before setting off down those mean streets in an eternal quest to find the unfindable.

This one takes us to the Sweden, Switzerland, Germany, Holland and France of 1959 where the Rollins Trio barnstormed its way across Europe like a peaceful blitzkreig.

The tenor player is at his most prodigious taking the standards, reinterpreting them, turning them upside down, inside out - every which way including loose - particularly loose. Even without the roadmap of a guitar or a piano to chart his journey Rollins knows where he's going and, if he takes the scenic route so much the better.

Eleven and twelve tracks on the first two CDs respectively contrast with three on the the third one which runs for just under an hour. Not only do the longer tracks allow Rollins to stretch out even further - the cows had long come home before he took a breather - it also allowed Grimes and Clarke to go for gold.

The sessions with Clarke were all recorded at Hot Club d'Aix, Aix-en-Provence whilst La Roca and Harris were on the earlier ones outside of France.

An album I've told every little star about just as Sonny does four times in four different countries and now I'm telling you! Lance.


CD1: St. Thomas; There Will Never be Another You; Stay as Sweet as You Are; I've Told Every Little Star; How High the Moon; Oleo; Paul's Pal; Sonny Rollins interview; It Don't Mean a Thing; Paul's Pal; Love Letters.

CD2: I Remember You; I've Told Every Little Star; It Could Happen to You; Oleo; Will You Still be Mine; I've Told Every Little Star; I Want to be Happy; A Weaver of Dreams; It Don't Mean a Thing; Cocktails For Two; I've Told Every Little Star; I Want to be Happy.

CD3: Woody 'n' You; But Not For me; Lady Bird.

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