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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

17838 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 159of them this year alone and, so far, 6 this month (March 3).

From This Moment On ...

MARCH 2025.

Mon 10: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club.

Tues 11: Solea @ Earthlings, the Healing Café, 94 Buckingham St., Newcastle, NE4 5QR. 7:00-8:45pm. Food available if ordered before 6:30pm. New band: Johannes Dalhuijsen (tenor sax, bass clarinet); Richard Herdman (guitar); Nick Bagnall (bass guitar); John Hirst (drums).
Tue 11: Giles Strong Quartet @ Newcastle House Hotel, Rothbury. 7:30pm.

Wed 12: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 12: Jam session @ The Tannery, Gilesgate, Hexham. 7:00-9:00pm. Free.
Wed 12: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 12: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 13: The Exu + Matt Cliffe @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 13: Oh La La! @ Allendale Village Hall, Northumberland. 7:30pm. £12.00.; £6.00. child. Fifi La Mer (accordion, vocals), Oliver Wilby (reeds).
Thu 13: Fiona Finden’s Jazz Express @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Fri 14: Pete Tanton’s Chet Set @ Auckland Castle, Bishop Auckland. 1:00pm. £8.00.
Fri 14: Paul Taylor @ Jesmond Library, Newcastle. 1:00-2:00pm. £5.00. at the door. Second Friday in the month lunchtime concert series.
Fri 14: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 14: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 14: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 14: Jason Isaacs @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 4:00-6:00pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Fri 14: Brass Funkeys + Dilutey Juice @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £12.00., £10.00., £8.00.
Fri 14: Oh La La! @ Edmundbyers Village Hall, Co. Durham. 7:30pm. £12.00.; £10.00. (additional £5.00. supper option, ordered in advance). Fifi La Mer (accordion, vocals), Oliver Wilby (reeds).
Fri 14: The Collective @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £8.50.
Fri 14: Bridget Metcalfe Quintet @ St George’s Venue, Park Road, Hartlepool. 7:30pm.

Sat 15: Hot Teapots @ St Augustine’s Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm.
Sat 15: Creakin’ Bones @ Billy Bootleggers. Ouseburn, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free.
Sat 15: Joseph Carville Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 15: Is This Jazz? @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Tickets: www.eventbrite.co.uk. Performances by Mu Quintet, Jinjé, A Brief Utopia, John Pope & Co + André Marmot (author of Unapologetic Expression: The Inside Story of the UK Jazz Explosion) in conversation + DJ sets ‘til 3:00am. ‘A Festival of New Jazz’.
Sat 15: Vintage Explosion @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 7:30pm. SOLD OUT!
Sat 15: Alligator Gumbo @ The Forum, Darlington. 7:30pm. £15.00.
Sat 15: One Night Standards @ The White Room, Stanley. 8:00pm. £8.67 (inc. bf). Note - previously advertised Salty Dogs cancelled.
Sat 15: Howlin’ Mat @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Blues 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, July 04, 2024

Album review: Ken Peplowski - Live at Mezzrow (Cellar Music)

Ken Peplowski (clarinet, tenor sax); Ted Rosenthal (piano); Martin Wind (bass); Willie Jones III (drums)

An album by Ken Peplowski is always welcome and, after Peplowski's recent health issues, it is doubly welcome to realise he is playing as good as ever. 

Vignette, a lesser known tune by Hank Jones, gets the date off to swinging start. It sounded familiar but it wasn't until after I'd borrowed a telescope from Jodrell Bank that I discovered from the notes that it was a contrafact of Sweet Sue, Just You.  

Prisoner of Love I only knew from an old Perry Como 78rpm but this one, seemingly, was inspired by James Brown. Even without the words Peplowski's big sound brings out the pathos of the melody.

Beautiful Love has our man really wailing on clarinet - such dexterity! Some nice bass-work from Wind followed by a series of fours all-round which went on just long enough before his liquid tone takes it out.

He remains on clarinet for All the Things You Are. However, unlike the current trend to play the Jerome Kern tune faster than Mark Cavendish shoots out of the peloton in Le Tour, Peplowski respects the composer's original intent and plays it as a slow and dreamy ballad.

Nothing slow and dreamy about André Previn's Like Young. Funky tenor driven along by Jones III creating a great groove that's enhanced by Rosenthal on piano and Wind on bass.

The Shadow of Your Smile, a wistful sound suggesting uncertainty. Imagine a puppy or a kitten in a strange house wondering if the owner of the house likes puppies or kittens. A track of poignant beauty.

Back to the clarinet for Cabin in the Sky from the film of the same name. The 1943 movie had an all-black cast including Louis Armstrong, the Duke Ellington Orchestra, Lena Horne, Ethel Waters and many more. Peplowski does it and them justice.

Monk's Bright Mississippi has Rosenthal in good form. Peplowski sticks with clarinet offering a contrast to Monk's original version with Charlie Rouse on tenor. Clarinet and piano chase each other until they're tired out. Willie Jones gives them a chance to recharge before Rosenthal jumps back in. He's done his Monastic homework.

Here's to Life contradicts those who claim that the clarinet is a cold and clinical instrument. Of course it can be, but not here. With just enough vibrato to express the emotions stirred up by Artie Butler's melody it becomes a song from the clarinettist's heart.

Who Knows? An Ellington tune I'd never heard of! Or so I thought. Investigations revealed that I had it on an old 10" LP - The Duke Plays Ellington - that had been on the shelf gathering dust for a considerable number of years. Rosenthal's piano solo comes to Duke via Monk or maybe vice versa. Whatever, it's great piano. Throw some superb clarinet and swinging bass and drums into the mix and you have a fitting finale to an album that's on the modern end of mainstream. Lance 

Release date tomorrow (July 5)

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