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Bebop Spoken There

Steve Coleman: ''If you don't keep learning, your mind slows down. Use it or lose it''. (DownBeat, January 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

17655 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 929 of them this year alone and, so far, 74 this month (Dec. 31).

From This Moment On ...

January 2025

Wed 08: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 08: The Tannery Jam Session @ The Tannery, Gilesgate, Hexham. 7:00-9:00pm. Free.
Wed 08: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 08: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).

Thu 09: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: John H Hammond.
Thu 09: FILM: Soundtrack to a Coup D’Etat @ Tyneside Cinema, Newcastle. 2:35pm. Documentary (dir. Johan Grimonprez) ‘about jazz, (de)colonial history and activism featuring Louis Armstrong, Nina Simone and Dizzy Gillespie’.
Thu 09: Happy Tuesdays @ Ye Olde Cross, Ryton. 7:30pm. Free.
Thu 09: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. Ragtime piano. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 09: Mark Toomey Quartet @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm. Free. A Tees Hot Club promotion. The session now monthly, next one Thursday 2nd Feb, then first Thursday in the month thereafter.

Fri 10: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 10: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 10: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.

Sat 11: Jason Isaacs @ St James’ STACK, Newcastle. 12:30-2:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 11: Under the Wellie @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 12: The New ’58 Jazz Collective @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 12: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 12: King Bees @ The Tyne Bar, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. Superb Chicago blues band.
Sun 12: Dave Bottomley @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Country blues guitar.
Sun 12: Jack Pearce Quintet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 13: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 13: Raymond MacDonald & Andy Champion @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £10.00.

Tue 14: Zoë Gilby Quintet @ Newcastle House Hotel, Rothbury. 7:30pm.

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

Tuesday, July 30, 2024

Album review: Kurt Rosenwinkel - The Next Step Band, Live at Smalls 1996 (Heartcore HCR28)

Kurt Rosenwinkel (guitar, piano on tk 6); Mark Turner (tenor sax); Ben Street (bass); Jeff Ballard (drums) + Brad Mehldau (piano on tk 3); ? (voice on tk 5)

Recorded live at Smalls Jazz Club in NYC back in 1996 the blurb describes it as an unforgettable performance that bears witness to the birth of a new musical era as Rosenwinkel and his ensemble deliver six dynamic compositions that would later shape the landscape of modern jazz.

Well they would say that wouldn't they? They, the writers, would be looking for alternative employment if they didn't. However, on this occasion I don't think anyone was holding a gun to their head. Judging by the applause the audience agreed with the appraisal. It is all that and more.

To my shame I've never heard Kurt Rosenwinkel live - I missed him at Sage Gateshead (as the Glasshouse was known in 2019) but Russell's review HERE suggests that his steps were keeping apace with jazz's ever-evolving advancement.

Rosenwinkel on this album proves he needs answer to no one just as he did on a 2012 duo album with Geri Allen reviewed earlier this year HERE.

Yes, he's certainly a fine guitarist but, he also plays mighty fine piano as proved on The Next Step. A rockolling, rollocking  opus that, in a larger venue, would have had the patrons of Smalls boogieing all night long. Mark Turner, needless to say, is as ever at the front of  le avante garde peloton yet even his most outré solos manage to keep within the bounds of sanity - just!

Whether soloing or driving the band Ballard is the man behind the wheel with Street the navigator negotiating the harmonic map. No 'Rhythm Changes' here.

Brad Mehldau pops in for a jam on Zhivago which adds an additional colour. Listen in colour seems to be one of the buzz-phrases of the moment. Anyone know what it means?

A Life Unfolds is perhaps my favourite track, it is also the most confusing. There is no voice listed on the info I received yet there is undoubtedly a wordless vocal on this track. Is it some electronic trickery (in 1996) or am I colourblind?

Whatever the answer this is still one of better historical issues and a must have for, well let's say, for anyone who appreciates good music of whatever shade. Lance

A Shifting Design; Use of Light; Zhivago; Alpha Mega; A Life Unfolds; The Next Step.

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