Bebop Spoken There

Melissa Aldana: ''Having to play a ballads album, which is something very revealing for a saxophone player, would help me to question some new aspects of how to go deeper into sound." (DownBeat May, 2026)

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

18656 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 520 of them this year alone and, so far this month (June 25) 72

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

From This Moment On

June

Wed 01: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 01: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 01: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 02: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Millstone, Mill Rise, South Gosforth, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 02: Paul Skerritt @ Angels' Share, St George's Terrace, Jesmond, Newcastle NE2 2SX. 8:00pm. Free. Booking advised (0191 200 1975). Skerritt w. backing tapes.
Thu 02: De’Sean Jones & Blaque Dynamite feat. Urban Art Orchestra @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). De’Sean Jones (MD, tenor sax); Blaque Dynamite (Mike Mitchell, drums); Jamie Murray (drums) with UAO horns & strings.
Thu 02: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm.
Thu 02: Howlin’ Mat @ Newcastle Arts centre. 7:30pm. Free. Acoustic

Fri 03: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 03: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 03: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 03: Paul Donnelly Quartet @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm.
Fri 03: Martin Taylor @ Arc, Stockton. 8:00pm. Taylor (solo guitar).

Sat 04: Spats Langham’s Hot Fingers @ St Augustine’s Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. £10.00. Darlington New Orleans Jazz Club.
Sat 04: Michael Woods @ Cycle Hub, Quayside, Ouseburn. 1:30-2:30pm & 3:00-4:00pm. Free. Acoustic blues guitar. An Ouseburn Festival event.
Sat 04: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. £27.50. Tutor: Steve Glendinning. Take the ‘A’ Train to Summertime: From Melody to Masterclass. Enrol at: learning@jazz.coop.
Sat 04: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.

Sun 05: Smokin’ Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm. £10.00.
Sun 05: Ian Bosworth Quintet @ Chapel, Middlesbrough. 1:00pm. Free. Feat. guest Kevin Eland (trumpet).
Sun 05: Michael Woods @ Cycle Hub, Quayside, Ouseburn. 1:30-2:30pm & 3:15-4:00pm. Free. Acoustic blues guitar. An Ouseburn Festival event.
Sun 05: Lydia Rae Quintet @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £10.00. Rae (vocals); Sam Lightwing (alto sax, tenor sax); Ben Lawrence (piano); Andy Champion (double bass); John Bradford (drums).
Sun 05: Sax Choir @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 05: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Table reservations (0191 261 8000). Skerritt w. backing tapes.
Sun 05: Storytellers Street Band @ Ouseburn Woodland, Ouseburn. 5:00-6:00pm. Free. An Ouseburn Festival event.
Sun 05: Gerry Richardson’s Big Idea @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Sun 05: Jambone @ Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:15-9:45pm. Free but ticketed.

Mon 06: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 06: Saltburn Big Band @ Saltburn House Hotel. 7:00-9:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).

Tue 07: Alan Law Trio @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 2:30pm. Free.
Tue 07: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Ben Lawrence (piano); Paul Grainger (double bass); John Bradford (drums).
Tue 07: Customs House Big Band @ The Masonic Hall, Ferryhill. 7:30pm. Free.

Monday, July 15, 2024

Press release: Sentient Beings – Truth is Not the Enemy (Discus Music)

Faith Brackenbury (violin, viola); John O’Gallagher (alto sax); John Pope (bass); Tony Bianco (drums)

A set of  high intensity free jazz interactions captured live at The Vortex, London in early 2024. Brackenbury and Bianco have worked together as a duo for a number of years and this is their third Discus Music release, following their opening fire music statement Rising Up (112CD) and the mystical Hildegard von Bingen + Coltrane inspired Wayward Mystic (140CD). 
 
The addition of Pope and O’Gallagher expands the duo into a formidable improvising quartet.
 

Tony Bianco writes: “In this world overwhelmed by confusion, it was great to have purpose for 7 days. That’s how many dates Sentient Beings had on their tour in February 2024. This recording is the last night of the tour.

As soon as we met, there seemed to be a joy. Joy and camaraderie. As soon as we hit, it was happening. The purpose was the Truth of playing, bringing us out of the confusion of this world. Truth is. It’s in front of us all the time. That’s where the music comes from. We all go through the ups and downs of life. Hills and Valleys, but Truth is not the enemy.”

DISCUS MUSIC
5 Slayleigh Lane,
Sheffield S10 3RE, England
www.discus-music.org
www.discusmusic.bandcamp.com
www.facebook.com/discusmusic
mw.archer@btinternet.com


1 comment :

Paul Bream said...

The Sentient Beings quartet played a superb gig at the Globe back in January, and it's great to be reminded of how good they were with this album, recorded live around a week after their Newcastle appearance. The original version of the band had Paul Dunmall on reeds - a hard act to follow, but American saxophonist John O'Gallagher proved a worthy replacement - in fact something of a revelation, reinforcing the nature of free improvisation as 'instant composition' with passages that were utterly spontaneous yet felt like exquisitely conceived melodies.

The music on the album is described as "fiery and dynamic", and much of it certainly fits this characterisation, but it perhaps fails to recognise the tonal variety in the playing as the four musicians come together in various permutations, freely exploring possibilities across the dynamic range. This is perhaps particularly noteworthy in the contributions of band leader Tony Bianco, who can at times be a remorselessly torrential player, but here is unfailingly sympathetic in his support of his fellow musicians (which isn't to say that he doesn't unleash some thunderous assaults when appropriate!).

But it's probably wrong to single out the contributions of any individual member of the quartet; this is primarily a collective endeavour of close listening and empathetic response, with each of the participants equally free to subtly shift the direction of the music. Very highly recommended.

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