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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

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.

Sat 22: Jason Isaacs @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 12:30-2:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 22: Jason Isaacs @ Seaburn STACK, Seaburn. 3:30pm-5:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 22: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 22: Mississippi MacDonald @ Claypath Deli, Durham. 7:00pm. Blues.
Sat 22: Lindsay Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ Old Cinema Laundrette, Durham. 7:45pm. £16.50. SOLD OUT!
Sat 22: Michael Woods @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Country blues guitar & vocals.

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

Monday, August 19, 2024

Album review: Ant Law & Brigitte Beraha – Ensconced (Ubuntu)

Ant Law (guitar); Brigitte Beraha (voice); plus guests Petros Klampanis (bass); Ernesto Simpson (drums); Max Luthert (electronics); Duncan Eagles (saxophone); Jamie Murray (drums); Matt Calvert (electronics, acoustic guitar, piano, dulcitone, synths); Kit Downes (piano); Adam Kovacs (percussion).

It must be acknowledged that Brigitte Beraha’s voice is an acquired taste. Ethereal, ghostly, delicate and full of character, a creature of the air, just exquisite in the higher registers but seeming to carry a lot of weight lower down that makes it a little less so.

A Kiss to Build a Dream On opens the album and it is heart stoppingly lovely, drawing the listener in in a way that excludes the rest of the world. You can’t help but hang on to every spare note; it’s the timing and the space that makes it work so well.

The title track follows with Beraha’s unmoored vocals soaring and then swooping down as Law plays a (seemingly) simple motif behind her adding brief Spanish flurries into the mix.

After the brief snippet that is Clever Hans, From A to Z is tragic and mournful Beraha’s voice dominates over a gentle mist of Law’s chords, the finest filigree.

The addition of Klampanis and Simpson to Harvest brings extra urgency and depth, especially during the bass solo, which is framed by rattling drums and Beraha’s floating vocal line. Law twists some Metheny-esque lines around the others before some more extensive explorations incorporating fluid runs and longer notes to punctuate the solo. Beraha’s voice flutters, wordlessly, above and around it all

Above Water also benefits from added musicians (Luthert, Murray and Eagles), the former’s electronics adding new landscapes and additional colour whilst Eagles provides an elegant solo and some spikiness to proceedings, the heavy, lumpy drumming from Murray is a distraction, however.

Kit Downes’ solo on Who We Are is a thing of beauty that Bill Evans would have been proud of; it achieves the same flight as Beraha’s voice. Both performances are full of escape, hope and freedom.

The album closes with a charming rendition of Bernstein’s Some Other Time (from On the Town) which has been covered by Bill Evans (him again) and Ian Shaw, amongst dozens of others. Seemingly relaxed with a hopeful, (almost a lullaby) Laurel Canyon vibe and perfect for a summer’s day, Law’s twisting solo adds reflection and takes the edge off the optimism.

For all the fact that I didn’t take to Beraha’s vocals on the first listen the whole album works its way under your skin and I have played it a lot in the week or so since I first got it. It undermines any resistance and, at the moment, I can see it in my end of year top ten. If nothing else, it looks likely to be my favourite for late night listen of the year. Dave Sayer

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