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

18602 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 466 of them this year alone and, so far this month (June 8) 17

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

Sun 14: Front Porch Band: Swing Tyne’s Swing Social @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12 noon (doors). Donations (£5.00. - £10.00. suggested). Swing dance event w. taster class (12:30pm).
Sun 14: 58 Jazz Collective @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00-3:00pm. Free.
Sun 14: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 14: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Table reservations (0191 261 8000). Skerritt w. backing tapes.
Sun 14: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 14: Doctor Jazz @ The Old Church, Sacriston, Durham. 3:00-5:00pm . Free (donations welcome). New Orleans, blues & classic 20th century songs. Food & soft drinks available, BYOB.
Sun 14: Eddie Gripper Trio @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Gripper (piano); Clem Saynor (double bass); Patrick Barrett-Donlon (drums). Americana album tour.

Mon 15: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 15: Dan Johnson w. Dean Stockdale Trio @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00.

Tue 16: Alan Law Trio @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 2:00pm. Free.
Tue 16: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Stu Collingwood, Paul Grainger, Abbie Finn.

Wed 17: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 17: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 17: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 18: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Millstone, Mill Rise, South Gosforth, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 18: Castillo Nuevo Orquesta @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. £6.50. 7:30pm (doors).
Thu 18: Lindsay Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ Harbour View, Roker, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 18: Paul Skerritt @ Angels' Share, St George's Terrace, Jesmond, Newcastle NE2 2SX. 8:00pm. Free. Booking advised (0191 200 1975). Skerritt w. backing tapes.

Fri 19: Joe Steels Group @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 19: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 19: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 19: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 19: Castillo Nuevo Trio @ Hotel Gotham, Newcastle. 5:30pm. Free.
Fri 19: Ferg’s Imaginary Big Band @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £14.33., £11.16., £8.00.
Fri 19: Martin Litton @ Sunderland Minster. 7:30pm. £13.01 (inc. bf); £6.50 (inc. bf); £15.00 on the door. Solo piano. CANCELLED!
Fri 19: Jools Holland’s R&B Orchestra @ Hippodrome, Darlington. 7:30pm. Joe Webb support set.
Fri 19: Hot Club du Nord @ Warkworth Memorial Hall. 7:30pm.
Fri 19: Jive Aces: The Roots of Rock & Roll @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £20.00 + bf.

Sat 20: Tyne Valley Big Band @ Tynedale Beer Festival, Corbridge. 5:00-6:00pm.
Sat 20: Castillo Nuevo Trio @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 5:30pm. Free.
Sat 20: Red Kites Jazz @ Staithes Café, Dunston. 7:00-9:00pm. Free.
Sat 20: New Century Ragtime Orchestra @ Trinity Church, Gosforth, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £20.00. NCRO w. guests Dean Stockdale & Nick Ward.

Thursday, August 01, 2024

Album review: Warren Wolf - History of the Vibraphone (Cellar Music Group CMRV 120223)

Warren Wolf (vibes); Tim Green (alto/soprano sax); Alex Brown (piano, Rhodes); Vicente Archer (bass); Carroll "CV" Dashiell III (drums); Jeremy Pelt (producer)
.

I'm often wary of concept albums and I can honestly say with my hand on heart that this one was no exception. History of the Vibraphone, a challenging and, dare I say it?, pretentious undertaking particularly as I'd heard all but one of the iconic figures live as well as being familiar with the other one on record.

To further muddy the waters I was unfamiliar with the work of Warren Wolf although, in many ways this wasn't such a bad thing as I had no preconceptions other than to fear that Wolf may have bitten off more than he could chew.

Wrong!

The subjects were drawn from a book by Richard Anthony Smith - Masters of the Vibes - in which Smith, himself a vibraphonist and pianist, decided to draw attention to the instrument's great performers. Musicians that perhaps haven't received their deserved recognition compared to other instrumentalists.

So, it was all systems go.

Terry Gibbs' Obstacle Course would be well-named for any lesser master of the mallets but not for Wolf. It soon became apparent that he's up there with the idols he's idolising. Piano by Brown alongside bass and drums and they were flying. Obstacle course? What obstacles?!

Lionel Hampton is a name synonymous with the vibraphone and Midnight Sun is synonymous with Lionel Hampton and now, also with Warren Wolf who's helped along the way by some sizzling alto sax from Green. 

Django, composed by John Lewis for the Modern Jazz Quartet and Milt Jackson, is given, arguably, a warmer treatment than the original and is none the worse for that.

I'm not sure which of the Herzog jazz dynasty Bobby Hutcherson dedicated his composition Herzog to but it was considered strong enough for this album  and, in doing so, heads into more contemporary territory. Again Green busts a gut with a blistering solo.

Green stays on board, albeit in a more restrained manner for Cal Tjader's Sad Eyes. Wolf is dutifully in empathy with the title.

Chick Corea's Captain Señor Mouse featured Gary Burton. Burton's style is tailor-made (British joke) for Wolf who wears it well as do his cohorts. Green switches to soprano and the Latin flavour of the original is preserved.

When I heard/saw Roy Ayers at Hoochie Coochie in Newcastle back in 2015 he certainly gave off good vibrations and I'm not talking Beach Boys. His composition Vibrations ensures that Warren Wolf draws a whole lot of warmth from the tune. Green sits this one out and Brown makes his pitch on Fender Rhodes.

David Samuels - who? Then it clicked, he was a member of Spyro Gyra who played Newcastle's City Hall as part of a tour promoting the band's hit Morning Dance. Spring High has a similar floating feel, quite ethereal in the nicest possible way.

Joe Locke was a regular participant back in the days of the Ambleside Jazz Festival and his appearances were enthusiastically reviewed by a former BSH reviewer Hugh C (now Hugh C him, now you don't). It was Hugh who put me on to him and I'm pleased he did just as I'm pleased that Warren Wolf picked up on him too. Saturn's Child is another emotional floater and it has nothing to do with Sun Ra. 

Of course these days, if you're paying tribute to great vibes players you must include Warren Wolf even if your own name is Warren Wolf - to hell with modesty. Wolf's I See You Baby, Looking at me is no mere self-indulgent filler but a tune that, along with the composer's solo, walks tall in a parade of compositions by giants.

To shut up the shop the biggest giant of them all, Lionel Hampton, offers up Midnight Sun for an alternative take. Slower, shorter, more reflective and sans sax it's one for the listener to decide. Personally, I spun a coin and it landed on it's edge. It didn't actually but it's a good cop-out! Lance

Available August 23. BANDCAMP.

1 comment :

Mike Farmer said...

A few years ago I was at the Malta Jazz Festival and recall on looking at the programme thinking who is Warren Wolf? He came on and not only proved to be an incredible vibes player but made a big impression on me when he soloed sometimes on the grand piano.

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