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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

17755 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 76 of them this year alone and, so far, 1 this month (Feb.1).

From This Moment On ...

February 2025

Sat 08: Jason Isaacs @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 12:30-2:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 08: Jason Isaacs @ Seaburn STACK, Seaburn. 3:30-5:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 08: Milne Glendinning Band @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 08: Lewis Watson Quartet @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 7:30pm. £15.00. at the door; £14.35. (inc £0.35 bf) online, in advance.
Sat 08: Anth Purdy @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. ‘Swing Jazz Guitar’.
Sat 08: NUJO Jazz Jam @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A Newcastle University Jazz Orchestra event. All welcome.

Sun 09: Glenn Miller & Big Band Spectacular @ The Forum, Billingham. 3:00pm.
Sun 09: The New ’58 Jazz Collective @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 09: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 09: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 09: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 09: Tom Remon & Mark Williams @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 09: Rod Oughton’s Tomorrow’s New Quartet with Ben van Helder @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Line-up inc. Deschanel Gordon.
Sun 09: Jazz Jam @ Fabio’s, Saddler St., Durham. 8:00pm. Free. A Durham University Jazz Society promotion. All welcome.

Mon 10: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 11: Steve Summers Quintet @ 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: Student Performances @ King’s Hall, Newcastle University. 4:00pm. Free. Inc. Olly Styles (tenor sax).
Thu 13: MOBO Awards Fringe 2025: Artist Showcase @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 7:00pm. Free (ticketed). Line-up inc. Hannabiell & Midnight Blue.
Thu 13: Indigo Jazz Voices @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:45pm. £5.00.

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, September 23, 2024

Album review: Walter Smith lll - Three of us are From Houston and Reuben Is not (Blue Note)

Walter Smith lll (tenor sax); Jason Moran (piano, Rhodes on tk 4); Reuben Rogers (bass); Eric Harland (drums)

Smith lll played a memorable gig at Sage Gateshead back in 2013. He impressed me then and has continued to do so over the course of several albums.

This latest recording, his first as a leader for Blue Note, is indicative of how far he has travelled with each recording. Ever moving forward, always ahead of the game, never finding himself in a blind alley, Smith incorporates a vision of the future without totally breaking from the traditions of the past.

Seesaw: The angular lines equate with the title. Moran, another reminder of a gig at Sage Gateshead where he paid tribute to Monk's New York Town Hall concert. Here, he is totally his own man laying it all on the line for Smith to take-off.

Gangsterism on Moranish: A strange title, indeed most of the titles are strange but, what's in a name? Both Smith and Moran are anything but strange in their playing. The more I listen, the more I become attuned to what's happening.

24: Opening up with just tenor and drums it's the calm before storm. All four shoot off in different directions although not totally out of sight. I think they eventually get back together though I'm not too sure. Who cares? It's great!

Misanthrope's Hymn: I wasn't sure what or who a misanthrope is. Seems that it's a person who dislikes mankind. Perhaps the hymn is a prayer for forgiveness? I don't know but, if it is it's working. There's an ugly beauty about it - to steal a quote from elsewhere (a song by Monk) - that I find compulsive.

Cézanne: Inspired by the French Post-impressionist painter it brings to mind the oft-posed question as to whether audio and visual artforms can be related. I don't know, I'd be interested to have opinions. Nevertheless, no matter if it's a 'yes' or a 'no' answer, this track would still be exciting even if it was called L'Escargot et Frites.

610 Loop: Referencing a freeway in Houston, Texas. As the album title implies, three of the four are from Houston but Reuben isn't which puts the bassist in his place (Virgin Islands).

Point of Many Returns: This one swings like the Blue Note of yore. Moran and Smith going down the Joe Henderson/Andrew Hill route. Tremendous.

Montrose Nocturne: Nothing to do with the late saxophonist Jack Montrose or even a town on the Scottish borders but, wait for it, a tea cup. There's definitely a storm brewing in this tea cup - no milk, no sugar, just four musicians bringing the water up and beyond boiling point.

Office Party Music: Smith blows soft and lyrical. It's romantic - perhaps everyone has left apart from two people who've discovered that for them, the party's just beginning ...

A Brief Madness: This one does what it says on the tin. It's brief, just under three minutes, and not without a degree of insanity as they go at it fast, furious and free.

Lone Star: A loping tribute to the state where three of them have their roots - the Lone Star State -.Texas. You can almost picture John Wayne or Gary Cooper facing up to the killer who's wearing a black stetson. There's a few bars of more violent music before it reverts back to the easy swagger. I guess black hat has been carted off to the Houston branch of Boot Hill.

Although there are eleven tracks the playing is just under 47 minutes meaning that there are few, if any, boring moments making it one of the most enjoyable albums in the contemporary vein that I've heard in many a long night at the turntable. Lance

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