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Bebop Spoken There

John McLaughlin: '' A Love Supreme coincided with my search for meaning in life". (DownBeat, March 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

17873 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 194 of them this year alone and, so far, 41 this month (March 14).

From This Moment On ...

MARCH 2025.

Tue 18: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Laurence Harrison, Paul Grainger, Tim Johnston.
Tue 18: Phil Bancroft’s Beautiful Storm @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £13.20 & £11.00.. A JNE-Gem Arts co-promotion.

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: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Nicknames.
Thu 20: Terri Green Experience @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £15.90.
Thu 20: Lindsay Hannon Trio @ The Harbour View, Roker, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Hannon’s ‘Tom Waits for No Man’ set.
Thu 20: Ray Stubbs R&B All Stars @ Mill Tavern, Hebburn. 8:30pm. Free.

Fri 21: Paul Skerritt @ 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: Giles Strong Quartet @ 1719, Hendon, Sunderland. 7:30pm. CANCELLED!
Fri 21: New Century Ragtime Orchestra @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Featuring special guest Martin Litton (piano).

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: Swamp Stomp String Band @ The White Room, Stanley. 7:45pm.
Sat 22: Rivkala @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Country blues guitar & vocals.

Sun 23: Musicians Unlimited @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 23: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 23: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 23: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 23: Mississippi MacDonald @ Georgian Theatre, Stockton. 3:00pm. Blues.
Sun 23: Tweed River Jazz Band @ Barrels Ale House, Berwick. 7:00pm. Free.
Sun 23: The Great Deceivers @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Tom Atkinson & co play King Crimson (1969-1974). Atkinson (guitar); Josh Bentham (alto sax); Stu Dawson (bass); Jeff Armstrong (drums).

Mon 24: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 24: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 6:30pm. Free.

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, February 17, 2025

Album review: Alison Rayner Quintet - SEMA4 (ECN & Blow the Fuse Records)

Alison Rayner (bass); Buster Birch (drums); Deirdre Cartwright (guitar); Diane McLoughlin (tenor/soprano saxes); Steve Lodder (piano)

A timely release (March 7) as later (March 16) ARQ play the Globe which on the strength of  this album and the quintet's previous visits to the venue is one for the diary.

Espiritu Libre, presumably translates as Free Spirit and the spirits do indeed run free although not out of control. Composed by Rayner, the musicians create the illusion of frolicking in the mountains of the Basque country when in actual fact the frollicking is being done at the Vortex Jazz Club in East London.

Looking For a Quiet Place. A composition by McLoughlin, who has found just such a place to contemplate, mavbe discover the secret of life, or stumble upon a previously unknown minor chord progression. The solos and the melody lines are beautiful.

Semaphore opens with Rayner's rich, sonorous double bass lines before upping the tempo for some catchy riffing from the others. Solos jump in and out, McLoughlin's tenor and Cartwright's guitar to the fore. Changes of mood, piano from Lodder with Buster boosting the rhythm. Rayner must have been delighted with the way they handled her tune. The Vortex audience show their appreciation - they know they're in on the ground floor of something quite special.

Hamble Horror, by Steve Lodder, is described as: 'In which our hero survives a watery disaster and survives'. What happened? Did he fall asleep in the bath? Did he find himself up the creek without a paddle or was he caught in the rain without his brolly? I don't know the answer but I do know that this is the swingingest track so far - certainly the horror factor has quickly been dispensed with. Brilliant.

Signals From Space. Some cosmic balderdash surrounds the title but the music itself is anything but eight million light years away from Earth. It's there if you look out of the window at night. It's not the music of the spheres you hear but composer Cartwright's guitar or McLoughlin's soaring soprano turning the night sky into a new galaxy right on our doorstep.

Trip Dance. Rayner says that it feels like a dance with a little trip in it. A bit like my terpsichorean efforts. If it's not included in the set at the Globe then I'll request it. Drum solo from Buster breaks things up nicely.

Riding the Waves. McLoughlin's in the composer's chair and takes the first solo on tenor. Lodder follows with some  complex runs and big fat chords before giving way to Cartwright for a few bars. Some good ensemble work.

The Handkerchief Tree or Davidia Involucrato, as we horticulturists often refer to it when strolling around Kew Gardens, is described by Lodder as 'flowers like hanging hankies'. He copped a glance of them up in Abney Park, North London.

All Will be Well, composed by Rayner over a two year period when her sister was gravely ill. There's a poignancy about it that creates a mood reminiscent of Mingus' Goodbye Pork Pie Hat. There's a brief period of hope that sadly didn't materialise. I defy anyone  to listen to it without having to fight back the tears.

Don't forget: the Globe March 16. You can hear the music live and buy a CD to take it all home with you.. Lance

Talking about the Globe, if you like the venue, the wide  variety of music presented and want to help it onwards and upwards find out about the crowdfunding project by going  to crowdfunder.co.uk/p/the-globe.

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