Bebop Spoken There

David Bailey (photographer): ''When I was 16 I wanted to look like Chet Baker. He was my idol - him and James Dean.'' (Talking Pictures documentary : Four beats to the bar and no cheating April, 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

18445 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 309 of them this year alone and, so far this month (April 20 ) 43,

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

April

Fri 24: Noel Dennis Trio @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. Dennis, Mark Willams, Andy Champion. SOLD OUT!
Fri 24: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 24: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 24: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 24: Trio Grand @ Land of Oak & Iron, Winlaton. 6:00-9:00pm. Free.
Fri 24: Ben Vince + The Exu @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). £14.33., £11.16, £8.00. A ‘jazz adjacent’ gig!
Fri 24: Daniel John Martin w. Swing Manouche @ The Ship Isis, Sunderland. 7:30pm. £13.20 (inc. bf).

Sat 25: Giles Strong Quartet @ Hindmarsh Hall, Alnmouth. 7:30pm. CANCELLED!
Sat 25: Daniel John Martin w. Swing Manouche @ The Old Cinema Launderette, Durham. 7:30pm (7:00pm doors). £13.20 (inc. bf).
Sat 25: ‘Portrait in Evans’: Noa Levy & Alan Barnes w. Paul Edis Trio @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm. £24.00. Sage Two. ‘Portrait in Evans’. Levy, Barnes, Edis, Andy Champion & Steve Hanley.

Sun 26: Musicians Unlimited: Big Band Blast @ West Hartlepool RFC. 1:00-3:00pm . Free.
Sun 26: Daniel John Martin w. Swing Manouche @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £10.00.
Sun 26: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: Ruth Lambert Trio @ Juke Shed, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: Ni Maxine + Nauta @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £17.51., £14.33., £11.16.
Sun 26: Joe Steels @ The Pele, Corbridge. 7:00pm. Free (donations direct to the musicians). Joe Steels & Friends.
Sun 26: C.A.L.I.E @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £16.00., £14.00., £7.00.

Mon 27: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 27: House of Blues @ the Globe, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £7.00., £5.00. advance. A student-led jazz session. ‘House of Blues’ is, perhaps, a misnomer.
Mon 27: Littlewood Trio @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £10.00 + bf, £7.00. + bf.

Tue 28: Long/Remon/Zilker @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. Tom Remon plays Irish folk!

Wed 29: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 29: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 29: Long/Remon/Zilker @ The Ship Isis, Sunderland. 7:00pm. £10.00. + £1.00. bf. Tom Remon plays Irish folk!
Wed 29: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 29: Hackney Colliery Band @ Alnwick Playhouse. 7:30pm. £25.00.

Thu 30: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £5.00. Subject: International Jazz Day & JANE AGM.
Thu 30: Duke Junction @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £14.00., £12.00., £7.00. Nadim Teimoori (tenor sax); Jeff Hewer (guitar); Martin Longhawn (organ); Steve Hanley (drums). An International Jazz Day event & the 12th anniversary of Newcastle Jazz Co-op acquiring the Globe!

Tuesday, March 18, 2025

Album review: Kenny Dorham - Blue Bossa in the Bronx Live From the Blue Morocco (Resonance)

Kenny Dorham (trumpet); Sonny Red (alto sax); Cedar Walton (piano); Paul Chambers (bass); Denis Charles (drums)

Another piece of buried treasure unearthed by the intrepid Zev Feldman. 

Recorded live at the Blue Morocco Club up in the Bronx back in 1967 it serves to demonstrate just how great a trumpet player Kenny Dorham was and how, living in an age where his contemporaries included Fats Navarro, Dizzy, Miles, Clifford Brown, Lee Morgan and Freddie Hubbard, underrated he was. On the strength of his playing on this album it soon becomes evident that, on his day, he could hold his own with any of them. On that night in the Bronx he was most certainly 'on his day'.

Sonny Red (Sylvester Kyner) was another who never received the recognition he deserved. One of the three alto playing Sonnys - Stitt and Criss being the other two - inspired by Parker (which modern alto player wasn't?) Red, unlike Stitt and to a lesser extent Criss, absorbed Bird's teaching rather than cloning it. By 1967 he was very much his own man.

I was impressed when I heard Cedar Walton at Ronnie's in 2010 - 43 years after this recording - and I'm equally impressed here. Chambers is, as we'd come to expect by 1967, outstanding whether playing pizzicato or arco, soloing or supporting, along with Charles on drums they combine to provide a dream team for the horns to blow on.

This is bebop and beyond along with two beautiful ballad performances. Red tears at the heartstrings with Memories of You and Dorham stretches out on My One and Only Love.

The set opens with Dorham's compositional masterpiece  Blue Bossa - is there a jazz musician in the world who hasn't jammed on that one?! Bird's Confirmation, the two ballads, Milt Jackson's Bag's Groove, Dorham's Blue Friday and the traditional set closer The Theme follow. Normally the latter number is washed and dried in the space of a couple of choruses. Not this time. This time it lasts 8 minutes plus with Charles having a lengthy workout.

Highly recommended, not just for the music but also for the glossy, readable, booklet which runs to 34 pages with photos, interviews with Dorham's family, Dan Morganstern, Eddie Henderson, Charles Tolliver and a map of the Bronx.

The  CD runs for 73:33 minutes and is also available on deluxe double vinyl.

It's Napolean Brandy! Lance
at

No comments :

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments ( Atom )

Blog Archive