Bebop Spoken There

Joe Alterman: ''All I wanted to do growing up was to sound like Erroll Garner playing "Poor Butterfly." I thought that was the coolest sound I'd ever heard.'' (DownBeat November, 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

19,061 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 925 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Oct. 30) 104.

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

October.

Sat 31: Saltburn Big Band + Durham Alumni Big Band @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm.
Sat 31: East Coast Swing Band @ Cramlington Village Club, Park View, Cramlington NE23 6QJ. 7:30pm. £10.00. (from venue).

November

Sun 01: Smokin’ Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm. £10.00.
Sun 01: Ian Bosworth Quintet @ Chapel, Middlesbrough. 1:00pm. Free. Quintet w. special guest Donna Hewitt (tenor sax, clarinet)
Sun 01: Sax Choir @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 01: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 01: Sarah Heneghan Trio @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 02: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 02: Saltburn Big Band @ Saltburn House Hotel. 7:00-9:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).

Tue 03: Alan Law @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 2:00pm. Free. Alan Law (piano) w. guest tba
Tue 03: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Stu Collingwood, Paul Grainger, Abbie Finn.
Tue 03: Customs House Big Band @ The Masonic Hall, Ferryhill. 7:30pm. Free.

Wed 04: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 04: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 04: An Evening of Erykah Badu @ Holy GrAle, Durham. 7:30pm. £3.00.; £2.50. A Durham University Jazz Society event.
Wed 04: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 05: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Millstone, Mill Rise, South Gosforth, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 05: Hejira - Celebrating Joni Mitchell @ Alnwick Playhouse. 7:30pm.
Thu 05: Cut Capers @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors).
Thu 05: Northern Reaches @ Newcastle Arts Centre. 7:30pm. Free (donations). Pete Tanton, Joe Steels, Laurence Blackadder, John Hirst.
Thu 05: Fergus McCreadie @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm.

Fri 06: Mike Durham’s International Classic Jazz Party @ Village Hotel, West Allotment. 12 noon. Day 1/3.
Fri 06: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 06: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 06: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 06: Jazz Night: Bridget Metcalfe @ Saltburn House Hotel. From 6:00pm. Tickets: £40.00 (inc. a two-course meal & glass of Prosecco). Tel: 01287 658977.

Thursday, April 24, 2025

Album review: James Zito - Zito's Jump! (self-released)

James Zito (guitar/executive producer); Rodney Whitaker (bass); Joe Farnsworth (drums); Luther Allison (piano); Joseph Miller (alto sax); Chris Lewis (tenor sax, flute); Jarien Jamanila (baritone sax); Nicholas Dimaria (trumpet); Jack Kotze (trombone) + Georgia Heers, Tyreek McDole (vocals on tk 8)

Zito's Jump!. The title track is pure 1970s' soul/funk. It sounds authentic albeit a bit predictable. Zito knows his way around the fretboard that's for sure. 

Bird in the Wind. A nice catchy tune with a relaxed tenor solo that brought Georgie Auld to mind, guitar solo full of choice chords and intervals.

Island Girl. Not sure which island the girl is from but the rhythm, the delicate flute solo, and the contributions from piano and guitar suggest somewhere warm.

Time Zone. Tenor skips a few decades and looks to the future. Guitar gets a riff going over Farnsworth's own time zone.

Ready 'n' Able. Fast! Guitar in overdrive, saxes phrase like three brothers. It only lasts a couple of minutes but what a couple of minutes!

Pense Nisso. A gentle reflective bossa - guitar and piano gave me something to think about. They were nice thoughts.

Minor Lies. The last of the originals, a fast blast with Zito setting the pace followed by some cracking ensemble passages.

The Nearness of You. Heers takes the first chorus, McDole the second before they duet their way out. Lovely!

The End of a Love Affair. Normally a ballad. Not so here. This affair ends with flying plates and no holds barred as guitar and tenor go for the jugular.

After You've Gone (take one). Zito opens up strolling casually along before double-tempoing with a jaw dropping solo that is quite awesome.

It Could Happen to You. I'm a bit lukewarm on this track. The dirge like tempo over the funereal backing meant it didn't happen to me. Still one out of twelve tracks is a high score by any standard. I've been known to buy albums where I only liked one track and still felt it was money well spent!

After You've Gone (take two). Not a great difference between the two takes - they both last two minutes and twenty nine seconds so that, with the value of hindsight, my jaw didn't drop quite as far. Well worth checking out. Lance

BANDCAMP

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