Bebop Spoken There

Donovan Haffner ('Best Newcomer' 2025 Parliamentary Jazz Awards): ''I got into jazz the first time I picked up a saxophone!" - Jazzwise Dec 25/Jan 26

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

18146 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 24 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Jan. 7), 24

From This Moment On ...

JANUARY 2026

Sat 10: Mark Toomey Quintet @ St Peter’s Church, Stockton-on-Tees. 7:30pm. £12.00. (inc. pie & peas). Tickets from: 07749 255038.

Sun 11: New ’58 Jazz Collective @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 11: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 11: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 11: Eva Fox & the Sound Hounds @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 12: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 12: Saltburn Big Band @ Saltburn House Hotel. 7:00-9:00pm. Free.

Tue 13: Milne Glendinning Band @ Newcastle House Hotel, Rothbury. 7:30pm. £11.00. Coquetdale Jazz.
Tue 13: Jazz Jam Sandwich @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Wed 14: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 14: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 14: Jam Session @ The Tannery, Hexham. 7:00pm. Free.
Wed 14: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 15: Mark Toomey Quartet @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm. Free. Quartet + guest Paul Donnelly (guitar).

Fri 16: Giles Strong Quartet @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. £8.00. SOLD OUT!
Fri 16: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 16: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 16: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 16: Darlington Big Band @ The Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. Opus 4 Jazz Club.
Fri 16: Leeds City Stompers @ Billy Bootleggers, Newcastle. 9:00pm. 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

Sunday, August 24, 2025

Album review: Paul Harrison - Encontros (Harriphonic)

Paul Harrison (piano, melodica, synth.); Mario Caribé (bass, cavaquinho); Stuart Brown (drums, perc.) + Edmundo Carneiro (perc. 3-7,9,10); Laura Macdonald (alto sax 2,5,8); Rachel Lightbody (vocals 4,7,9); Fraser Fifield (low D whistle 7); Su-A Lee (cello 5,10)

A tribute to Egberto Gismonti, the renowned Brazilian composer who provided the material for ten of the eleven tracks.

The music is built upon the core trio of Harrison, Caribé and Brown with extra dimensions and colour supplied on various tracks by alto saxist Laura  Macdonald (Palhaço, Meninas, O Sonho); vocalist Rachel Lightbody (Lôro, Bianca, Illuminado); Cellist Su-A Lee (Meninas, Sete Aneis) and Fraser Fifield who blows a low D whistle on Bianca. Edmundo Carneiro not only provides authentic Latin percussion on seven of the tracks but also combines with Harrison to compose Transition.

On Karatê Harrison switches from  piano to melodica and shows the same dexterity as he does on a conventional keyboard.

In the blurb Harrison is quoted as saying that he decided to explore Gismonti's music because it offered so much more than just sambas and bossas. Sometimes there's a pastoral feeling about the music suggesting it's siesta time. At other times the siesta becomes the fiesta and nobody can party like Brazilians do at a carnival in Rio (or so I've been told!).

Not only that but there's also just a suggestion of Harrison's own Scottish heritage and the great man himself - Egberto Gismonti - upon hearing the album said: "...it has humour, has grace, has freedom to play.".

I'll second that Lance.

Release date: Sept. 5.

Ano ZeroPalhaço; Transition; Lôro; Meninas; Karatê; Bianca; O Sonho; Illuminado; Sete Aneis; A Fala Da Paixão

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