Madeleine Peyroux

For those whose tastes lean towards the classier vocalists there is a program on Madeleine Peyroux on BBC 4 tonight at 10:30 and repeated later in the evening/morning.

Should be worth switching on the telly for.

Lance.

Later...

(There were actually two programmes)

The first program began really well as Madeleine and her mother described their early days living in Paris - they'd moved to France when Madeleine was 13. Talking of nights spent busking in the Latin Quarter or on the Paris Metro you could almost inhale the smoke from a discarded Gauloise or taste the dregs of a bottle of Absinthe. Great stuff.

Afterwards, the setting changed to the States and it became a bit more show businessy. We didn't get any real insight into her disappearances and unpredictable behaviour. Nevertheless, it is worth watching - it's on BBC iplayer.

The second program is a live concert in L.A. that I'm listening to as I type. I'm beginning to notice how samey everything is. A change of tempo would help but somehow, each tune sounds like the one before.

Having said that, it is still very pleasant and - damn! I've accidentally switched off the iplayer! I'll hear the rest tomorrow - or will I? I think I know what it will be like.

Lance.

Tyne Soundings Live @ The Sage. Thursday 23rd July. 7.00.p.m. Performance.

Bill Fontana (Apple Mac), Tim Garland (bass clarinet, flute & soprano saxophone), Asaf Sirkis (percussion). Tim Garland explained, in a post-performance Q&A, that Tyne Soundings Live was in sevenths (determined by the intervals of the north east coastal fog horns) in the key of E. To the non-musicians present in the audience I'm not sure if this would have been helpful information pre-performance. Garland indicated that these parameters made it an interesting proposition for improvising musicians. Listening to the piece - the duration of this early evening performance being approximately thirty minutes - it occured to these ears that the instrumental input was limited; Garland keen to interject, impose, Asaf Sirkis unusually hesitant, seemingly reluctant to break the silence. Bill Fontana's work was contemplative ( some might say soporific). The dominant sound was that of the horns - Tyne North Pier and Souter Lighthouse. Sound sculptor Bill Fontana is a resident of San Francisco - the Bay Area foghorns have obvious parallels with those on the north east coast of England. The live 'soundings' were integral to the performance; Fontana, gazing intently at the screen of his Apple Mac, introduced sounds and moderated the perforrmance. The visual element (a two-screen backdrop), added to the stillness of the piece. The kittiwakes nesting on the North Tower of the Tyne Bridge were oblivious to the goings-on (the bridge contributed to the sound-scape) and the Tyne Pedestrian Tunnel was shown in a loop montage of images with scarcely audible sounds of the moving escalators. One or two jazzers were present at the performance. It is to be hoped that they appreciated the multi-disciplinary aspect of the event because the jazz content, not unexpectedly, was minimal at best. Russell

Tyne Soundings Live - The 9:00 performance.

Bill Fontana (laptop), Tim Garland (flt/bs.clt/sop.), Asif Sirkis (perc).

If you enlarge and read the blurb to the left you'll get the picture of what it is all about (hopefully) - I was there and I still don't know what it was all about. Mind you the fact that I kept nodding off to sleep didn't help my understanding although it did speak gallons for the soporific qualities of the event. (Do gallons speak?)

Russell attended the earlier performance and, if he stayed awake, will no doubt have some succinct comments to make. Sage Supremo Ros Rigsby did say the two performances were totally different.

In fairness, Tim Garland did blow some interesting snatches - how could he fail? This was a licence to blow pure and simple albeit in the most restrained way possible. Likewise Asif Sirkis; he produced some strange eastern sounds from his exotic percussion kit.

At least it was free although I think I may have been better off paying £7 to hear the Hallé in Hall One. Tchaikovsky's "Sleeping Beauty" was on the program.

Lance.

Rik Walton's Two Kinds of Music - Washington Arts Centre

This was a special preview event of Rik's current photo exhibition with a jazz, folk and roots theme.

There isn't a disappointing image among them with my personal favourite being his take on the late George Melly.

I don't think anyone has quite photographed the flamboyant Melly at his sartorial best the way Rik has - it is an outstanding portrait that captures the man to perfection.

Others include Humph, Dick Morrissey, Don Weller (another stunning image), Abdullah Ibraham plus a further 27 some of whose names were unfamiliar to me yet, nevertheless, didn't detract from the images.

My only complaint, I wished there had been more of them.

As I was due at The Sage I couldn't hang around too long and thus missed out on the wine. However, I didn't miss out on Germaine (Stanger) looking radiant and refreshed after holidaying in Cornwall - the icing on the cake.

The event runs until Sept 19 so boogie on down. Lot's of real ale in the Arts Centre Bar.

Lance.

"The Majesties of the Blues" - Ellington/Marsalis tribute coming up at the Spice of Life

Anna Lacy, York's number one jazz impresario and Facebook Friend, has drew my attention to a gig at London's "Spice of Life" pub just off Charing Cross Rd.

"The Majesties of the Blues" is a tribute to Wynton Marsalis and Duke Ellington and features Abram Wilson, Jason Yarde, Denys Baptiste, and members of Wilson's new quartet. It's on August 20 start 8:00 pm.

Having had an enjoyable evening at the venue earlier this month I can recommend it as a nice intimate setting and well worth a visit for those in the area on that date.

Thanks Anna, I'm hoping to get to one of your gigs at the BLACK SWAN (not the White Swan as I inadvertantly entered originally) sometime in the not too distant future. Lance.

It sure wasn't no pickpocket...

The word on Facebook is that John Pope had his double bass stolen but that the instrument and its owner have been re-united. What's the lowdown on this dastardly deed John?

Lance.

Take It To The Bridge & Friends @ The Chilli.

Dave Weisser (tpt/vcl), Darren Grainger, Paul Gowland (ten), Barry Ashcroft/Harley Johnson (pno). Jim Crinson (bs), Eric Stutt/Solly Bashiri (dms/vcl(Solly)). D.N.B. Lance Liddle.

After last week's crowd, this week was, by comparision, relatively quiet. However, it was not without some excellent performances all-round.

Dave played his usual dependable horn and sang "Like Someone In Love" and "Never Let Me Go".

In the second set Harley sat in and played some superb Monkian piano on "Straight No Chaser".

As well as sitting in on drums, Solly also sang Van Morrison's "Moon Dance". Solly wasn't happy with the key but it sounded okay to me.

Paul Gowland, normally plays alto but tonight he was on tenor and he blew up a storm - I left my horn in the case!

Mention must be made of Barry who, after Harley's stint came back and re-quoted Harley's quote from "Blue Monk" just to let everyone know he'd been digging it.

Jim, Eric and Darren all had their moments and it was a good night.

Lance. Photos.

Press Release from John Taylor ASHINGTON JAZZ CLUB

Encouraged by an ever growing membership Ashington Jazz Club is continuing with it monthly sessions at the Elephant in Ashington. The next performance is by an exciting new young band “The Pimptones” who are based in Newcastle. They are the brainchild of Nick Pride, a jazz guitarist with a passion for all styles of music. The band's super-tight sound came the old fashioned way - from constant gigging, jamming, rehearsing and refining. After playing at the Gateshead International Jazz Festival, the group’s reputation has grown since its birth in 2007. Formed with drummer Oz Cassidy from Nick Pride's previous band Rubberneck these musicians also perform with Voice of The North Jazz Orchestra and Andy Champion. Monthly residencies include The Gala Theatre in Durham and As You Like It in Jesmond. April 2009 saw the quintet's debut album release. - "It's The Pimptones" is on Jazz Girl Records. This is a collection of original tunes penned by Nick and performed by some of the region’s best players. Nick, on guitar and vocals, is joined by Ian Paterson on bass, Oz Cassidy on drums, Dave Wilde on sax and flute and Alex Leathard on trombone. Nick, 34, plays every Saturday at the Durham Gala Theatre. He and Ian also feature in the North East ‘supergroup’ Sharks Took the Rest – a band that impressed during their headlining slot at The Journal Culture Awards. “It’s quite easy to put a band together when all of your best mates are really good musicians,” says Nick. Their new album was launched at the Head of Steam venue in Newcastle City Centre. Nick called on the talent of local singer Laurie Shepherd to do a track that actually started life as an instrumental. The CD “It’s the Pimptones” is available from selected outlets in the North East. The band will tour Scotland in August. Nick Pride and the Pimptones with guest vocalist Laurie Shepherd are at Ashington Jazz Club at the Elephant on August 5th 2009 at 8.30 pm. John Taylor.

USA Vintage Programmes

Colin Aitchison, our man in Hong Kong, has kindly sent me some American band programmes from the 1930s/'40s. Benny Goodman, Woody Herman, Horace Heidt, and Johnny Scatman Davis.

Click here to view along with other posters and programmes from closer to home.

Lance.

Listen to this

Gilad Atzmon with Strings contains some of the most lyrical alto playing since Bird recorded with strings. Lance.