RIP Paul Bley

Montreal born pianist Paul Bley passed away on Sunday (January 3) age 83. A forward looking composer and pianist he was associated with many of the greats from Charlie Parker onwards including Ornette Coleman, Sonny Rollins, his ex wife Carla Bley and former partner Annette Peacock, Charlie Haden and many others by which time he himself was becoming a legend. 

When asked if he ever listened to his own records he replied, "I only listen to my own records".

Read and listen here.
Lance.

Jazz Co-op @ The Globe: Folk Meets Jazz has now Morphed

I thought that headline would get your attention: now read on.  This evening has now become Folk Meets Acoustic, which we at the Co-op thought would reflect the evening more accurately, and which shows that we have our fingers on the musical pulse, so to speak.  So come along on the 1^st Thursday of the month, which just happens to be Thursday 7^th this week, for folk music (unaccompanied song, guitar whistle, fiddle, maybe even my ukulele) blues, rock, original songs: and of course jazz is still more than welcome.

Be there for 8pm, Raffle £1.

Ann Alex 

RIP Johnny Rogers

Just passing on the sad news that Johnny Rogers (Alto) who was one of the original Club 11 founders along with Ronnie Scott,Tony Crombie etc: has died this afternoon. John lived at Lealholm Nr.Whitby and was married to Irene, (Danny Mitchell's daughter) who was with Ivy B. when they married. A great Charlie Parker playalike, who was well feted in the Teesside area when he moved up here. Obituary.
Link to Club 11 documentary.

Gene Jarred.

The Kid From Biddick Hall

South Shields lad, Colin 'Kid' Dawson, jazz trumpet player, long time resident in Germany, has released his latest CD. An album that features a track Sandancer dedicated to his old home town. It is mentioned in tonight's Shields Gazette.

Listen to Swinga-Dilla-Street composed by James P. Johnson and played by the Kid's band - Echoes of  Swing - although I doubt if James P was referring to Ocean Rd!

Lance.

CD Review: Live at Foxrock Folk Club – The Parish Hall Tapes (revisited)

(Editors note: We don't normally do more than one review of the same CD unless the second contributor is offering a totally different view which isn't the case here. However, due to the holiday period causing some lack of communication among our blogforce, fans of Irish folk, jazz and blues can read again the fascinating story of the Foxrock Folk Club and the resultant recordings.)

(Review by Russell)

To the south of Dublin is the village of Cornelscourt. In the 1960s its ‘rather nondescript and rundown’ parish hall was to become the venue of Foxrock Folk Club presenting folk, jazz, blues and poetry. A 15 year old local schoolboy, Kevin McCann, had a reel-to-reel tape recorder. He took it along to the parish hall and recorded many of the musicians who played at the club during 1970-72. Somehow the tapes survived down the years and some fifteen years ago were transferred to CD. Careful restoration and mastering followed and The Parish Hall Tapes is the result.

George Wein and Andy Hudson

Love this photo of Andy Hudson and George Wein taken at the latter's 90th birthday celebration in NYC.

Wein, apart from being a respected pianist and power behind the throne of the Newport Jazz Festival, had a long term jazz partnership with fellow pianist and entrepreneur Hudson. This included the 1978 Cleveland Jazz Festival at Ayresome Park, then the home of Middlesbrough football club, where the town on the Tees played host to more jazz legends than were currently playing in downtown Manhattan, LA or anywhere else in America! Apart from that, Andy and George also collaborated on  London's Capital Jazz Festival and remained in contact over the years Here they're getting together again at his birthday party in Carnegie Hall last November.

Priceless!

Lance.
PS: And, Andy tells me, George's still gigging!

Billy Cobham on Radio 6

On BBC Radio 6 at circa 10:30am Billy Cobham talks about drumming and jazz drummers.
Russell.

CD Review: Live At Foxrock Folk Club - The Parish Hall Tapes 1970-72

(Review by Ann Alex).

This is my (double) CD of the year (just caught for 2015 on New Year’s Eve) and we are very lucky that the CDs exist at all. They have been produced by Jeremy Kearney (the BSH reviewer a.k.a ‘JC’) and the music was restored by Adam Sinclair from tapes recorded live at the Foxrock Folk Club, (just south of Dublin) in 1970-72.  The original recordings were made by a 15 year old schoolboy, Kevin McCann (bless you, wherever you are now) on a reel-to-reel tape recorder, so we have the immediacy of a live recording, involving some of the best folk and jazz players around Dublin at that time.  

RIP Natalie Cole.

The death of singer Natalie Cole at the age of 65 has come as a shock to her many fans, not least to myself. Like her dad, she was a class act able to absorb his impeccable taste into her own persona.
Only one word for it - unforgettable.
Natalie Cole left us to join her father yesterday evening.
Sadly missed.
Lance.
Obituary.

CD Review: The Dan Wilkins Ensemble-Jnana Vijnana

Dan Wilkins (ten); Patrick McGhee (sop); Mike Bono, Vaughn Stoffet (gtr); Dave Lantz (pno/keys); Daryl Johns (bs); Jimmy MacBride (dms).

(Review by Lance).

Not a foot-tapper or a hip-shaker, this Sanskrit titled album is more a cerebral exercise. Wilkins' original compositions are, he says, inspired by personal psychological and spiritual experiences.

Jnana-Vijnana refers to the pursuit of understanding the knowledge of the Self and of the physical plural world in its many phases and incarnations.

There's more!