CD Review: Alex Webb & The Copasetics - Call Me Lucky

(Review by Ann Alex)

I expected this CD to be wonderful and I wasn’t disappointed. It could well be my CD of the year. If , in the unlikely scenario that you are unfamiliar with the work of Alex Webb, then it’s my duty to enlighten you! He’s done music journalism, played in pop and jazz groups, and created (and performed in) stage productions such as Cafe Society Swing which, in recent years has not only taken London and New York by storm but also this year’s GIJF. Circumstances decreed that I missed this latter show but our worthy editor rated it as one of the Festival’s highlights (see review).

Call Me Lucky consists of his well-crafted original songs with a jazz sensibility, songs which have up to now only been performed live. So Webb gathered first class vocalists around him and committed the songs to CD.  

RIP Don Friedman

Pianist Don Friedman passed away on June 30. As well as leading his own small groups, Friedman played on many albums with other luminaries such a Buddy Colette, Joe Henderson, John Handy, Clark Terry and many others.
Influenced very much by Bill Evans, Friedman was, nevertheless, his own man.
This obituary come interview  on Jazzwax gives an insight into the man.
Don Friedman was 81.
Sadly missed.
Lance

ODJB in Jarrow!

Called into Store 21 in Jarrow last week and couldn't resist this tee shirt for a fiver! However, as the South Shields store is closing and the Jarrow branch also under threat it is unlikely that the range will be updated to include Bird, Diz, Trane etc!

It's taken them 100 years to get this far!
Lance.

Exhilarating contemporary jazz coming up at The Globe on Friday July 15

Zhenya Strigalev (alto saxophone), Michael Janisch (electric bass) & Marc Ayza (drums)

Alto saxophonist and composer Zhenya Strigalev is one of the rising stars of the European jazz scene and he is fast building a reputation on both sides of the Atlantic for his exhilarating take on contemporary jazz. His live shows are as exciting as they are uniquely eccentric, and after headlining around Europe with sold out shows at Porgy & Bess in Vienna and Ronnie Scotts in London he brings his powerhouse trio featuring the extraordinary US bassist Michael Janisch (Joe Lovano, Miguel Zenon, Gary Husband) and first-call Spanish drummer Marc Ayza (Jason Linder, Greg Osby) to blend the lines between jazz, funk, rock, electronica and improv in a genre mish-mash of high calibre interplay and raw emotion.

Jazz Café Jam Session - July 5.

Peter Gilligan (pno); Paul Grainger (bs); Russ Morgan (dms) + Ray Johnson (tpt); Paul Gowland (sop); Abbie Finn (dms); Beth Roberts (alt); Ian Forbes (dms); Minnie Fraser (vcl); Kath Jobes (vcl).

(Review by Lance).

One of the things I love about jam sessions is the variety of performers who grace the hypothetical stage. The young, the old, the in-between. The high fliers and the aspirants, all have their moment of glory aided and abetted by a sympathetic rhythm section.

That rhythm section got things rolling with stellar performances of Close Your Eyes, Whisper Not and If You Could See me Now. All three at the top of their game with Morgan outstanding on Whisper Not.

Darlington’s full house for NYJO

(Report by Russell)

Our big band correspondent reports that last night’s NYJO concert in Darlington attracted a full house. The Dolphin Centre’s Central Hall was at capacity for a big band double bill featuring the County Durham Youth Big Band and, topping the bill, NYJO. Bill Ashton’s world-renowned National Youth Jazz Orchestra, these days led by Mark Armstrong (born in Newcastle upon Tyne!), rarely ventures north of Watford Gap. The occasional foray to Big Band Central (aka Wigan) or a foreign assignment (Milan next week!), otherwise it’s mainly gigs within the M25’s orbit rather than Jupiter’s.

The Education Of Soweto Kinch

I remember seeing this jazzman at GIJF a couple of years back, and a very fine performer he was too, so I was interested in a 15-minute slot about him that I caught today on BBC Radio 4.  He was talking about how his parents scraped together the money for him to go to a private school and how he coped as a black child in those surroundings.  This was no misery memoir and he seemed to have managed well despite feeling a bit lost.  Back at home, he adjusted easily to being with his family, who weren’t particularly academic, and he later went on to study at Oxford, or ‘Camford’ as his grandmother called it.

This was an interesting and refreshing item which BSH readers may be able to catch on i-player.

Ann Alex

Burton Agnes Jazz and Blues Festival 1/2/3 July 2016.

(Review by Steve T/Photos courtesy of Francis T & Paul E.)

The location for the festival is spectacular with sumptuous gardens, woods, an impressive gatehouse, lovely church and an incredible stately home with a large collection of art.

It’s not at all overcrowded with plenty of room to move around and no long queues at the bar or toilets, and while food and drink is expensive, it’s not extortionate.

The weather is a major factor and you would hope that the beginning of July would give you the best chance in this country though, talking to regulars, it appears they’ve had real nightmares in the past, so we were probably lucky with a cold, damp Friday and sun and showers alternating through Saturday and Sunday with the ratio improving through Sunday which turned out very pleasant.

It’s ideal for anyone with all the gear but who doesn’t care to brave the horrors of Glastonbury and the like.

There’s a spread of music, most, but not all, with a Jazz connection, though sometimes tenuous, and a couple of acts to tempt the hard-core Jazzer. It also claims to play blues although there was really nothing to justify the claim, a slight bugbear to some.

Zoe for London Jazz Festival.

(Preview by Steve T/Photo courtesy of Ken Drew )

Last year it was the face of Emma Fisk beaming up at you from the EFG website and this year it's another of our leading ladies, strawberry-blond bombshell Zoe Gilby, accompanied purely coincidentally by our very own innovative bass blaster Andy Champion.

Her natural warmth and charisma, not to mention a healthy dose of North East charm, and very much the classier end of the scale, ensure she's perfect for hosting a kids’ event in the Capital. The sessions are for age 5+ and are always popular and amongst the first to sell out each year and I know they'll both be fabulous.

Tickets are on sale from 10am on Friday 8th July priced £5 - £10.

The performance is at Cadogan Hall on Saturday November 12th from 2pm to 3pm.

John Pope Quintet @ The Bridge Hotel July 3 - A Tribute to Ornette Coleman

Jamie Stockbridge (alto sax), Faye MacCalman (Tenor); Graham Hardy (trumpet); John Pope (bass); Johnny Hunter (drums)

Review by Steve H/Photo courtesy of Ken Drew). 

This gig was conceived to commemorate a memorable 50^th anniversary – luckily this was not in recognition of England winning the 1966 World Cup but rather a celebration of Jazz North East’s 50^th birthday where they had the honour of hosting the great Ornette Coleman trio. True to form our 50 years of football hurt continues. England’s defeat against Iceland meant that rather than being obliged to stay at home and suffer their inevitable Euro quarter-final penalty shootout defeat against France the assembled audience were able to enjoy a spellbinding performance from this absolutely fabulous quintet.