Album review: Art Themen Organ Trio - Live in Soho (Ubuntu Music)

Art Themen (tenor/alto sax); Pete Whittaker (organ, piano); George Double (drums)

After Art's recent storming and successful session at the Globe - a night that will go down in the venue's folk-lore - I looked forward to hearing more of Art Themen and, with this album, my wish was granted and I wasn't disappointed.

The classic organ trio line-up, so beloved back in the day by the bods at Blue Note, on this groove-laden live recording is up there in contention with the greats of the past, present and future. However, it's not all soulful funk. There's an eclectic mix of Latin, ballads, hard bop and some that avoid categorisation, all performed to perfection by three masters of their craft.

The Panama Jazzmen remembered

I came across these two photos of the Panama Jazzmen in a couple of 1999 (Nov. 18/29) copies of Newcastle's Evening Chronicle that  I thought would be of interest to some of our more senior readers.

The Panama Jazzmen were the area's top Dixieland band of the time and Teddy Hutchinson must have been delighted that Satchmo's drummer Barrett Deems allowed him to use his kit.

The earlier photo, taken two years earlier in 1954, has me wondering if there are any living survivors of 'The Brown Ale Special'?

Finally, whereabouts in Edinburgh was the Condon Club and did any other north east bands play there? Lance 

Album review: Chet Baker - Late Night Jazz (Elemental Records)

Chet Baker (trumpet, wordless vocal on How High the Moon); Philip Catherine/Nicola Stilo (guitar); Egil Kapstad (piano); Terge Venaas (bass)

Yet another unearthed Chet Baker 'treasure'. This one recorded in Paris in 1988, only months before the trumpet player's mysterious death. Initially recorded as a 'dream project' by Norwegian poet Jan Erik Vold who envisioned a collaboration blending jazz with poetic expression. However, for this album the poetry has been omitted and we have to settle for the music.

Album review: Sam Braysher - That's Him, the music of Kurt Weill

Sam Braysher (alto sax); Matyas Gayer (piano); Dario Di Lecce (bass); Steve Brown (drums) + Sara Dowling (vocals on tks 2, 6 & 9).

If you're like me, Kurt Weill means Mack the Knife, September Song, Speak Low, The Threepenny Opera and little, if anything, else. Fortunately, Sam Braysher is a man with an enquiring mind and he uncovered nine Weill compositions that were completely unknown to me and these were just the tip on an iceberg that encompassed operas, orchestral and chamber music, piano compositions and more.

Here I'll Stay, written by Weill with Alan Jay Lerner is a beautiful tune that is a perfect showcase for Braysher's liquid alto - oh that more more modern alto players could sound so lyrical! A fine solo too from pianist Gayer - a name to remember.

An August evening Black Swan jam session - August 6

Steve Glendinning (guitar); Paul Grainger (double bass); Bailey Rudd (drums) + Luis Verde (alto sax); Robert Johnson (tenor sax); Kate O'Niell (vocals); ? (alto sax); Martin Waugh (piano); Jamie Watkins (double bass); Adam Sams (guitar); John  Rowland (tenor sax); Lachlan Fotheringham (soprano sax); Miriam McCormick (vocals); Dan Potter (drums); Lisa (vocals); Theo Nolan (drums); Shayo (vocals); Josh (piano); Liam Oliver (guitar); Becky Tuck (vocals); Remy Coulthard Boardman (vocals); Ian Drever (vocals); ? (vocals); ? (guitar); James Mainwaring (alto sax); Ellen (vocals)

August, students away sunning themselves/working a late shift somewhere, audience regulars opting for an evening in front of the box watching the Olympics, it was bound to be a quiet night down at the Black Swan. Doors at seven, it was quiet, it sure did look like being a quiet one. By the seven thirty down beat things were looking up. As the house trio - Steve Glendinning, Paul Grainger and Bailey Rudd - played a few numbers to warm up, the room began to fill up, not so much with the usual faces, rather more newcomers.

Tomorrow night's session at the Globe has been cancelled due to fears of local disorder

The announcement that the Globe will be closed tomorrow night (Wednesday August 7) in the interests of safety to staff and customers due to fears of local disorder is a cause for sadness and despair.

It beggars belief that some of these thugs may be a neighbour, a fellow worker or somebody you chat to about football or the weather or whatever whilst waiting for the bus can, come nightfall, be transformed into vicious, racist hooligans intent on smashing up their own (or somebody else's) neighbourhood and, more than likely, eventually killing an innocent bystander along the way.

I despair that this country has come to this and I am in total agreement with the Globe's decision. I fear more venues will follow until sanity and commonsense prevails. Lance

Press release: Lancaster Jazz Festival and Jazz North are teaming up to offer a free conference day for artists!

This day will take place at The Gregson Centre in Lancaster on Friday 13 September 

Artists can sign up for a day of networking, panels and roundtables with sector leading musicians and organisations 

As part of the 2024 edition of their annual September event, Lancaster Jazz Festival and Jazz North are joining forces to offer an inspiring artist-led conference for musicians. 

Offering vital support to artists keen to develop their careers, this day will be about creative practice, knowledge sharing and building networks.

Attendees are invited to join roundtables with sector-leading artists who will touch on topics from their own careers such as songwriting, building creative communities, touring in Europe and establishing a brand. 

Album Review: Sweet Megg - Bluer Than Blue (Turtle Bay Records)

Sweet Megg /Meaghan Farrell (vocals); Billy Contreras (fiddle); Mike Davis (trumpet); Ricky Alexander (clarinet, saxophone); Sam Chess (trombone); Justin Poindexter (guitar); Chris Scruggs (lap steel, backing vocals); Dalton Ridenhour (piano); Dennis Crouch (bass); Chris Gelb (drums, backing vocals); Wild Bill (backing vocals); Timbo (vocals track 6); Ashley Campbell (vocals track 10)

This is the most recent album from Sweet Megg which is a lively collection of standards from both jazz and country, which explains the cowboy hat Megg is wearing on the album cover. The hat put me off but I needn't have worried as the album is such fun and suitable for your next party, despite the title. Mostly heartbreaking songs sung with swing and flair, plus an original by Megg herself and Justin Poindexter, Little Bit (a little bit of me just needs a little bit of you).

Hot Club du Nord + Revolutionaires @ Seaham Food Festival - Aug. 4

A first visit to the Seaham Food Festival. The weather couldn't have been much better with a mill pond North Sea an impressive backdrop. The many food stalls couldn't have been busier, queues a mile long. Two minutes' walk from the food arena, the open air North Road Amphitheatre would stage the afternoon's entertainment. Picnic hampers, champers, kids rockpooling, it was just like being at the seaside...    

Hot Club du Nord: Emma Fisk (violin); James Birkett (guitar); Bruce Rollo (double bass)

Emma Fisk's Hot Club du Nord pitched up as a trio. Absentee guitarist Dave Harris had gone and booked himself a holiday, that's what you call poor diary management, Mr H! This Can't Be Love opened the programme, the sound excellent, hats off to the sound engineers. Across some forty five minutes Emma and the boys were never less than superb. Ain't Misbehavin', Minor Swing, solos all round, appreciated by a listening audience. 

Album review: Andromeda Turre – From The Earth, A Jazz Suite (Starbilt Records)

Andromeda Turre (voice, piano, crystal bowls, bell tree); Chelsea Baratz (saxes, EWI); Chien Chien Lu (marimba, vibes), Jacquelene Acevedo (perc.); Riza Printup (harp); M’elle (background/choir vocals); Akua Dixon, Lulu Fontan, Catherine Asaad, Terrell Foster-James (choir); Steve Turre (trombone, shells); ELEW (piano); Richie Goods (electric/acoustic bass); Gene Lake (drums); Harold E. Smith (didgeridoo); + Betty Neals (poetry); Dr. Jifunza Wright-Carter, Ms. Margaret Gordon, Dr. Gladys M. Canals, & Rhonda Hiscock (Interviewees)

Well, here we are only 53 years on from Marvin asking What’s Going On we have something that might be regarded as a sequel. Whilst Mr Gaye sang about social problems as much as ecological ones Turre makes no apology for recognising the existential ecological crisis as the major issue and puts it front and centre on this album.