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Bebop Spoken There

George Porter Jr.: ''To me, syncopation is like jazz. It wasn't meant for the masses. It was meant just for a hip few". (DownBeat, May 2025).

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

18076 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 397 of them this year alone and, so far, 75 this month (May 25).

From This Moment On ...

MAY 2025

Wed 28: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 28: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 28: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 29: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: That’s the Blues, Dad.
Thu 29: Nova.sol + Mikoudi @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 29: Front Porch Three @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Americana, blues etc.

Fri 30: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 30: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 30: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 30: Rivkala @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Fri 30: Ian Millar & Dominic Spencer @ Middleton & Tonbridge Village Hall. 7:30pm.

Sat 31: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 31: Funk Soul Sista @ STACK, Exchange Sq., Middlesbrough. 7:00-9:00pm. Free.
Sat 31: House of the Black Gardenia @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. SOLD OUT!

JUNE 2025

Sun 01: Smokin’ Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm. £7.50.
Sun 01: Harry Keeble Quartet @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. Keeble, Mark Williams, Andy Champion, Abbie Finn.
Sun 01: Sax Choir @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 01: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 01: Redwell @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 01: Hattie Whitehead @ Cotherstone Village Hall, Co. Durham. 7:30pm. £12.00.; £6.00. child.
Sun 01: Ruth Lambert Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle (8:00pm).

Mon 02: Swing Manouche @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 1:00pm. £9.00. at the door; £8.20. (inc £0.20 bf) online, in advance.
Mon 02: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club (1:00pm). Free.
Mon 02: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 6:30pm. Free. CANCELLED! RESCHEDULED to JULY 7.

Tue 03: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Ben Phillips, Paul Grainger, Tim Johnston.
Tue 03: Customs House Big Band @ The Masonic Hall, North St., Ferryhill DL17 8HX. 7:30pm. 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

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

CD Review - Daryl Sherman Mississippi Belle:Cole Porter in the Quarter

Daryl Sherman (pno/vcl); Jesse Boyd (bs); Tom Fischer (clt/ten);  Banu Gibson (guest vcl).
Having spent 15 years playing Cole Porter's actual Steinway in the Cocktail Terrace of New York's Waldorf-Astoria there can be few of today's songbirds more suited to interpreting the music and lyrics of Cole Porter than Daryl Sherman.
And yet this isn't just another Songbook re-working of the fond and familiar. Recorded with New Orleans musicians in the Crescent City we get a happy mix of the known and the unknown and although Let's Do It falls into the former category the singers choice of some of the less hackneyed lines in this list song give it an unexpected freshness e.g. Penguins in flocks, on the rocks, do it/Even little cuckoos in their clocks, do it...
The unknowns (to me) include Ours, Tale of the Oyster, By The Mississinewah, Mississippi Belle each given Daryl's unique take both as vocalist and pianist. She has an engaging way of stretching a word, giving it an almost dialectic inflection that leaves the listener in no doubt as to whom they are hearing.
The piano playing allows space when space is needed and feeds the chords when the chords need feeding whilst her solos in between vocals on Get Out of Town, Where Have You Been?, Who Wants to be a Millionaire? and From This Moment On rubber stamp her instrumental credentials.
In the absence of a drummer much responsibility is placed on the shoulders of the bassist and Jesse Boyd comes through flying - check out the Night and Day voice/bass intro to You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To
Tom Fischer blows clarinet like BG on Rosalie, Mississippi Belle, Millionaire, Where Have You Been and has moments on tenor on, among others, Get Out of Town and Looking at You (first heard this by Lee Wiley). 
If you have been lucky enough to catch Daryl Sherman live then this CD will remind you of her class. If you haven't yet caught the lady live then the CD becomes a must!
Lance.
DARYL SHERMAN Mississippi Belle:Cole Porter in the Quarter. Audiophile ACD - 342.

1 comment :

Charlie said...

Daryl sang with Artie Shaw's last band and a biography of Artie by Tom Nolan is now in South Shields' Library (at least it will be when I return it!)
Artie Shaw, King of the Clarinet: his life and times. Tom Nolan.

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