The Mark Toomey Quartet @ Dorman's Jazz Club Middlesbrough - May 2

Mark Toomey (alto sax); Jeremy McMurray (piano); Alan Rudd (double bass); Paul Smith (drums).

A night of jazz standards and original compositions. All delivered with the passion and excitement that is always guaranteed with this group which isn't surprising comprising as it does some of the best jazz musicians in the Teesside area. It also gave Mark  the the opportunity to demonstrate his skills as a talented composer with a number of his own compositions.

Sonny Rollins' version of Tenor Madness set the style for the night with excellent solos all round. Jimmy Van Heusen's It Could Happen to You was nicely played before Jump High, an up tempo Parker influenced composition of Mark's, again  included sax, piano and bass solos before exchanging fours with Paul to finish.

Preview: Saltburn Big Band @ Saltburn Community Theatre - May 26

Following on from their debut concert in Saltburn last year, the band has gone from strength to strength delivering stunning performances throughout the area including a standing ovation at a sell out concert in Stokesley earlier this year. 

Lead by trumpet ace Kevin Eland, the concert promises to be of the same high standard with some great arrangements and knockout soloists, many of whom are musicians well-established in the area and beyond. Lance

PROMO VIDEO.

Tickets HERE.

Dean Stockdale Trio @ The Old Library, Auckland Castle - May 3

Dean Stockdale (piano); Mick Shoulder (double bass); John Bradford (drums)

The sun shone today. Sunny Bishop Auckland suggested the best of spring is just around the corner. Auckland Castle, a tourist attraction at the best of times, today looked a picture, a magnet for the many culture vultures milling about town. Those in the know queued at the door to the Old Library, eager to part with a mere eight pounds to hear some of the finest jazz the region has to offer.

Album review: Synia Carroll - Water is my Song (Clarion Jazz 851724)

Synia Carroll (vocals); John Di Martino (piano); Kenny Davis (bass); Jerome Jennings (drums) + Cafe (perc on 2 tks); Will Galison (harmonica on 1 tk); Aaron Heick (reeds on 4 tks); Beatriz Hernandez (backing vocals on 1 tk); Westey Lima De Amorim (guitar on 4 tks); David Oquendo (vocals and chants on 2 tks); Houston Person (tenor sax on 2 tks).

Carroll is we are told, a vocalist, poet, teacher and professional storyteller. Her poetic side can be heard on Child of the Times co-written with Jane Getz who isn't related to Stan. It was after receiving a master's degree in education at the University of New Haven and spending several years teaching that she found herself becoming a part of the South Florida jazz scene.

Press release: Etude: A Study In You And Me | Rehearsal Session @ Brixton Hill Studios

Yesterday was the last rehearsal with the ISQ boys before our gig at the iconic Pizza Express Jazz Club in Soho this coming Wednesday the 8th and we were sounding hawt if I may say so myself! I’ve been putting the finishing touches on the writing for the next album  and brought in some new material that we played through yesterday. Really excited about how the new songs are shaping up, featuring some of the most honest writing I’ve ever done.

Book your tickets here:   https://bit.ly/ISQ-PizzaExpressLive-24

Mayhem in Manhattan - JATP remembered

Illinois Jacquet, Flip Phillips (tenor sax); Howard McGhee (trumpet); Bill Harris (trombone); Hank Jones (piano); Ray Brown (bass); Jo Jones (drums).

As the review CDs pile up I'm in the horns of a dilemma. Our local binmen are on strike and charity shops frown at being overloaded with more of the same - particularly with  jazz CDs. So, in the forlorn hope that the hustlers out there will ask me first before dumping 'the latest thing' on me, I decided to listen to some of the albums that I've treasured over the years that I no longer find the time to listen to.

The recordings by Norman Granz's JATP were among the earliest ones I got hooked on after I'd graduated from Goodman, Dorsey, Miller and the big bands of the swing era.

Late Night Chicago Radio w. Denny Farrell - May 2 to May 8

Lionel Hampton: Midnight Sun.

Sidney Bechet: Muskrat Ramble.

?: The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea.

MJQ: Venice.

Chris Connor: Mixed Emotions. 

Woody Herman: Basin Street Blues.

A photo collage from last night

It was a great night, a night that will remain in the memory of all who were present. Pam, whose birthday it also was - no secrets on Facebook - took these great shots apart from the one (bottom right of the photo) of yours truly saying a few fumbling words. Ros Rigby took that one - thank you Ros. 

Every number was great including the two beautiful ballad features; Ask me Now and I'm Through With Love with Nadim Teimoori (tenor sax) and Colin Steele (trumpet) respectively doing the honours.

Tremendous! Lance

The Clark Tracey Quintet @ the Globe, Newcastle - April 30

© Ken Drew

Nadim Teimoori (tenor sax); Colin Steele (trumpet); Dave Newton (piano); Andy Cleyndert (double bass); Clark Tracey

The closing concert in Newcastle Jazz Co-op's '10 Years a Co-op' festival featured an all-star quintet led by the one-and-only Clark Tracey. The Globe considers Clark a friend and this return visit drew a capacity audience. And little wonder...the Globe's ten year anniversary (on International Jazz Day), speeches by local bigwigs, a free buffet and, of course, Clark's band. And what a band!

Other than bandleader Clark, the quintet didn't include any of the musicians originally scheduled to appear. Any initial disappointment at their absence was instantly dispelled with a rip-roaring take on the opener, Rainbow at the Five Mile Road. The depping frontline horns tore it up. As deps go, Nadim Teimoori and Colin Steele were more than acceptable! BSH first heard tenor saxophonist Teimoori at the Wigan International Jazz Festival. On that occasion, Teimoori sat in the reeds of the powerhouse Louis Dowdeswell Big Band. This evening's small group setting offered Teimoori the chance to show what he could really do. Let's say he didn't spurn the opportunity! 

Album Review: Tim Garland – Moment of Departure (Ubuntu)

Tim Garland (soprano and tenor sax, bass clarinet, conductor); Gwilym Simcock (piano) and Asaf Sirkis (drums, percussion); Yazz Ahmed, (trumpet); Thomas Gould (violin); the Strings of the Britten Sinfonia, Clio Gould, Leader; the Strings of the London Studio Orchestra, John Mills, Leader; Rob Millett (cimbalom).

It’s rare that an album puts its billy big boots on and, from the first chord demands to be given serious consideration for the album of the year slot, especially in April! Winds of Hope opens with crashing chords from Simcock, thumping drums and a sinuous soprano line from Garland. It’s a high energy statement of intent as the Lighthouse Trio come storming back after several years’ absence. The Britten Sinfonia’s strings fill in any spaces to complete the wall of sound. Everyone plays with a forceful drive and the knotty lines become impossible to untangle.

Trails starts equally boldly and brightly before Garland constructs an intense questioning solo which builds in power with more heavy duty pianism cutting across his lines. Sirkis is lighter but furious on the drums.