Tag: laura tindall

North East Music Label Looks To Revitalise Jazz Scene

By on 21st January 2016in Entertainment

Laura Tindall, music teacher and Radio Tyneside host, catches up with Jamie Toms – founder of North East label Jazz Sound Records…

Jamie Toms, like many other creatives I know, is all about the artistry. He’s in it for the love of it, for the music, and to bring recognition to talented people.

As a musician and teacher with a life-long involvement in jazz music, performing and composing, Jamie recognised that original jazz music in the Newcastle area doesn’t always have an outlet.

He said: “I set up Jazz Sound Records to help promote people who are writing original jazz. People here in the North East would otherwise have to release their material independently or go elsewhere to a bigger label.

“There are bands doing original stuff that are being overlooked, or the bands are backing away from writing original material because of a difficulty in getting events. There are a lot of talented musicians, but the scene is going a bit quiet.”

The idea for the label came as a business idea for part of Jamie’s recent MA in Music Management, but he realised there was a demand for the label to continue after discussions with different musicians and bandleaders.

 

“I believe the music these bands are creating is high quality, and I will eventually push the bands to be gigging further afield, arranging gigs in other parts of the country, and even into other European countries where the jazz scene is strong.”

The bands currently represented by the label are Not Now Charlie, Uncle Oswald, Slowlight Quartet and After Dark Fonksters – all of which hold strong ties with the North East.

The ultimate driving force behind Jazz Sound Records is original music.

“A lot of places book bands to play trad. jazz and standards, but it can put the nail in the coffin of people writing original jazz music if there’s no outlet or any venues to play it at.”

Jamie is putting his money where his mouth is, and in February will be putting on a gig with his band Not Now Charlie at the Jazz Café in Newcastle. The gig will be entirely original jazz, and the band’s sound can be described as melodic, groove-based jazz, which is catchy and partly improvised. There will be a live recording of the gig, and the EP will be released by Jazz Sound Records later in the year.

Jamie agrees that there is often quite a discerning audience at jazz gigs, and enjoys that it’s often other musicians in attendance. However, he wants the gigs promoted by Jazz Sound Records to be of wider appeal, especially to those people who think they might not like jazz.

“I want a fresher approach to the scene. I want a jazz band to be able to put on a gig in the same way that a pop band would do. I want to expose more people to original music that they might not otherwise seek out.”

Not Now Charlie, made up of a group of five musicians in their 20s and 30s, were brought together by knowing each other from different jazz bands and from studying Music at university. While Jamie writes most of the material, the band’s unique sound comes from the interpretation that the band members bring to the material.

“I have an idea of the harmonic structure in my head, as well as riffs, or sometimes particular rhythmic ideas. We also have set solo sections within a piece, and we improvise around an idea. If I write all the parts out exactly, then it sounds like my voice, but I like to leave it as open as possible so people can interpret it and bring their own sound to it.”

If you have ever wanted your clapping and cheering preserved on a jazz album forever, then now is your chance!

Jazz Sound Records are presenting Not Now Charlie with support from The Saxophonics playing at the Jazz Café, Pink Lane, Newcastle, NE1 5DW on Friday 12th February at 9pm. Tickets are £5 in advance, or £3 on the door.

 

Not Now Charlie play original groove-based jazz. They are Jamie Toms – Saxophone, Pawel Jedrzejewski – Guitar, Richard Campbell – Keys, Liam Gaughan – Bass, Dave McKeague – Drums.

Saxophonics are a local saxophone quartet playing original jazz compositions and arrangements.

Photographs by Ken Drew and Jamie Toms.

Judy Collins: Folk Legend at The Sage, Gateshead

By on 28th October 2015in Entertainment, Have Your Say, Music, What's New?

Laura Tindall, musician, music teacher and Radio Tyneside host, shares the music closest to her heart…

Throughout my adult life, I’ve had a great interest in folk singer-songwriters from the height of the 1960s and 1970s protest song and social activism era. Perhaps I should have been born in a different decade?

We had songs by the likes of Joan Baez, Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell playing in the car when I was little, back in the eighties when it was a tape player. Songs like The Wild Mountain Thyme (1965), Blowin’ in the Wind (1963), and Both Sides Now (1969) are amongst the defining sound of these artists, as well as a generation, and the lyrics are as relevant today as any day.

My first encounter with the music of Judy Collins was around my late teens/early twenties, when my best friend and I would perform as a duo at various North East venues, and we included Who Knows Where the Time Goes? into our live performance repertoire, taking inspiration from the Judy Collins version. The song was written by Sandy Denny in 1967, and originally recorded as a demo. Judy Collins heard the demo tape in 1968 and decided to cover the song. It became the B-side to her version of Both Sides Now.

My friend and I preferred the Judy Collins version due to her treatment of the song’s metre, and to this day it’s one of our favourite songs to perform.

In October, Judy Collins came to The Sage, Gateshead, and there was no way I would miss the chance to hear this folk legend live.

A piano, an empty stage, and a pretty full audience were what awaited Judy in Hall 2 of The Sage, a great, intimate venue. Just as I had my own story surrounding why I wanted to see this artist live, I wondered what others’ stories were. Most of the audience were close in age to Collins, if my perceptions served me correctly. Some, like me, were alone, while others were in pairs or small groups. It’s the ones who are alone that intrigue me most, as I wonder about their story, their personal music experience, and the lives they’ve lived.

Judy Collins opened with a beautiful performance of Open The Door, on which she played guitar while musical director Russell Walden accompanied on piano. She moved into her second song without saying a word. As soon as I heard the opening few bars and lyrics, I knew I’d be watching the rest of it through misty eyes. Both Sides Now sounds just as wonderful today as it does on any of her recordings. A truly emotional experience as I watched this silver-locked folk legend, 56 years into the business, perform such an iconic song.

“I’ve looked at love from both sides now, from up and down, and still somehow, it’s clouds’ illusions I recall, I really don’t know life at all.”

Throughout the evening, Judy’s new and old material was interspersed with stories of friendships, with the likes of Leonard Cohen, Joan Baez, Joan Rivers, and others who are true friends and icons of the music and entertainment industries.

Another emotional moment was her song In The Twilight, about her mother. It clearly touched many, many people in the audience.

“She’s a lady and she’s going home, she tells me as her eyes close in the twilight. I ask her where and she smiles and she tells me ‘it’s a secret’. And then she’s gone, just like the flowers in her garden.”

Judy Collins’ support act for the evening was Ari Hest, a singer-songwriter from New York. He’s one to watch, with a rounded, slightly husky voice and a penchant for Brazilian-style guitar playing. To me, he’s cut from the same cloth as Collins, with songs celebrating the simple things in life, as well as giving hope for the future. Check out songs After The Thunder and Harvest from his new album, Shouts and Whispers.

 

The years have been kind to Judy Collins, her voice as soaring and beautiful as ever. Whether you listen to Both Sides Now today or yesterday, in 1968, 2015, or somewhere in between, you have your own story. Live it and remember it.

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