Jazz - what is it? You could discuss that for hours on end nowadays - the music has absorbed so many new innovations and influences.
It perhaps depends on how rigid your views are. Ellington said it was 'the sound of surprise'. He also said 'it don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing'. Everyone has their own perspective.
Maybe it's best to let the music speak for itself.

I like to think of jazz as the intimate art.
I think the music can be at it's best when there is an intimate relationship between the musicians playing, in terms of interplay, listening and reacting, and between musicians and audience. I feel that is perhaps more achievable in small group jazz. In this setting the personal nature of the player's music can shine through. So, nowadays, it is this aspect of the music which interests me most. Also it's getting that I much prefer purely acoustic music - no electricity, no effects, just musician and instrument.

My teenage interest in pop music (eg. Buddy Holly, The Shadows, The Rolling Stones) developed into a passion for R&B and blues (eg. Sonny Terry/Brownie McGhee, Jimmy Yancey, Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley) then into jazz via piano jazz as played by Peterson, Garner, Previn & Dudley Moore all of whom had quite a lot of TV exposure back in the 60s & 70s. From there my tastes gradually widened into jazz of all styles from Bix through to Ornette Coleman - I am still very fond of both these great players. My teenage interest in guitar (Shadows/Chuck Berry etc.) came to a dead end - I did not play at all for quite a few years but meanwhile became a devout jazz fan. At around 30 I bought a cheap second hand instrument and started afresh, inspired by George Barnes (those great recordings with Ruby Braff). This would be around 1976. Soon a fellow musician and dear friend (the late Clem Avery, see tribute via home page) got me my first sit-ins.
Nowadays I admire players who have a compositional approach to improvising. Trying to achieve structure, balance and form in a solo is a desirable aim but easier said than done. Such an approach adds that extra dimension and I like jazz musicians who play that way. Jim Hall and Paul Desmond spring to mind (I feel Bix showed the way). Also I am an admirer of the Barry Galbraith approach to guitar especially his voice lead chordal style which I think is masterful. Galbraith was one of a small, elite group of studio/session guitar players in New York throughout the 50s and 60s and was one of the greatest and most influential of all jazz guitarists.

HAPPY DAYS
In the late 70s I was privileged (and as an amateur, rather fortunate) to be a guest in the rhythm section backing such jazz greats as Wild Bill Davison (ex Condon), Ralph Sutton, Dick Wellstood and Peanuts Hucko. This was whilst a member of the Main Street Jazzmen, a Newcastle based Chicago jazz outfit. I also played with Clem Avery’s Jazzmen (for seven years at The Golden Lion, Winlaton Mill - very happy memories) and occasionally with Peter Gascoigne's Vieux Carre & Saratoga Jazzmen, all very good local Dixieland/Chicago style bands.
In September 1984, along with fine local saxophonist Bill Smith (Sims/Getz style) we started a quartet at The Black Bull, Blaydon. This pub session led later to the birth of Blaydon Jazz Club, which became quite an institution on the local jazz scene. The original quartet also had Marshall Walker (drms) and Clem Avery (bass). The pub at that time had a marvellous landlady, Pauline Haley - it was a very happy time. A few years later Bill Harper also joined us, on piano.
In time we began to bring players as guests. Players such as Roy Williams, Janusz Carmello, John Barnes, Digby Fairweather, Bruce Turner, John Crocker, Fiona Duncan. The legendary saxophonist, big band leader and arranger George Evans was also a regular visitor as was a very young Paul Booth, now surely one of the UK's finest tenor saxophonists. Other guests were Tommy Whittle, Pascal Michot, Bruce Adams, Alan Barnes, Paul Booth, Ben Castle, Al Wood, Dave Cliff, Geoff Simkin, Phil Lee, Lennart Andersson, Frank Brooker, John Hallam, Dave Challis.
The club is still going (albeit at a new venue since 1999) - see 'local gigs news'. We reached our 25th anniversary in September 2009.

Recent very enjoyable gigs have included Silkeborg and Sonderborg Jazz Clubs - both in Denmark; Silda Jazz Fest, Haugesund, Norway; Stavanger Jazz Festival, Norway; The Riverboat Jazz Festival at Silkeborg in Denmark; Isle of Bute Jazz Festival; Kircudbright Jazz Festival; Ayr Jazz Festival; (all with Keith's trio + Caroline), Keswick Jazz Festival, Swaledale Festival, Blaydon Races Festival and Whitley Bay Jazz Party.
Also I enjoy playing at Kendal, Ashington, Gateshead Fell, Boston Spa, Darlington and Carlisle Jazz Clubs, all long established and very nice clubs run by devoted people.

CURRENT ACTIVITIES

Blaydon Jazz Club - -
The club reached its 25th anniversary back in September 2009. It is now a monthly session. Go to Blaydon Jazz Club via home page, for what's on.

Keith Stephen's Hot Club Trio + Caroline Irwin - -
I play rhythm guitar and sing in a 'gypsy jazz' outfit led by Keith Stephen (gtr/bjo), with Bruce Rollo on double bass and a great young singer, Caroline Irwin. Keith is a lover of all things 'Django' and is a considerable expert in the genre - he also builds Maccaferri type guitars. His 'Hot Club Trio' sometimes accompanies a guest soloist eg. John Hallam, Mike Piggott, Frank Brooker, Tim Kliphuis, George Huxley, Zoltan Sagi, Norman Field. We try to play our version of gypsy jazz in a gentle, unpretentious and non-competitive way - nice tunes, played with a sense of fun, and hopefully with a good jazz swing feel. The emphasis is definitely on entertainment and I suppose what we do could be best described as 'jazz cabaret'.
We have a new CD 'Attune ---- or two'. It features a great jazz violinist, Mike Piggott. Go to links page to access Keith's own website for much more information.

The Swing City Trio - -
This trio is based around the fine tenor/clarinet playing of Steve Andrews. Steve is unique - a player with an innate feel for the improvising style of tenor legends such as Hawkins, Webster, Young, Chu Berry etc. Also with Roy Cansdale on double bass and myself on acoustic guitar/vocals. Both Steve and Roy live in Cumbria, Roy helps run the very successful Kendal Jazz Club. We play 1930/40's New York style acoustic swing. We have two CDs ('Just Us, Just We' and newly released 'What a little moonlight can do') - see jazz CDs page for details, tune list and soundbites.
Pictured left with Enrico Tomasso, at Trinity Jazz, Gosforth on 16th Jan 2010.

The Roly Veitch Trio - -
Last but not least, I also have my own trio featuring a fine young trumpet/flugel player Noel Dennis and Neil Harland on double bass with myself on guitar/vocals. The music we play is, I would say, loosely in an intimate, Chet Bakerish style. Both Noel and Neil play with lyricism and sensitivity. Noel is a devotee of the Baker, Miles, Harrell style trumpet/flugel - Neil is a great bass player who can adapt to all styles of music - whatever he does, he does it beautifully. We have recorded this trio - an an even mix of instrumentals and vocals based on 'American Songbook' standards. For more info. about the CD 'Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams' see the jazz CDs page.

HEROES (guitar etc.)
Over the years I have grown to love Jim Hall's playing. As I have learned about jazz music over many years and arrived at my own perspective on the qualities needed to be a good jazz player, I have come to the view he is one of the great jazz musicians of all time. He is unique in the sense that he has created a very personal, instantly recognisable jazz guitar style quite distinct from anyone else. Furthermore, his sense of form, structure, beauty and balance when soloing, based on compositional devices, put him at the highest level of jazz improvising. I think in many ways Pat Metheny has developed the Jim Hall approach, in his own unique style. Bill Frisell is another guitarist influenced by Jim Hall but who has created a totally individual, personal approach to music which is very special.
I much admire Canadian Ed Bickert and Gene Bertoncini is another wonderful guitar player (see links).
For acoustic swing style rhythm guitar, I love Bucky Pizzarelli's playing and wonderful time feel.
There is a wonderful b/w movie clip of the Basie rhythm section on Youtube with Freddie Green - that's how it's done!
There are many fine jazz guitarists working in the UK - Phil Lee, Dave Cliff, Jim Mullen, Martin Taylor are just a few of the greats. And Louis Stewart? Well - I think he is one of Europe's greatest jazz musicians. To hear a little of his phenomenal playing check out 'Youtube' for his solo on Horace Silver's 'Nica's Dream'. Fantastic playing by any standard.
British Jazz Musicians - we should be proud to have some of the finest jazz musicians in the world and perhaps some of them should get more recognition here in the UK than they do. For example, players such as pianist John Taylor and saxophonists Stan Sultzman and Geoff Simkins.

THE LOCAL SCENE
It seems there has always been a healthy jazz scene on Tyneside and indeed around the north east, with a good cross section of styles too. This has never been more true than just now with traditional jazz bands including a 9 piece ragtime orchestra, mainsteam swing outfits through to modern ensembles embracing all the jazz developments since the 50s, including freely improvised music. Fantastic!
What is of particular note is that in the past few years a whole bunch of great young players emerged and blossomed, causing quite a buzz. It's a lovely thing to see. Among them are some good organisers/catalysts too, players such as Paul Edis and Noel Dennis. These players are the future of local jazz and deserve every support.
For more information on the local scene, unbiased towards any particular style, check out Lance Liddle's blog 'BEBOP SPOKEN HERE'. Don't be mislead by the title - it embraces ALL styles of jazz from old to new with equal respect and affection which, I think, is as it should be everywhere. It includes hundreds of photos of local musicians past and present, news, reviews and comment etc.etc. Lance is building up quite an archive and it is well worth browsing through it. Highly recommended. See links.

IN SUMMARY
As I see it the guitar is just a tool for playing jazz music. I like all types of jazz instrumentalists, particularly those who play with extreme sensitivity. I think most jazz pundits would agree that a good jazz player needs a very subtle sense of time and touch combined with harmonic knowledge and melodic flair. Taking that as fundamental, I think it is this hyper-sensitivity which adds the magical extra dimension.
Among my favourite players are Bix ('still aint nobody played like him yet' (just heard Andy Schumm at Whitley Bay Jazz Party 2011, that's as close as I've ever heard!), Lester Young, Bird, Clifford Brown, Paul Desmond (check out those Hall/Desmond quartets), Richie Kamuca, Chet Baker, Bill Evans, Jim Hall, Janusz Carmello and the UK's very own Roy Williams, who is a wonderful melodic player of world class stature. Subtle time and rhythm, sensitivity, beauty of tone and subtlety of touch - I think if a player has those ingredients you can do a lot with very little - if you don't I'm afraid you can't do much even with a lot - if you see what I mean. And less is definitely more, as they say. I tend to like music which has plenty of space to allow the music to breathe. Seems we are back to Jim Hall and Paul Desmond?
I like jazz singers and accepting jazz musicians' interest in jazz harmonies/melodies I feel the lyrics are still at the very heart of things and, for me, the most moving aspect. Among my favourite singers are Sheila Jordan, Rebecca Kilgore, Chet Baker, Sinatra, Billie Holliday. Regarding the power of lyrics, check out 'When the world was young' on Sheila Jordan's 'Portrait of Sheila' album for a supreme example.
Finally I would like to mention one of my favourite albums - the final recording 'Richie' by Kamuca & Mundell Lowe, made only a few months before Ritchie passed away. He was only 46. It has to be one of the most beautiful and emotional of all jazz recordings. I've just about worn that one out over the years.



Left - Hot Club Trio (Keith, Roly, Bruce) + Caroline at Silkeborg Riverboat Fest, Denmark, 2008.
Right - JC Hallam tuba + mystery banjoist.

Below - way back when and before the grey hairs.

Last update
10th November 2011
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