RADIOPHONICX: Words, words, words - the sound of language

21st of February 2-4pm at Cobalt Studios, 10-16 Boyd Street, Newcastle NE2 1AP

Words and silence, 2021 by Liverpool based artist Paul Rooney is part of his album Surface Industries I. The vocals taken from interviews with service industry workers sourced from the early 2000s, form tracks that continue the artist’s exploration into unpredictable narratives in mundane objects and situations. A call centre worker, cold-calling to sell insurances, has one of her calls go to the answer machine. Instead of hanging up, she leaves a message: telling stories about silence, distance and time.

Rooney’s installations, videos, writings and records focus on the instabilities and deceptions of narrative, particularly in relation to representing place: it’s everyday life; it’s history and folklore; it’s familiar strangeness. His work was shown at Tate Britain; Tate Liverpool; BALTIC; The Arnolfini; and Whitechapel Gallery; and he has exhibited at a wide range of international museums. https://www.paulrooney.info/

Late Night Chicago Radio w. Denny Farrell (Feb12 - Feb 18)

Gerry Mulligan: Moon Dreams.

Jim Doherty/Louis Stewart: When Two People Meet.

Diane Schuur: 'Round Midnight.

Buck Clayton; Blue Lou.

Herb Jeffries: Penthouse Serenade.

Chet Baker: My Funny Valentine.

Erroll Garner: Misty.

Peggy Lee: Sugar.

Michael Buckley: Strange Taste.

Norah Jones: Summertime.

Buddy Rich: Easy Does it.

LISTEN 24/7.

Album review: Joe Steels Group - A Blue Patch

Joe Steels (guitar); Ferg Kilsby (trumpet); Ben Lawrence (piano, Fender Rhodes); Paul Susans (double bass); John Hirst (drums)

A Blue Patch is Joe Steels' new album. Featuring Cumbria’s Ben Lawrence (piano, Fender Rhodes) and, from Northumberland, Ferg Kilsby (trumpet), Paul Susans (bass) and John Hirst (drums), the album spans all of three quarters of an hour. 

The north of England landscape, straddling either side of the Pennines, is a shared experience for all five musicians: panoramic landscapes, big skies, an ancient folklore heritage. Comprising seven tracks, all composed by Steels, at the heart of the music is a quiet lyricism, fusing Celtic themes and advanced jazz harmony. 

There'll be Some Changes Made...

Jazz, like football clubs and Westminster has its comings (Cummings?) and goings and these past few days and weeks have seen P45s given to Spurs' manager Thomas Frank and the Lords Mandelson and Doyle.

Down at the coast a more amicable parting of the ways saw trombonist and harmonica hot-shot Herbie Hudson, by mutual agreement, terminate his leadership of Harmony Brass at Cullercoats Crescent Club. I presume this is to concentrate on his free-lance connections with the jazz/folk/Americana trio Salty Dog.

The Monday lunchtime sessions will continue with sax/clarinet ace Jim McBriarty taking over the front line duties and the band changing its name to the Friends of Jazz. Lance

Preview: Strictly Smokin' Big Band featuring Giacomo Smith @ The Glasshouse - Feb. 27

Bruce Adams, Alan Barnes, Paul Booth, Matt  Ford, Polly Gibbons, Pete Long, Mike Lovatt, Claire Martin, Mark Nightingale, Dave O'Higgins, Dennis Rollins, Emma Smith, Joe Stilgoe, Anthony Strong and Hailey Tuck are just some of the major names that have appeared in and around Newcastle/Gateshead with the Strictly Smokin' Big Band. 

That illustrious rota of jazz A-Listers isn't closed - hopefully it never will be - and on Feb. 27 at the Glasshouse, SSBB host yet another big hitter in the form of Italian born, New York raised, UK resident, clarinet and sax star Giacomo Smith. 

GS first came to my attention when he was part of a storming gig by Kansas Smitty's House Band back in 2018 at the Glasshouse which was then known as 'The Sage'. Come Covid and among the few highlights of that dark period were the livestreams by KSHB with Giacomo 'Smitty's virtuosity well featured.

Ronnie Scott’s Classical All Stars – Gershwin, Bernstein & Beyond - Upstairs at Ronnie’s, London – Inaugural Classical Night

© Kate Wright

James Pearson (piano); Lizzie Ball (violin); Pete Long (sax, clarinet); Tom Dunnett (trombone); Jimmy T. Turner (vibes); Sam Burgess (bass); Matt Skelton (drums)

There’s a delicious irony in walking into the new Upstairs at Ronnie’s and realising that the ghost of Ronnie himself is alive and well - sitting at the grand piano in the shape of James Pearson.

In the absence of the great club founder and raconteur, Pearson has quietly picked up the mantle as storyteller-in-chief. Long before the first clarinet swoop of Rhapsody in Blue, he’s already taken the packed room on a guided tour through Aeolian Hall, Parisian car horns and grumpy viola sections - the sort of witty, historically literate patter Ronnie would have relished. Pearson has form as a “world-class pianist, composer and raconteur extraordinaire”, as one recent festival billed him, and that combination of easy humour and deep scholarship is exactly what stitches this new classical strand together.

Stockport Jazz

This week Stockport Jazz welcomes the Neil Yates Quartet featuring Neil Yates (trumpet), Andrzej Baranek (piano), Joshua Cavanagh-Brierley (bass) and Rick Weedon (drums).

Sunday February 15th 8-10pm, doors open at 7.30pm

£5 entry on the door, all welcome

The Moor Club, 35 Heaton Moor Road, Stockport SK4 4PB  (next to the Elizabethan PH)

Jazz on the Tyne Welcomes Joe Steels and A Blue Patch

In the latest edition of the podcast, presenter Colin Muirhead talks with local guitarist Joe Steels about his new album A Blue Patch and the associated tour, as well as upcoming jazz events in Hexham.  Together with tracks from A Blue Patch, you’ll hear music with Valentine’s Day in mind by Samara Joy, Noa Levy, Jo Harrop & Jamie McCredie, the Alex Clarke Quartet, Ben Wilcock & John Rae, Oscar Lavën, and Lindsay Hannon.

You can listen to the show anytime HERE.

Plus, you can request music for future programmes, or pass on news or feedback by emailing Colin at jazz.tyne.hive@gmail.com or by heading to www.jazzonthetyne.org.

Press release: Cheltenham Jazz Festival Announces Star-Studded 30th Anniversary Line-Up

Cheltenham Jazz Festival has announced details of its 30th anniversary edition, taking place from Wednesday 29th April to Monday 4th May 2026. One of Europe’s most popular jazz festivals, the six-day event will present a wide-ranging programme spanning international headliners, leading contemporary jazz artists, genre-crossing innovators and emerging UK talent. 

30 Years Young: The Next Chapter   

As Cheltenham Jazz Festival marks its 30th anniversary, the Festival celebrates three decades of championing world-class jazz, supporting emerging talent and bringing bold, diverse music to audiences in Cheltenham and beyond. Thirty years young, the Festival continues to look firmly to the future, building on a rich legacy of iconic performances while embracing new voices, fresh collaborations and innovative programming that will shape the next generation of jazz for years to come. 

Sunday Night @ the Globe: Gerry Richardson's Big Idea - Feb. 8

© Sheila Herrick

Gerry Richardson (organ, vocals); Dave Hignett, Mark Webb (trumpets); David 'Showtime' Gray (trombone); Garry Linsley (alto  sax); Stuart Johnson (tenor/soprano sax); Sue Ferris (tenor/baritone sax, flute); Rod Sinclair (guitar); Paul Smith (drums)

You wait seven years for a Big Idea gig then three come at once! October 2025, February 2026 and July 2026 may not actually come at once but in the overall timescale of things it does seem so. Not that I'm complaining, the nine piece soul/funk/jazz/blues outfit never fail to impress and I doubt if anyone at last night's full house session at the Globe would disagree.

Opening up with their signature tune, Stone Church, the Big Idea didn't come on with all guns blazing, just enough to whet our appetites for what we knew was in the pipeline. The temperature rose with Rod Sinclair's solo on Blue For Big Red, Ska Odyssey featured Stuart Johnson on tenor and David Gray on trombone. I got the feeling that Showtime was chomping at the bit - his day would come. His day did indeed come after Sue on tenor and Garry on alto had worked out on Gerry's tribute to Abdullah Ibrahim - Brand New Bag.