Bebop Spoken There

David Bailey (photographer): ''When I was 16 I wanted to look like Chet Baker. He was my idol - him and James Dean.'' (Talking Pictures documentary : Four beats to the bar and no cheating April, 2026)

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

18429 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 293 of them this year alone and, so far this month (April 13 ) 27,

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

From This Moment On

April

Sat 18: Bright Street Big Band @ Washington Arts Centre. 6:30pm. £12.00. Swing dance sessions + Bright Street Big Band 7:30-8:15pm & 8:45-9:30pm.
Sat 18: Glenn Miller & Big Band Spectacular @ The Phoenix Theatre, Blyth. 7:30pm. £27.00 (inc. bf).

Sun 19: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 2:30pm. Trio + Lara Hopper.
Sun 19: Pete Tanton’s Chet Set @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm. £12.00., £10.00.
Sun 19: Straight to Tape @ The Tyne Bar, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. Edd Carr, Jonathan Proud, John Hirst. Blues trio.
Sun 19: Tweed River Jazz Band @ Barrels Ale House, Berwick. 7:00pm. Free.
Sun 19: Graham Hardy’s Eclectic Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.00., £10.00., £7.00.

Mon 20: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 20: Dean Stockdale Trio @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00. Stockdale, Mick Shoulder, Abbie Finn.

Tue 21: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Victoria & Albert Inn, Seaton Delaval NE25 0AT. Tel: 0191 237 3697. Tickets: £14.00. ‘Pie & Pea Lunch’.
Tue 21: Neil Cowley Trio @ The Fire Station, Sunderland. 7:30pm. £29.00., £26.00., £23.00.
Tue 21: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Joe Steels (guitar); Paul Grainger (double bass); Jack Littlewood (drums).

Wed 22: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 22: Nubiyan Twist @ Digital, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £28.75 (inc. bf).
Wed 22: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 22: Daniel John Martin w. Swing Manouche @ Bishop Auckland Methodist Church. 7:30pm. Date, time & admission TBC.
Wed 22: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 23: FILM: Big Mama Thornton: I Can’t Be Anyone But Me @ Tyneside Cinema, Newcastle. 6:15pm. Dir. Robert Clem (2025).
Thu 23: Castillo Nuevo Orquesta @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. £6.50. 7:30pm (doors).
Thu 23: Eva Fox & the Sound Hounds @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Thu 23: Jeremy McMurray’s Pocket Jazz Orchestra & Musicians Unlimited @ ARC, Stockton. 8:00pm. £19.00. inc. bf.

Fri 24: Noel Dennis Trio @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. Dennis, Mark Willams, Andy Champion.
Fri 24: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 24: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 24: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 24: Trio Grand @ Land of Oak & Iron, Winlaton. 6:00-9:00pm. Free.
Fri 24: Ben Vince + The Exu @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). £14.33., £11.16, £8.00. A ‘jazz adjacent’ gig!
Fri 24: Daniel John Martin w. Swing Manouche @ The Ship Isis, Sunderland. 7:30pm. £13.20 (inc. bf).
Fri 24: TBC @ The Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm.

Friday, April 17, 2026

Late Night Chicago Radio w. Denny Farrell (April 16 - April 22)

Gerry Mulligan: Five Brothers.
Chet Baker: All the Things You Are.
Bud Shank: Shank's Pranks.
Ella Fitzgerald: The Man That Got Away.
Concord All Stars: Alone Together.
Jonah Jones: Tin Roof Blues.
Sarah Vaughan: Street of Dreams.
Don Elliott: Imagination.
Larry Branchetti: For Once in my life.
Stan Getz: Girl From Ipanema.
Beegie Adair: Stairway to the Stars.

Norman Redhead funeral details announced

The funeral of Norman Redhead who passed away on April 9 will take place on Friday May 8 at St. Peter's Church, Monkseaton.

May he REST IN PEACE

Jazz FM Awards 2026

Winner's Names are in Bold Type

Breakthrough Act of the Year 

Donovan HaffnerEarth-o-Naut; Poppy Daniels 

International Jazz Act of the Year 

Linda May Han Oh; Nate Smith; Samara Joy 

Blues Act of the Year 

Alice Armstrong; Gary Clark Jr.; Mavis Staples 

Soul Act of the Year 

OmarRAYE; Young Gun Silver Fox 

Press Release: Public nominations are now open for the 2026 Parliamentary Jazz Awards

Public nominations  are now open for the 2026 Parliamentary Jazz Awards. Entries are open to anyone. Public nominations open on Friday 17th April with the final deadline set for midnight on Friday 15th May 2026. The Parliamentary Awards celebrate and recognise the vibrancy, diversity, talent and breadth of the jazz scene throughout the United Kingdom.

"These awards are a great opportunity to celebrate the talents and energies of the great musicians, educators, promoters, record labels, jazz organisations, blogs, jazz magazines and journalists who keep jazz flourishing, in spite of the challenges they faced in the last couple of years”. Lord Mann and Dame Chi Onwurah MP, Co-chairs of APPJG and Jo White MP.
The Awards will take place at World Heart Beat on Tuesday 13th October 2026 at 7pm

Thursday, April 16, 2026

Album review: Eddie Gripper - Americana (ECN Music)

Eddie Gripper (piano); Clem Saynor (double bass); Patrick Barrett-Donlon (drums)

Inspired by a six week trip hitchhiking from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, to Los Angeles the result isn't what you'd expect from the album's title. No hoedown music here, no sirree, just gentle, dreamy reflections on a once beautiful land.

What it may lack in earthy, grandiose, bravura punch is more than compensated for by the rich pastel shades Gripper and his cohorts paint. Capturing the multi-textured background to his journey to perfection. This is the America that was once the Land of Dreams - once...

Wednesday, April 15, 2026

Single Review - Fogging Up the Windows – Keith Fiala (Wayfarer Records)

Keith Fiala (trumpet and programming.)

Trumpeter Keith Fiala has not-so-quietly been solidifying his place as one of the more creative composers and highly talented trumpeters in the music world. Coming off the charting success of his last Wayfarer release - the moodily beautiful Dream of Me - the Texan has been touring the world as a key member of Arturo Sandoval’s ensemble where he’s a featured soloist and part of the killer horn line.

Fogging Up the Windows continues Fiala’s fine work. What’s most interesting and inviting about his efforts is the fact that, unlike some formulaic presentations of “Smooth Jazz,” (a description this writer finds nebulous and incongruent), Fiala’s compositions and arrangements defy that “norm” structurally and from an improvisational standpoint. He’s much more of a jazzer than some others on the scene. That’s no disrespect, but simply a listener’s observation.

Nick Mondello interviews Steve Lipman of Independent Music Schools

Another pertinent interview by Nick Mondello on the subject of finding the best music school for your child in the USA.

What are the options? Where to look? Who to guide you?

HERE IS A GOOD PLACE TO START. Lance

Stockport Jazz

This Sunday Stockport Jazz welcomes the Mike Hall Quartet to the Moor Club, featuring Mike on tenor sax alongside pianist Dan Whieldon with Gavin Barras (bass) and Eryl Roberts (drums). 

Sunday 19th April 2026


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)

Tuesday, April 14, 2026

Press release: US Guitar Star Julian Lage To Perform Biggest UK Show To Date At 2700-Capacity Royal Festival Hall

Internationally acclaimed guitarist Julian Lage will perform his biggest UK headline show to date at the Royal Festival Hall on May 15, 2026, bringing his new quartet to London following the release of his latest Blue Note album Scenes From Above.

Released earlier this year, Scenes From Above is Lage’s fifth album for Blue Note Records and the second produced by the celebrated Joe Henry. The album introduces a new ensemble featuring keyboardist John Medeski, bassist Jorge Roeder and drummer Kenny Wollesen.

Where 2024’s GRAMMY-nominated Speak to Me presented Lage as an improvising bandleader guiding a large ensemble through an expansive set of compositions, Scenes From Above reflects a different creative approach. Here, Lage positions himself as part of a deeply collaborative group dynamic, exploring new music written specifically for the quartet.

Blog Archive