Album review: Down for the Count Swing Orchestra - Count Down to Christmas (Down for the Count Records)

Mike Paul-Smith (MD): Lydia Bell, Katie Birtill, Hannah Castleman, Callum Gillies, Marvin Muoneké (vocals); Alex Howgego (piano); James Owston (bass); Tom Fleming (guitar); James Smith (drums); Ben Burton, Jordan Murray (perc.); Catrin Meek (harp); Tim Rabbit, Simon Joyner, Max Fagindini (trumpet/flugel); Joe Fenning, Ed Parr (trombone); Simon Chorley (bass trombone); Mina Middleton (flutes, piccolo); Lewis Sallows (alto sax, clarinet, flute); Chris Adsett (tenor sax, clarinet, flute); Kyran Matthews (tenor sax, clarinet); Jamie Basura-Hone (baritone sax, bass clarinet); Alex Clarke (alto/baritone sax, clarinet, bass clarinet) + 13 violins, 3 violas, 3 cellos).

My apologies for failing to namecheck the strings but I was running out of space. They did a grand job and were very much an integral part of the album - maybe the most important part!

So here it is merry Christmas - well it will be in a few weeks time - and what better way to spend the 'season of good will' than by roasting your chestnuts on an open fire and listening to a swing orchestra playing and singing your favourite songs? They're all here either in medley form or sung by a classy team of singers.

Jazz Time Aycliffe Radio - Sundays 6.30 - 8.00pm (Repeat Tuesdays 8.00 - 9.30pm.)

https://www.ayclifferadio.co.uk/listen

Playlist 08/11/26. (Repeated Tuesday 11/11/26)

 

Remembrance: Benny Goodman Orchestra with Peggy Lee, The Andrews Sisters, Glenn Miller & His Orchestra.

Requests: Morten Gunnar Larsen, Herbie Hancock, Steve Fidyk,

Memories: Gregory Porter, Mezzrow-Ladnier Quintet.

What’s on in the NE: Muggsy Spanier & Sidney Bechet, Giles Strong Quartet, Birkett & Fisk.

Peace : Chet Baker, McCoy Tyner, Norah Jones, Oscar Peterson/Joe Pass, Tim Boniface, Wynton Marsalis & Eric Clapton.

Aycliffe Radio is now available on DAB in County Durham & the Darlington Area and via your smart speaker. 

Album Review: Miles Pillinger – Belonging (Miles Pillinger Music)

Miles Pillinger (drums); Olivia Cuttill (trumpet); Tom Harris (piano); Benjy Sandler (tenor, alto and soprano saxophones, flute); Josh Vadiveloo (double bass); + Thandanani Gumede (vocals); Emma Marsh (percussion); Helen Pillinger (tenor saxophone)

As Mr Marsalis found out, you name your son Wynton after the piano player and he plays the trumpet, so it is that the Pillinger’s named their son Miles and he plays the drums*. However, leaving nominative determinism to one side, this Miles has produced a fine album which ‘swings’ across genres but manages to still create a coherent identity. High stepping beats from South Africa and Brazil meet up with some horn led urban blues and some freer expressive moments with different elements sometimes cropping up in the same piece.

Fergus McCreadie: Flight Pass @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead - November 5

Fergus McCreadie (piano); Tristan Gurney (violin); Juliette Lemoine (cello)

Not really sure what to expect with this one. The Glasshouse website talks of a co-commission with Chamber Music Scotland which means strings. Thankfully, no mention of banjos. Fergus explains that, for those of us who have seen him before, (that was most of us there, but I was sat next to a newbie) “It was going to be very different indeed.” There would be some jazz, some duets with strings and then the second set……

He opened with Gershwin’s Embraceable You, delicate, elegant and spare, the melodies wrapped in a swathe of notes, lush and lovely. His excursions became more extensive and dramatic, rhythmic play creating quickly dissolved tensions before he dances away again, balletic and fresh as spring. A second piece was equally rich and dense, with a strong rhythmic, dancing pulse and interwoven variations from it, a rolling wave of notes, relentless and passionate.

Classic Jazz Party 2026: Afternoon set @ the Village Hotel - Nov. 6

In its own way, the CJP is as important a jazz event as the festivals at Newport, London, Montreux or, you name it, anywhere in the world. The weekend's visitors, both on and off stage, travelled from near and far - The UK, the US, the EU, even the Antipodes - many of' the audience of "a certain age", the band lesser so.

For me one of the big attractions of the party is the attention given to, I won't say "unknown", rather "deserving of wider recognition".

The subjects this afternoon featured the presentation of the Young Talent Award which went to Californian trombonist Ryan Baker who, over the weekend, proved to be a worthy winner.

British pre-war trumpet legend Nat Gonella was celebrated with an exciting recreation of his Georgians led by Lewis Taylor. From what I remembered it sounded pretty authentic. 

Birchall, Kraabel and Harrison trio @ Artefact, Liverpool - November 5

Photos © Richard Morris

David Birchall (guitar); Caroline Kraabel (alto sax); Richard Harrison (drums/percussion)

The latest in the monthly concerts of improvised music curated by Nick Branton. and held in a beautifully quirky place on the road immediately behind St Luke’s bombed out church (bombed out in World War ll). Artefact is a café, vintage furniture shop and intimate music and arts venue that hosts a huge variety of events.

A very experienced trio in the world of improvised music. Caroline, originally from the US but who now resides in London has developed a style based on extended techniques and acoustics. She has worked with Robert Wyatt, Cleveland Watkiss, Pat Thomas, Shima Kobayasi and many more top international musicians as well as conducting and playing devised pieces with the London Improvisers Orchestra. David Birchall is a guitarist, teacher, free improviser, composer and organiser living in Manchester. Richard Harrison, also from Manchester, is a drummer and percussionist known for his dynamic, free-flowing style and his work in experimental, jazz and indie music.

Album review: Ruta Di – Onwards & Upwards

Ruta Di (guitar, voice); Jakub Cywinski (double bass); Giovanni Crescenzi (elec. bass); Finn Genocky (dms); Alan Short (flute, alto sax); Duncan Eagles (tenor sax); Leo Richardson (baritone sax)

When Words Are No Longer Enough

 

Sometimes music has a way of saying things that words simply cannot. And that's very much the thinking behind Onwards & Upwards, the third album from Lithuanian-born, London-based guitarist, vocalist and composer Ruta Di. It's a fascinating collection that brings together contemporary jazz, soul, rock and the folk traditions of her homeland, but there's a rather touching story behind it all.

 

Classic Jazz Party 2026 @ The Village Hotel - Nov. 5

Welcome Concert

© Patti

TJ Müller (trombone, vocals); Mike Davis (trumpet, vocals); Michael McQuaid (reeds); Spats Langham (banjo, vocals); Mathieu Meyer (piano); Laurin Habert (bass sax); Nick Ball (drums) + Nicolle Rochelle (vocals)

Runnin' Wild. And we were off and underway! The 35th edition of (to give the event its Sunday name) Mike Durham's International Classic Jazz Party was well and truly up and running. Runnin' wild, you could say.

Playing to a packed house, UK born, St Louis, Missouri resident TJ Müller led the charge. Keeping things moving along, TJ called the numbers, his bandmates time and again hitting their cues. 

Huge applause greeted each and every scintillating contribution, no more so than when Nicolle Rochelle joined the band to sing Shine. 

Several first time visitors to the CJP couldn't have been more than impressed. In fact, some US visitors told your correspondent they were overjoyed to finally make it to the Village Hotel. Welcome to the best jazz party on the planet! Russell

Pilgrim Jazz

Look Left: Live Jazz – Debut EP Launch

Thursday 12 November · doors 7:30pm

The Newcastle trio launch their debut EP Protocol – modern jazz and fusion. Support from Liam & Shayo.

£8 advance / £10 on the door · 14+

pilgrimncl.music/event/look-left-live-jazz

Marina Josephina + Kate Bond + Frannie Mac at PILGRIM, Newcastle.Thursday 19 November, doors 7:30pm, £8–10, 14+. Teesside neo-soul singer and BBC Introducing North East One to Watch Marina Josephina brings a 10-piece jazz-soul band to the Pilgrim Quarter, with an acoustic set from Kate Bond and support from Frannie Mac.

Swannek– Live

Thursday 3 December · doors 7:30pm

The contemporary Geordie jazz collective play a full-band homecoming show.

From £8 advance / £12 on the door · 14+

pilgrimncl.music/event/swannek-live

Sirius Septet @ Llandudno Jazz Club – Nov. 2

© Richard Morris

Neil Yates, Antony Stevens (trumpet); Mike Smith, Jeff Guntren (tenor sax); Misha Gray (piano); Grant Russell (double bass); Ric Weedon (drums)

Apart from on the trad nights, a septet is probably the largest ensemble to feature at the club. Most of the musicians were familiar faces although it was the first time I had seen Mike Smith. Seven fabulous musicians, several of them bandleaders, composers and arrangers in their own right. To say that they are the crème de la crème of the north west’s jazz scene would not be an understatement. Save for Neil, who is local, they had travelled from Liverpool, Manchester and Shropshire.

Mike,a multi-instrumentalist with saxophone being his primary instrument, I’d seen with Antony in the Stray Horns in September. As well as bread and butter function gigs he tours with Elkie Brooks, Martin Fry and ABC and Echo and the Bunnymen amongst others. The repertoire for this concert consisted of some great jazz standards plus some compositions by Misha Gray who invariably comes to concerts with not only his electronic keyboard but also his piano stool packed with sheet music.