June
Mon 29: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Tue 30: Alan Law Trio @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 2:00pm. Free.
Tue 30: Eva Fox & the Sound Hounds @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
July
Wed 01: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 01: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 01: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Thu 02: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Millstone, Mill Rise, South Gosforth, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 02: Paul Skerritt @ Angels' Share, St George's Terrace, Jesmond, Newcastle NE2 2SX. 8:00pm. Free. Booking advised (0191 200 1975). Skerritt w. backing tapes.
Thu 02: De’Sean Jones & Blaque Dynamite feat. Urban Art Orchestra @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). De’Sean Jones (MD, tenor sax); Blaque Dynamite (Mike Mitchell, drums); Jamie Murray (drums) with UAO horns & strings.
Thu 02: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm.
Thu 02: Howlin’ Mat @ Newcastle Arts centre. 7:30pm. Free. Acoustic
Fri 03: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 03: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 03: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 03: Paul Donnelly Quartet @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm.
Fri 03: Martin Taylor @ Arc, Stockton. 8:00pm. Taylor (solo guitar).
Sat 04: Spats Langham’s Hot Fingers @ St Augustine’s Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. £10.00. Darlington New Orleans Jazz Club.
Sat 04: Michael Woods @ Cycle Hub, Quayside, Ouseburn. 1:30-2:30pm & 3:00-4:00pm. Free. Acoustic blues guitar. An Ouseburn Festival event.
Sat 04: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. £27.50. Tutor: Steve Glendinning. Take the ‘A’ Train to Summertime: From Melody to Masterclass. Enrol at: learning@jazz.coop.
Sat 04: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.
Sun 05: Smokin’ Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm. £10.00.
Sun 05: Ian Bosworth Quintet @ Chapel, Middlesbrough. 1:00pm. Free. Feat. guest TBC.
Sun 05: Michael Woods @ Cycle Hub, Quayside, Ouseburn. 1:30-2:30pm & 3:15-4:00pm. Free. Acoustic blues guitar. An Ouseburn Festival event.
Sun 05: Lydia Rae Quintet @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £10.00. Rae (vocals); Sam Lightwing (alto sax, tenor sax); Ben Lawrence (piano); Andy Champion (double bass); John Bradford (drums).
Sun 05: Sax Choir @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 05: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Table reservations (0191 261 8000). Skerritt w. backing tapes.
Sun 05: Storytellers Street Band @ Ouseburn Woodland, Ouseburn. 5:00-6:00pm. Free. An Ouseburn Festival event.
Sun 05: Gerry Richardson’s Big Idea @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Sun 05: Jambone @ Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:15-9:45pm. Free but ticketed.
Having spent the afternoon describing his practice regime and tone exercises to ten enthralled saxophone students Andy Sheppard then proceeded, in the evenings concert, to demonstrate the full extent of the saxophone’s capabilities as well as his own, not inconsiderable, talent at playing the instrument.
Lanercost Priory is a unique building, not only acoustically but also historically, and Andy Sheppard’s solo concert (Sept 12th) was a fitting tribute to such wonderful surroundings.
Supported by local trio Hip Graffiti, Jay Myerson on guitar, Katerina El Haj vocals and Laurence Blackadder bass, who performed a smooth set of jazz standards and El Haj penned tunes, the scene was set for Sheppard to make a dramatic entrance.
The audience, as one, swivelled in their seats when the first note (Soprano sax) reverberated around the building from a position 40ft above their heads at the rear of the Priory. Andy proceeded to walk down to audience level whilst blowing a wonderfully lyrical improvisation incorporating many of his compositions, particularly ‘Natural Calling’ from his ’98 album Learning To Wave, seamlessly into a fifteen minute demonstration of his sublime tone and technique.
All of this without the aid of amplification, such is the acoustic quality of this 12th Century building.
Testing Priory acoustics to the full Sheppard continued to stroll amongst the audience for a full hour including a particularly relevant piece, given the surroundings, in Gavin Bryars ‘Jesus Blood Never Failed Me Yet’.
Playing a concert that was a fund raiser for Lanercost Priory meant that a large proportion of the audience were there to support the cause and not necessarily because of a love of jazz or Andy Sheppard. Such was the quality of Sheppard’s playing that almost all of this group were completely won over and joined in the standing ovation with gusto.
A truly wonderful performance from a musician right at the top of his game – the Gods would have approved!
David Gosling 
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