Bebop Spoken There

Dominick "Domo" Branch: ''Most people say drummers can't write, they're just time-keepers only beating on things. But I have a very musical brain.'' (DownBeat February, 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

18288 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 142 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Feb. 14), 42

From This Moment On ...

February

Fri 20: Alex Clarke w. Dean Stockdale Trio @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT! Clarke w. Dean Stockdale, Mick Shoulder, Abbie Finn.
Fri 20: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 20: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 20: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 20: Squabble @ Warkworth Memorial Hall. 7:00pm. Steve Chambers (organ); Jude Murphy (double bass, vocals); Sid White (drums).
Fri 20: Jive Aces @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 7:00pm (6:30pm doors).
Fri 20: Alex Clarke w. Dean Stockdale Trio @ Sunderland Minster. 7:30pm. Clarke w. Dean Stockdale, Mick Shoulder, Abbie Finn.

Sat 21: ???

Sun 22: Musicians Unlimited: Big Band Blast @ West Hartlepool RFC. 1:00-3:00pm . Free.
Sun 22: Joe Steels Group @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm. A Blue Patch album tour.
Sun 22: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 22: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 22: Harben Kay Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 23: Joe Steels Group @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 1:00pm. A Blue Patch album tour.
Mon 23: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 24: Finn-Keeble Group @ Newcastle House Hotel, Rothbury. 7:30pm. £11.00.
Tue 24: Liam Oliver & Shayo Oshodi @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Wed 25: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 25: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 25: Geordie Jazz Jam @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. Newcastle University jam session. All welcome.
Wed 25: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 26: Castillo Nuevo Orquesta @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £6.50.
Thu 26: Shalala @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £7.00 adv.
Thu 26: Mick Cantwell Band @ The Harbour View, Roker, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Blues.

Fri 27: Joe Steels Group @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. £8.00. SOLD OUT! A Blue Patch album tour.
Fri 27: Alan Barnes w. Mick Shoulder Trio @ Bishop Auckland Methodist Church. 1:00pm. £9.00. Trio: Rick Laughlin (piano); Mick Shoulder (double bass); Tim Johnston (drums).
Fri 27: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 27: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 27: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 27: Radio Hito + Eddie Prévost, Silvain Schmid & Tom Wheatley @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). £12.22., £10.10., £8.00.
Fri 27: Giacomo Smith w Strictly Smokin’ Big Band @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm.
Fri 27: Alan Barnes w. Mick Shoulder Trio @ The Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. £15.00. Trio: Rick Laughlin (piano); Mick Shoulder (double bass); Tim Johnston (drums).

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

Monday, October 18, 2010

Threeway @ Scarborough Jazz Festival

(Annie O'Donnell takes a late look back at Threeway's Scarborough set last month.) Steve Waterman (tpt/flg), Ben Crosland (bs.gtr), Steve Lodder (keys).
1. CRYSTAL MORNING
A magical musical fusing of three into one swinging, interplaying, threeway sound - one unit which doesn't let you down, 2. WINE UNDER THE STARS
Crosland leads with bass guitar and Waterman trickles in like dew on a crocus, there, but so gentle - only a master has this kind of presence. 3. SUNSHINE AND SHOWERS My 12 yr old son Callum says, "Is this too easy for Steve - he plays so effortlessly. Why does he always play with his eyes and eyebrows?" SW calls you to rise to life, his staccato like songbirds swirling, in the elements. Steve Lodder is like a train of wild horses zig-zagging hands across the keys, solid, 4. BLUES FOR JEFF (Clyne) Steve Waterman's gentle swing with the walking bass of Ben Crosland taking us round and round with Steve Lodder picking up the tune in his underground drumming feel which takes me back to his District 6 Days when he played with Brian Abrams. Mr Waterman stands easy with trumpet, in respectful reflection like a soldier waiting to play the last post and then with the morning reveille looping all the notes in a wide swing to it's highest point. Mr Crosland's bass talks- he says it and it chats back like a pendulum of life, the root bass line down deep in the mine. 5.ACROSS THE LAND A Debussy atmosphere like African plains, Desert Sands across the lands of oceans, dolphins, whales being told of new beginnings by piano and synth storytelling of haunting new born note sound whose breath is held in birth, ..opening wide eyes across the land. Steve Lodder holds the holding chords with Ben Crosland merging like sand and sea. Meanwhile Steve Waterman is swinging with raw elements of nature...pure notes rising, so many techniques, piercing octave jumps, staccato - commands you to listen to the wonder of life across the land. 6. SECRET LOVE Waterman.'s emotional interpretation takes you to the highest hill where he told the golden daffodil with Steve Lodder hand in hand running across the meadows picking up lots of Forget-me-nots as they interplayed like cowboys yipper hollerin at the barn dance. All this time Mr Crosland's bass is fast, pulsating like a lover's heartbeat intensifying the tight knitted structure of this threesome's love of coming together with a great tune and singing it with their musician's voice. Threeways into one voice.
Annie.

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