Bebop Spoken There

Melissa Aldana: ''Having to play a ballads album, which is something very revealing for a saxophone player, would help me to question some new aspects of how to go deeper into sound." (DownBeat May, 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

18656 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 520 of them this year alone and, so far this month (June 25) 72

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

June

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 Kevin Eland (trumpet).
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.

Mon 06: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 06: Saltburn Big Band @ Saltburn House Hotel. 7:00-9:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).

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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