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

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.

Saturday, March 12, 2011

Customs House Big Band with Ruth Lambert @ Blaydon Jazz Club. March 10th.

Jill Brett, George Robinson, Alan Marshall, Tom Quillan, Chris Kaberry(saxes); Gareth Weaver, Chris Gurgi-Smith, Michael Fletcher Peter Morgan (tmb; Paul Riley-Gledhill, Kevin Eland, Ken DeVere, Bob Temple(tpts); Bill Brittain (pno); Alan Smith (bs); Roy Willis (gtr);David Francis (dms); Ruth Lambert (vcls).
In these difficult economic times Blaydon Jazz Club pushed the boat out to present the eighteen piece Customs House Big Band. The club's regulars turned out to hear a cracking band led by genial MD Peter Morgan.
The band opened with Love For Sale with Jill Brett playing some sensuous alto and Alan Marshall prominent on tenor. Simon and Garfunkel's Keep the Customers Satisfied worked, perhaps against expectations, with Brett featured once again. The award winning vocalist Ruth Lambert strolled onto stage to sing the first two of several numbers - Time After Time (Sammy Cahn/Jule Styne) and Come Fly With Me. Lambert respects the lyric yet, as with the all great singers, she interprets the material with a highly developed jazz sensibility.
All big bands should have a powerhouse trumpet player and the Customs House band is no different; up stepped Kevin Eland for a blast on Maynard Ferguson's Gravy Waltz having heard Tom Quillan set the pace with a brisk workout on tenor. The band's ensemble playing was better than ever and was heard to great effect on I Love Paris. Ms.Lambert returned to the stand to serve some Black Coffee and stayed around to sing I've Got the World on a String.
A Gordon Goodwin chart - High Maintenance - exercised the chops of all (Gurgi-Smith and Marshall featured), Cole Porter's It's All Right With Me and Woody's Woodchopper's Ball (George Robinson on clarinet) closed out the first set. MD Morgan announced that the band would beat everyone to the bar. Well, not quite everyone...
Refreshed, the second set opened with Witchcraft and the spell was cast with first class ensemble work with altoist Brett featured once more. An unfamiliar tune to this reviewer was Semi-Mental Journey by Los Angeles based composer Jim Martin. The title alone made this one a winner. It is, of course, based on the changes of Sentimental Journey. Gurgi-Smith, Quillan and Brett took the spotlight. The band breezed through Sweet Georgia Brown before vocalist Lambert returned once more for perhaps the highlight of the evening. At Last, with great tenor from Marshall, was a knock 'em dead performance from one of the finest singers in the land. The ensemble playing on In a Mellow Tone (full marks to the rhythm section of Bill Brittain & co.) was text book stuff and Lambert sang My Funny Valentine with excellent use of brushes by drummer David Francis.
One number after another, this was a winning performance by the Customs House Big Band. The jazz police loved every minute of it and they loved The Jazz Police by Gordon Goodwin! Time to go, but not before a rousing encore by the band and Ruth Lambert declaring Alright, Okay, You Win.
The band's next engagement is a two-nighter back at HQ (South Shields' Customs House). March 31st & April !st are the dates for your diary.
Blaydon Jazz Club's next concert features the impeccable Roy Williams with the Blaydon Jazz Quartet on April 14th. Please note that this one starts earlier than usual at 8:15 pm. There will be a buffet, raffle and maybe some Christmas crackers as Williams' scheduled appearance in December was cancelled due to the blizzard-like conditions in the north east. Get there early, it could be standing room only.
Russell.
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