DECEMBER 2025
Sun 14: Musicians Unlimited + Darlington Big Band @ West Hartlepool RFC. 12 noon-6:00pm. £9.00. Musicians Unlimited’s Xmas Party. SOLD OUT!
Sun 14: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 14: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Skerritt w. backing tapes.
Sun 14: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 14: Alexia Gardner Quintet @ The White Room, Stanley. 6:30pm. £15.18 (inc. bf).
Sun 14: Paul Skerritt @ The Black Candle, South Shields. 6:30pm. Skerritt w. backing tapes.
Sun 14: Sean Noonan Trio @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. JNE.
Mon 15: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Tue 16: Paul Skerritt @ Chakh Dhoom, Jesmond, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Indian restaurant. Skerritt w. backing tapes.
Tue 16: A Jazzy Xmas @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 7:30pm. Paul Edis (MD, piano); Jo Harrop (vocals); Kyran Matthews (tenor sax, soprano sax); Faye Thompson (alto sax, clarinet); Sue Ferris (flute, piccolo); Graham Hardy (trumpet, flugelhorn); Jason Holcomb (trombone);Emma Fisk (violin); Andy Champion (double bass); Matt MacKellar (drums).
Tue 16: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Stu Collingwood, Paul Grainger, Tim Johnston.
Wed 17: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Spanish City, Whitley Bay. 12 noon. £29.00 (inc. bf). ‘Festive Lunch’. VCJ on stage 2:00-4:00pm.
Wed 17: Lazy River Band @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free. Veronica Perrin, Chris Perrin, John Farragher, Phil Rutherford
Wed 17: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 17: Paul Skerritt @ Middlesbrough Town Hall. 7:00pm. Skerritt w. backing tapes.
Wed 17: A Jazzy Xmas @ Fire Station, Sunderland. 7:30pm. Paul Edis (MD, piano); Jo Harrop (vocals); Kyran Matthews (tenor sax, soprano sax); Faye Thompson (alto sax, clarinet); Sue Ferris (flute, piccolo); Graham Hardy (trumpet, flugelhorn); Jason Holcomb (trombone);Emma Fisk (violin); Andy Champion (double bass); Matt MacKellar (drums).
Wed 17: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Thu 18: Paul Skerritt @ YOLO, Ponteland. 7:00pm. ‘Swing & Jazz Night’. Skerritt w. backing tapes.
Thu 18: Joe Steels & Friends @ The Pele, Corbridge. 7:30pm. Free (donations).
Fri 19: Fraser Urquhart @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. £8.00. SOLD OUT! .
Fri 19: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free..
Fri 19: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free..
Fri 19: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00..
Fri 19: Castillo Nuevo @ Hotel Gotham, Newcastle. 5:00pm. Free. .
Fri 19: Alexia Gardner @ FIKA Art Gallery, Morpeth. 6:30pm. Gardner, Alan Law, Jude Murphy..
Fri 19: Paul Skerritt @ Middlesbrough Town Hall. 7:00pm. Skerritt w. backing tapes. .
Fri 19: Giles Strong Quartet @ Sunderland Minster. 7:30pm. Old Black Cat Jazz Club..
Fri 19: Creakin’ Bones & the Xmas Dinners @ The White Room, Stanley. 7:45pm. £13.01 (inc. bf)..
Fri 19: Mark Toomey Quintet @ The Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. Opus 4 Jazz Club.
Sat 20: Jazz Attack @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 11:00am. Free.
Sat 20: Alexia Gardner @ FIKA Art Gallery, Morpeth. 6:30pm. Gardner, Alan Law, Jude Murphy. SOLD OUT!
Sat 20: Joseph Carville Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. CANCELLED!
Sat 20: Ray Stubbs R&B All Stars @ Billy Bootleggers, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 20: Hoodoo Blues @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:15pm (doors). £14.25, £11.55. Dance class, social dancing, live music & Xmas Party. Live music from 9:00pm - Ruth Lambert, Giles Strong, Ian Paterson & John Bradford (jazz and blues).
Sat 20: John Pope Quintet @ Blank Studios, Newcastle. 7:30-8:30pm. £7.70 (inc. bf). Album recording session.
5 comments :
It's just the same over here in Cumbria, I'm afraid (I do more gigs in the NE than the NW!). Two Jazz Clubs: Carlisle -every Thursday; elderly audience, predominently "Trad/N.O." (although not entirely); and Kendal - once a month, wider brief from N.O. to quite modern and all points in between. Faithful, fairly elderly audience. Pub gigs virtually none existent and rarely last more than a few weeks, except for more Rock/Blues based stuff like Fusionhead, Olly Alcock Band, etc., which can appeal to a wider, younger audience.
I know from my own kids - both musicians, 23 and 19, that jazz has no relevance to them or their musical tastes, and they were brought up with the music!
I'm very pessimistic about the future of Jazz at local level, although, paradoxically, many of the latest crop of young/younger players, are much better than we were - e.g. Paul Edis, and several others I've heard or played with.....
In terms of bums on seats at least, the London scene is pretty well supported amongst audiences of all ages. Yes obviously things could be better, and Jazz Festival is much busier than the rest of the year, but the small clubs have a pretty regular crowd of often young people who are very into the music.
Things are quite good in Birmingham with consistent audiences for most events, ranging from 30 to 350. Cobweb Collective/Conservatoire associated gigs also do well. I think it is the range of the music that is put on that is the attraction and there is a reasonable age range in audiences
Guessing from these comments, and based on own experience in London, could it be the necessity to evolve a new generation of audience? It's a mixture of type of gig, price and ambiance. Possibly also that there isn't a new generation of organisers, who tap their friends and the jazz zeitgeist of 2012. How can we get the urban buzz of London, Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds through to the grass roots?
I don't think it's a local malaise or even nationwide. For the last four years I have been lucky enough to be in Japan at the time of the Tokyo Jazz festival and I have seen it steadily dwindle. I think that it's a matter of finance. I think the talent is definitely there, but these days it's difficult for some new comers to get off the ground. I am lucky to live in London where there are a few clubs around and a few new ones popping up. I mourn the disappearance of Ray's Jazz shop (now in Foyles) and the Bass Clef etc. Perhaps universities could host festivals (eg showing free Jazz movies) that would perhaps generate interest? I don't think that Jazz will disappear. It will have its ups and downs, but it will always be there.
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