Bebop Spoken There

Ethan Hawke (starring as Lorenz Hart in Blue Moon): ''Larry [Lorenz] Hart would be so happy that his music and his words and his poetry are still alive.'' - The Northern Echo 27 November 2025

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

18000 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 964 of them this year alone and, so far, 73 this month (Nov. 24).

From This Moment On ...

DECEMBER 2025

Sat 06: Sarah Spencer’s Transatlantic Band @ St Augustine’s Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. £10.00.
Sat 06: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. £27.50. Tutor: Steve Glendinning. Minor Swing. Enrol at: learning@jazz.coop.
Sat 06: Jeff Hewer Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 06: NUJO Jazz Jam @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). £3.76 (inc. bf).
Sat 06: Kaberry Big Band @ The Seahorse, Whitley Bay. 7:30pm (7:00pm doors). £15.00. (inc. hot buffet). ‘Christmas 1945’. Kaberry Big Band, formerly Vermont Big Band.
Sat 06: Smokin’ Spitfires @ Platform 1, Bedlington. 7:30pm. £6.00. Rhythm & blues.
Sat 06: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00. Xmas Party with buffet.
Sat 06: The Jive Aces @ The Witham, Barnard Castle. 8:00pm. £22.00., £20.00.
Sat 06: Brass Fiesta @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 10:30pm. Free.

Sun 07: Ian Bosworth Quintet @ Chapel, Middlesbrough. 1:00pm. Free. Feat. special guest Donna Hewitt (sax, clarinet).
Sun 07: Finn-Keeble Group @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £10.00.
Sun 07: Sax Choir @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 07: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Skerritt w. backing tapes.
Sun 07: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 2:30pm. Free. Trio + Ruth Lambert.
Sun 07: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 07: Jason Isaacs Big Band @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 5:15pm (4:00pm doors). £21.50 (inc. bf).
Sun 07: Paul Skerritt @ 3 Stories, High St. West, Sunderland. 6:30pm. Skerritt w. backing tapes.
Sun 07: Lindsay Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Support set from Play More Jazz! course participants. Note earlier start.

Mon 08: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 09: Jazz Jam Sandwich @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm

Wed 10: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 10: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 10: Jam Session @ The Tannery, Hexham. 7:00pm. Free.
Wed 10: Mike Lindup Jazz Trio @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £26.50 (inc. bf). Lindup, Yolanda Charles (bass), John Sam (drums).
Wed 10: Bold Big Band @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £12.00.

Thu 11: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: West Coast (cool ) / Wordsearch (cool) Cool Jazz or ‘Cold’, ‘Cool’, ‘Hot’, ‘Warm’ in the title or lyrics.
Thu 11: George Robinson @ Prohibition Bar, Albert Road, Middlesbrough TS1 2RU. 7:00pm (doors). £5.42 (inc. bf). Vienna’s Voice charity evening featuring ’15 year old singing sensation the ‘Redcar Crooner’ George Robinson’. Over 35s only.
Thu 11: Paul Skerritt @ Chakh Dhoom, Jesmond, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Indian restaurant. Skerritt w. back tapes.
Thu 11: Ransom Van @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm.
Thu 11: Down for the Count Swing Orchestra @ Middlesbrough Town Hall. 7:30pm. £37.70 (inc. bf). ‘Swing into Xmas’.

Fri 12: Pete Tanton’s Chet Set @ Bishop Auckland Methodist Church. 1:00pm. £8.00.
Fri 12: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 12: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 12: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 12: Milne Glendinning Band @ Northumberland Club, Jesmond, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £15.00. ‘Xmas Soiree’.
Fri 12: A Jazzy Xmas @ St Cuthbert’s Centre, Crook. 7:30pm. £15.00. Paul Edis (MD, piano); Jo Harrop (vocals); Vasilis Xenopoulos (tenor sax, soprano sax); Matthew Forster (alto sax, clarinet); Sue Ferris (flute, piccolo); Graham Hardy (trumpet, flugelhorn); Jason Holcomb (trombone);Emma Fisk (violin); Andy Champion (double bass); Matt MacKellar (drums). SOLD OUT!
Fri 12: Tony Hadley: Xmas Big Band Tour 2025 @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 7:30pm.
Fri 12: Alexia Gardner @ The New Ship Inn, Newbiggin-by-the-Sea. 8:00pm. Gardner, Alan Law, Jude Murphy, Abbie Finn.
Fri 12: Jive Aces: Swingin’ Xmas Show @ The Witham, Barnard Castle. 8:00pm.

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

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Match and Fuse - WORLDSERVICE PROJECT's bigger bang

Free festival
15 & 16 June 2012
13 bands from 8 countries
the Vortex, Gillett Square, Dalston N16
WorldService Project have been tearing a path through the UK scene and with their ambitious initiative of Match & Fuse joint adventures in music, in touring exchanges with the brightest, dirtiest young European and Scandinavian bands since September last year. With 4 bi-monthly collaborations already and 1 on the go, in June they kick it up a level, bringing it all together in London for 2 free-for-all days… the first Match & Fuse festival. Powered by the musicians themselves, Match & Fuse has rapidly grown into an open collective with a 5 year plan of tours and festivals: 2012 London; 2013 Oslo; 2014 Rome…
⃝ Friday 15th evening in the Vortex Jazz Club
20.15 Alfie Ryner France, mashup big band WorldService Project/RedivideR/Alfie Ryner
21.30 Neo Italy 22.30 Led Bib UK 23.30 Owls Are Not What They Seem Poland
⃝ Saturday 16th afternoon in Gillett Square, N16
13.00 3 dancers 9 drummers 13.45 Hackney kids & match& fusers,
14.30 Les Rauchen Verboten Spain 15.45 Pixel Norway, 17.00 RedivideR Ireland,
⃝ Saturday 16th evening, Square and Vortex
In Vortex:
In Gillett Square:
17.45 Tribraco Italy
18.45 match&fuse big band
(18 musicians from all bands)
19.30 SynKoke Norway
20.30 WorldService Project UK
21.30 Tin Men and the Telephone Holland
22.30 Trio VD UK
23.30 Tubax Italy
ALL FESTIVAL SOUNDS http://soundcloud.com/match-2/sets/match-fuse-festival-2012-1
More about Match & Fuse http://matchandfuse.tumblr.com/about
And coming up in days before festival, match&fuse no. 5 regional dates
WorldService Project and Alfie Ryner Memorial
JUNE 11
Cambridge: Hidden Rooms, CB5 8BA
Tics £6/4 01223 514777 www.hiddenthing.com/
JUNE 13
Newcastle: Star and Shadow, Stepney Bank NE1
Tics £7/5 info@jazznortheast.com
JUNE 14
Bristol: The Hen and Chicken, 210 North Street. £10/7
storror.albertjazz@talk21.com 07766 741 417 http://jazzata.com/Venues.html#hen
FESTIVAL LINE-UP 15& 16 June 2012
WorldService Project (UK): Keyboardist Dave Morecroft leads “serious scronk jazz WSP crew through irreverent blend of face-slapping funk, odd metered grooves and a clutch of catchy, zizagging melodies all to dazzling effect.” Time Out http://worldserviceproject.tumblr.com/
Neo (Italy) progressive avant-punk jazz trio combining explosive energy, punk angularity with highly improvised music. http://www.facebook.com/NeoJazzTrio
Led Bib (UK) led by drummer Mark Holub, the sonic equivalent of a volcanic eruption backed by a fire storm. www.ledbib.com/
Owls Are Not (What They Seem) (Poland) aggressive drum n bass mixed with complex African rhythms. http://bandzone.cz/owlsarenotwhattheyseem#!/owlsarenotwhattheyseem?at=info
Les Rauchen Verboten (Spain) momentous speech that describes violence, landscapes and stories of a raw, joyful and at times sarcastic perspective on life www.myspace.com/lesrauchenverboten
Alfie Ryner (France) quintet of stirring music, elegant and poised jazz to punk to groove to bolero.
www.myspace.com/alfierynermemorial
RedivideR (Ireland) two-horns-no-chords quartet led by drummer Matt Jacobson - downtown grooves with catchy melodies + collective improvs and influential dose of Carnatic music of Southern India. http://www.facebook.com/redivider1?v=info
Tribraco (Italy) Pyscho jazz, stepping a fine balance between structured composition and free improvisation, syncopated and pressing rhythms. http://www.myspace.com/tribraco
SynKoke (Norway) ahead of the curve of Nordic jazz wave with a good nod to British prog rock.
http://www.facebook.com/synkoke
Tin Men and the Telephone (Holland) Seductive, funny, challenging, wicked –great musical depth and strong rhythms, jazz in a new guise. www.tinmenandthetelephone.com/site/
trioVD (UK) redefining preconceptions of contemporary British jazz to voracious crowds of old-proggers and muso-teens, virtuosity with mind-blowing coherence. www.myspace.com/triovd
Tubax (Italy) electro-dirty-progressive-funk on psycho-surreal mission to rid the cosmos of evil armed solely with synth, bass, drums www.facebook.com/TubaxSound?ref=ts&sk=app_2405167945
Pixel (Norway) led by bassist Ellen Andrea Wang – rockpopjazz http://www.reverbnation.com/pixel.
Lance.

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