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HOWAY THE LADS!

Bebop Spoken There

John McLaughlin: '' A Love Supreme coincided with my search for meaning in life". (DownBeat, March 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

17873 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 194 of them this year alone and, so far, 41 this month (March 14).

From This Moment On ...

MARCH 2025.

Sat 15: Hot Teapots @ St Augustine’s Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm.
Sat 15: Lagos to Longbenton + Belladonna @ Whitley Bay Big Social, Whitley Road, Whitley Bay. 2:00pm. Free. Afrobeat/jazz fusion + soul/funk/R&B
Sat 15: Creakin’ Bones @ Billy Bootleggers. Ouseburn, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free.
Sat 15: Joseph Carville Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 15: Is This Jazz? @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Tickets: www.eventbrite.co.uk. Performances by Mu Quintet, Jinjé, A Brief Utopia, John Pope & Co + André Marmot (author of Unapologetic Expression: The Inside Story of the UK Jazz Explosion) in conversation + DJ sets ‘til 3:00am. ‘A Festival of New Jazz’.
Sat 15: Vintage Explosion @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 7:30pm. SOLD OUT!
Sat 15: Alligator Gumbo @ The Forum, Darlington. 7:30pm. £15.00.
Sat 15: One Night Standards @ The White Room, Stanley. 8:00pm. £8.67 (inc. bf). Note - previously advertised Salty Dogs cancelled.
Sat 15: Howlin’ Mat @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Blues guitar.

Sun 16: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Exchange Sq., Middlesbrough. 1:00-2:45pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sun 16: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 16: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 16: Pearl Blossoms @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Ragtime.
Sun 16: Hot 8 Brass Band @ Wylam Brewery. 7:30pm. ‘Big Tuba Tour’.
Sun 16: ARQ @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Sun 16: Air4ce @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 8:30pm (8:00pm doors). £12.00.; £10.00. Tom Atkinson’s all-star band (line-up inc. Lindsay Hannon & Sue Ferris).
Sun 16: Jazz Jam @ Fabio’s, Saddler St., Durham. 8:00pm. Free. A Durham University Jazz Society promotion. All welcome.

Mon 17: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 17: Jamie Toms Quartet @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00.

Tue 18: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Laurence Harrison, Paul Grainger, Tim Johnston.
Tue 18: Phil Bancroft’s Beautiful Storm @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £13.20 & £11.00.. A JNE-Gem Arts co-promotion.

Wed 19: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 19: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 19: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 20: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, Holystone. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 20: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Nicknames.
Thu 20: Terri Green Experience @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £15.90.
Thu 20: Lindsay Hannon Trio @ The Harbour View, Roker, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Hannon’s ‘Tom Waits for No Man’ set.
Thu 20: Ray Stubbs R&B All Stars @ Mill Tavern, Hebburn. 8:30pm. Free.

Fri 21: Paul Skerritt @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 21: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 21: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 21: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 21: Giles Strong Quartet @ 1719, Hendon, Sunderland. 7:30pm. CANCELLED!
Fri 21: New Century Ragtime Orchestra @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Featuring special guest Martin Litton (piano).

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, August 06, 2012

Scotland’s acclaimed national jazz orchestra salutes the Duke

Jazz history will be revisited with passion, vigour and fidelity as the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra follows its recent successes in the Parliamentary and Scottish Jazz Awards with a celebration of the artistry of Duke Ellington, which tours Scotland in October.

Ellington: In the Spirit of the Duke will feature the SNJO, which has been widely acclaimed as the finest ensemble of its kind in Europe, in a programme that ranges through one of jazz’s greatest pianists, composers and bandleaders’ vast repertoire, covering some of the most popular music of the past eighty years through iconic hits such as Black & Tan Fantasy, Mood Indigo, Caravan and Rockin’ in Rhythm and reaching into less frequently played Ellington orchestra masterpieces including Billy Strayhorn’s arrangement of Morning Mood from the Peer Gynt Suite by Norwegian classical composer Edvard Grieg.
The concerts will also feature highlights from Ellington’s Latin American, Far East, Such Suite Thunder, Nut Cracker, Toots, and The Queen’s Suites as well as Never No Lament, which became better known as Don’t Get Around Much Anymore with the addition of Bob Russell’s lyrics in 1942, and Sepia Panorama, the Ellington orchestra’s original theme tune before the adoption of Take the A Train in 1941.
Joining the SNJO in the role of Duke Ellington for the tour will be Scotland’s own world class pianist, the BBC Jazz Award-winning Brian Kellock, for whom SNJO director Tommy Smith re-orchestrated George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue in 2005, resulting in hugely successful concerts and a rapturously received recording.
The Ellington celebration comes during the most successful year to date for the SNJO, which formed in 1995. Following acclaimed tours with drummer Peter Erskine and trumpeter Randy Brecker in spring 2012, the orchestra added to its international reputation by appearing with singer Kurt Elling at France’s leading jazz festival, Jazz sous les Pommiers in Normandy, and released its first recording, Celebration, for the prestigious ECM Records label to enthusiastic praise worldwide. Winning the Best Ensemble title at the Parliamentary Jazz Awards 2012 and a nomination in the same category at the Scottish Jazz Awards have been further highlights.
SNJO director Tommy Smith said: “We are proud to be celebrating such an inspirational figure as Duke Ellington, whose music we have visited successfully before and to whose style we will be endeavouring to remain as true as possible on these concerts. There’s no musician more qualified to play the Ellington role on piano than Brian Kellock and we’re looking forward immensely to featuring his skill, exuberance and fantastic touch at the keyboard at the core of an orchestra that’s currently playing at the top of its game.”

Tour details: October 2012
Wed Oct 24 - Perth, Perth Theatre  01738 621 031  
Thurs Oct 25 - Aberdeen, Music Hall 01224 641122 
Fri Oct 26 - Edinburgh Queen's Hall   0131 668 2019 
Sat Oct 27 - Glasgow, Royal Conservatoire.   0141 332 5057  
Sun Oct 28 - Inverness, Eden Court  01463 234234 
All concerts start at 7.30pm with a free pre-concert talk at 6.45pm
For further information , please see www.snjo.co.uk 

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