Bebop Spoken There

Emma Rawicz: "In a couple of years I've gone from being a normal university student to suddenly being on international stages." DownBeat January 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

18219 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 73 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Jan. 24), 73

From This Moment On ...

JANUARY 2026

Fri 30: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 30: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 30: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 30: Castillo Nuevo Trio @ Hotel Gotham, Newcastle. 5:30pm. Free.
Fri 30: Pete Roth Trio @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). Feat. Bill Bruford.
Fri 30: Jive Aces @ Alnwick Playhouse. 7:30pm.
Fri 30: Tweed River Jazz Band @ Northern Edge Coffee, Silver St., Berwick. 7:00pm.
Fri 30: Dan Coulthurst Quintet @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 7:30pm (7:00pm doors). £10.00 + £1.00. bf (www.wegottickets.com). Coulthurst (trumpet); Joel Steadman (bass clarinet, flute); Nico Widdowson (piano); Fergus Quill (double bass); Theo Goss (drums).

Sat 31: Darling Dollies @ St George’s Church, Jesmond, Newcastle. 3:00pm. £10.00. Vocal trio.
Sat 31: Brass Fiesta @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 10:30pm. Free.

FEBRUARY 2026

Sun 01: Smokin’ Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm. £10.00.
Sun 01: Ian Bosworth Quintet @ Chapel, Middlesbrough. 1:00pm. Free. Quintet + guest Bill Watson (trumpet, flugelhorn).
Sun 01: Sax Choir @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 01: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 01: Annie & the Caldwells @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £25.00. adv. Gospel/soul.
Sun 01: Jive Aces @ Alnwick Playhouse. 7:30pm.
Sun 01: Olly Styles Experience + Jenny Baker @ the Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 02: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 02: Saltburn Big Band @ Saltburn House Hotel. 7:00-9:00pm. Free.

Tue 03: Customs House Big Band @ The Masonic Hall, Ferryhill. 7:30pm. Free.
Tue 03: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Joe Steels, Paul Grainger, Abbie Finn.

Wed 04: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 04: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 04: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 05: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £5.00. Subject:Times of the Day & Trios.
Thu 05: Jeremy McMurray’s Pocket Jazz Orchestra @ Arc, Stockton. 8:00pm. Special guest Emma Wilson.
Thu 05: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm.

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

Saturday, September 01, 2012

CD Review - Graham Dechter: Takin' it There.

Graham Dechter (gtr); Tamir Hendelman (pno); John Clayton (bs); Jeff Hamilton (dms).
(Review by Lance.)
A must for guitar buffs! Graham Dechter, a young guitarist from Los Angeles, lives up to his hype as being poised and polished, suave and swinging - he is all these things and more. Both Dechter and pianist Hendelman paid their dues in the Clayton Hamilton Jazz Orchestra and it is fitting that the co-leaders of that orchestra complete the quartet here.

Wes Montgomery's Road Song, Barney Kessel's Be Deedle De Do reveal Dechter to be able to groove with the best and yet retain his own personality. Listen to the lyricism of Jobim's Chega De Saudate, a magical experience! The angular lines flow with the ease of a season pro and yet this is only his second album.
Dechter's original, Together and Apart, is a reflective even melancholic piece - underpinned as it is by soulful arco bass from Clayton - that seems to gradually emerge like a Night-Blooming Jasmine blossoming in the shades of evening before slowly returning to whence it came from.
It's back in the groove for Takin' it There with some driving piano from Hendelman who is a force to be reckoned with on this disc. Hamilton has an impressive drum work out on this one. YouTube.
George Coleman's Father is another lyrical piece that seems tailor-made for Dechter who sails throw the changes effortlessly - I say "Effortlessly" but think of the hours of practice he must have put in to get to this level! Likewise Hendelman whose solo is also on the money.
I'm running out of superlatives, it's that kind of disc, suffice to say John Clayton's Grease For Graham keeps the momentum going with some down home blues, Lee Morgan's Hocus Pocus - full of bop licks that have never dated and kick-ass drumming from Hamilton - Come Rain or Come Shine, Harold Arlen was possibly the most blues orientated of the American composers and Dechter gets to the heart of the tune and finds harmonic depths the composer himself probably didn't dream existed!
To conclude, an original by Dechter, Amanda, and Cole Porter's Every Time we Say Goodbye (End of a Love Affair's in there too).
An emotional ending to a lovely disc.
Lance.
CD Review - Graham Dechter: Takin' it There. Available from Amazon Sept. 18.
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