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

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 Kevin Eland (trumpet).
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.

Mon 06: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 06: Saltburn Big Band @ Saltburn House Hotel. 7:00-9:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).

Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Northern Line Showcase @ Live Theatre, Newcastle. April 22, 2013

(Review by Russell)
Jazz North, the new jazz development agency for the north of England, announced an open submission scheme designed to highlight the best of the region’s jazz scene. Live Theatre in Newcastle hosted the second of three showcase evenings (ACV represented the north east at the first show in Liverpool) with four bands to hear. The event, open to all, attracted promoters, musicians and a few die-hard fans of the music. Jazz North’s influence (perhaps it was luck!) secured the prestigious venue for the evening.
HSQ+1 opened the programme. A quartet from Manchester, this was a first opportunity for a Tyneside audience to hear Jim Collins (alto & baritone saxophones), Will Lenton (tenor & baritone saxophones), Helen Pillinger (alto & tenor saxophones) and  Helena Summerfield (soprano & baritone saxophones). The quartet (+1, a drummer), differed from the classic jazz horn quartet (World Saxophone Quartet, 29th Street, Saxophonics) in that a prominent folk strand characterised their set.
Space Flight pushed the boundaries prompting the But is it jazz? debate. A quartet of three young musicians - James Mainwaring (tenor), Tom Adams (guitar) and Radek Rudnicki (electronics) - processed their sounds through table-top and pedal board gadgetry. Cavernous sounds echoed around the room as the fourth member of the quartet - Kuba Hader (video projection) - induced nightmarish memories of Tangerine Dream. Cool, or perhaps not.
Third on the bill - Shatner’s Bassoon - had visited Tyneside earlier in the year and made a big impression. Yet another product of the Leeds’ scene, this lot were great fun. Loud, talented, tight as, rehearsed to the nth degree and given to frequent volcanic eruptions, Shatner’s Bassoon filled the air with sulpherous sounds of molten lava. The Hub, Zappa and Zorn skewered their victims with a dead-eye rapier thrust and this six-piece will chase you down should you be brave (foolish?) enough to put your head above the parapet. Shatner’s Bassoon: Ollie Dover (tenor), Johnny Richards (keyboards), Craig Scott (guitar), Mick Bardon (electric bass), Andrew Lisle (drums) & Joost Hendrickx (drums). The final band - Ariya Afrobeat Arkestra - didn’t quite do what the name suggested. Not so much Sun Ra more like Fela Kuti. Incessant rhythms (Paul Baxter, bass, excellent) combined with riffing horns (Si Nixon, impressive trumpet) made for a danceable finale, if you were so inclined. The nonet: Peter Williams (tenor sax & bass clarinet), Leon Johnson (tenor), Martyn Strange (baritone), Si Nixon (trumpet), Taz Modi (keyboards), Neil Innes (guitar), Paul Baxter (electric bass), Joost Hendrickx (drums), Kris Wright (percussion). The Northern Line road show   moves on to a venue in Yorkshire (date and venue to be confirmed).   
Russell.                                      
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