For the past seventeen years we've been updating the world about jazz in the north east of England and updating the north east of England about jazz in the world. WINNER of the Jazz Media Category in the 2018 All Party Parliamentary Jazz Awards. Contact lanceliddle@gmail.com
DECEMBER 2025
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 12 noon (three sets 'til 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.
Sun 21: New ’58 Jazz Collective @ Jackosn’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 21: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. ‘Xmas Swingalong’. Skerritt w. backing tapes.
Sun 21: Ruth Lambert Trio @ Juke Shed, Union Quay, North Shields. 3:00-5:00pm. Free.
Sun 21: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 21: Strictly Smokin’ Big Band @ o2 City Hall, Newcastle. 6:00pm. £35.80., £33.25., £31.00.
Sun 21: The Globe Xmas Party @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. Live music.
Sun 21: Tweed River Jazz Band @ The Barrels Ale House, Berwick. 7:30pm. Free.
8 comments :
Trilok Gurtu, Paolo Fresu, Omar Sosa at the Sage was by far my favourite of the year Lance
The CD that I'm enjoying most isn't a new one but its new to me. Ed Bickert & Don Thompson 'At the Garden Party'. Its a gem and has some of the nicest lyrical/harmonic guitar playing I've ever heard. Amazing - he's like two guitar players at once. He has the ability to play nimbly yet drop off a chord (complete with inner voice movements) from any single note he happens to be on, yet sustaining the legato melody note on top. Jim Hall could do that too. Fantastic!
Been to a few very nice gigs and one I particularly enjoyed was Graeme Wilson's Quartet at L&P about 3 months back.
Roly
Hi Lance,
My gig of the year has to be the Lindsay Hannon Plus at the Sage Jazz Cafe... Just Superb, and my CD of the year has to be Zoe Gilby's Twelve Stories... again a really good compilation and a great addition to my collection. Have a great Christmas and a Happy New Year xx
Slightly expanding the territory - gig of the year: The Impossible Gentlemen at Zeffirelli's, Ambleside.
CD of the year: Internationally Recognised Aliens, by the same band.
(Hugh, the territory has no bounds - Lance)
My CD of the year (which I have really enjoyed over the festive period) is Clare Teals "Jing-jing-a-ling"
So stylistic & featuring many "Great American Xmas" tracks:-
http://www.jazzandjazz.com/2013/11/clare-teal-releases-jing-jing-a-ling/
Gig of the year has to be Martin Taylor & Martin Simpson at the Portland Ashington as part of Ashington Town Councils Music festival. Many thanks to Mick Slaughter & Stephen Humphrey from the Town Council for all the work organising it all. Initially they asked me for ideas for a national artist who would be suitable for the jazz element of the festival. My three suggestions were a choice between Stacey Kent, Clare Teal or Martin Taylor. I think they ended up with an ideal gig which cleverly crossed the jazz and folk genres
Gigs of the Year
1. Marilyn Crispell & Raymond Mcdonald
2. Arun Ghosh
3_ Paul Dunmall
3_ Laura Jurd
Gigs of the Years
1. Arun Ghosh (The Sage)
2. Ollie Howell Quintet (The Bridge)
3. Courtney Pine (Hoochie Coochie)
Albums of the year
1.John Escreet - Sabotage and Celebration
2 World Service Project - Fire in the Pet Shop
3. Foreign Motion -In Flight
Steve H
Hi Lance
Been on my travels again this year, here's my choices.
Gigs of the year
1. Igor Butman - Moscow Jazz Orchestra at Wigan Jazz Festival.
2. Bobby Shew & The La Big Band at the LA jazz festival.
3. Tommy Smith & The SNJO play Kenton at the Queens Hall Edinburgh
CD's
1. Igor Butman - Sheherazade Tales
2. Tommy Smith & The SNJO - In The Spirit of The Duke
3. Zoe Gilby - Twelve Stories
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