Bebop Spoken There

Joe Alterman: ''All I wanted to do growing up was to sound like Erroll Garner playing "Poor Butterfly." I thought that was the coolest sound I'd ever heard.'' (DownBeat November, 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

19,057 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 921 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Oct. 29) 100.

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

October.

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.

Sat 31: Saltburn Big Band + Durham Alumni Big Band @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm.
Sat 31: East Coast Swing Band @ Cramlington Village Club, Park View, Cramlington NE23 6QJ. 7:30pm. £10.00. (from venue).

November

Sun 01: Smokin’ Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm. £10.00.
Sun 01: Ian Bosworth Quintet @ Chapel, Middlesbrough. 1:00pm. Free. Quintet w. special guest Donna Hewitt (tenor sax, clarinet)
Sun 01: Sax Choir @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 01: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 01: Sarah Heneghan Trio @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 02: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 02: Saltburn Big Band @ Saltburn House Hotel. 7:00-9:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).

Tue 03: Alan Law @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 2:00pm. Free. Alan Law (piano) w. guest tba
Tue 03: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Stu Collingwood, Paul Grainger, Abbie Finn.
Tue 03: Customs House Big Band @ The Masonic Hall, Ferryhill. 7:30pm. Free.

Wed 04: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ 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: An Evening of Erykah Badu @ Holy GrAle, Durham. 7:30pm. £3.00.; £2.50. A Durham University Jazz Society event.
Wed 04: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 05: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Millstone, Mill Rise, South Gosforth, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 05: Hejira - Celebrating Joni Mitchell @ Alnwick Playhouse. 7:30pm.
Thu 05: Cut Capers @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors).
Thu 05: Northern Reaches @ Newcastle Arts Centre. 7:30pm. Free (donations). Pete Tanton, Joe Steels, Laurence Blackadder, John Hirst.
Thu 05: Fergus McCreadie @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm.

Saturday, January 04, 2014

Mark Toomey Quartet @ Jazz Café. January 3

Mark Toomey (alto saxophone), Jeremy McMurray (piano), Peter Ayton (electric bass) & Kevin O’Neill (drums).
(Review by Russell)
The new look Jazz Café in the first week of the new year was always going to be a hard sell. Credit card max out, post festive blues, January is the longest month. Undeterred, the Mark Toomey Quartet made the journey from the Deep South to play a set of Bird-inspired bop, ballads and Toomey originals. The hardy few were treated to a cracking night of top flight jazz. All the Things You Are set the standard and it, the standard, didn’t drop all night.
Altoist Mark Toomey writes material for the quartet and if you didn’t know it, one could be forgiven for thinking the tunes were taken from the GASbook. A case in point being a Latin original – Those Rainy Summer Days. Another – Song For Laura – reinforced the observation. Toomey is fortunate to have an ongoing working relationship with Jeremy McMurray. The pianist excelled when last heard at Blaydon Jazz Club’s Christmas party and he retained his rich vein of form on this gig. McMurray expressed delight on seeing a ‘real piano’ saying: And it has just been tuned. A rare treat indeed! Cole Porter’s What Is This Thing Called Love was taken at a lick, Charlie Parker style. Toomey flew on this one. Talking of Bird…Ornithology. Toomey flew higher still. Bop heaven. One More Try, with a Latin vibe, further illustrated Toomey’s talents as a composer (McMurray in blues mode). Beautiful Love, one of the great tunes, struggled to reach agreement on the right key – much hilarity, they got there! More Bird – My Little Blue Suede Shoes – and a sizzling Love For Sale (six string bassist Peter Ayton and drummer Kevin O’Neill on the money) made this one of those sessions you didn’t want to end. However, all good things...
The band can be heard next Friday (January 10) on home turf (the Deep South of Tessside) at Saltburn Community Hall. The Saltburn regulars always turn up in numbers – they’re in for a treat, an extra special treat as Toomey has got Blaydon Ace guitarist Roly Veitch on the session. 7:30 pm start, get there early or risk being turned away. Bird Lives!  
Russell.          
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