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

19,061 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 925 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Oct. 30) 104.

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.

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.

Fri 06: Mike Durham’s International Classic Jazz Party @ Village Hotel, West Allotment. 12 noon. Day 1/3.
Fri 06: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 06: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 06: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 06: Jazz Night: Bridget Metcalfe @ Saltburn House Hotel. From 6:00pm. Tickets: £40.00 (inc. a two-course meal & glass of Prosecco). Tel: 01287 658977.

Friday, February 21, 2014

Zara McFarlane @ Sage Gateshead. February 20.

Zara McFarlane (vcl); Binker Golding (ten); ???(pno); Max Luthart (bs); Moses Boyd (dms).
(Review by Lance).
Hall Two was ground floor full. I guess Hall One did better - Richard and Adam of  Britain's Got Talent "fame"! Well, for my money, there was a lot more talent in Hall Two tonight!
I'd reviewed Zara's CD If You Knew Her earlier this month so I knew this was going to be a cracking gig and it certainly was. The majority of the numbers were from the current CD plus a couple from her previous effort, Until Tomorrow. In fact my favourite of the whole concert was from that earlier CD - More Than Mine. Perhaps it was the inspiration behind the song that got me. A tale of seeing your ex in a supermarket with somebody new and trying to hide behind the vegetable rack but being spotted. This girl sings about life!
But they were all good. Police and Thieves (The Clash), Nina Simone's Plain Gold Ring plus a host of originals by the lady herself. Her pitching is impeccable over a very wide range and her scatting reminiscent of Ella, Sarah and Anita at their best.
As if this wasn't enough, Binker Golding blew great tenor sax. His interchanges with Zara = excitement unlimited¹°. Luthart and Boyd kept the rhythm section flowing, totally relaxed. I didn't catch the name of the pianist. It certainly wasn't Peter Edwards who plays on the disc. 
A superb evening - Richard and Adam? Who needs you?
Well it seemed just about every taxi in town did. There were so many taxis outside of Sage Gateshead that my poor Quaylink bus was marooned amidst them unable to move in either direction until the Hall One show was over. Nothing for me to do but to leg it over to the 27 bus stop. Missed the bus by about 10 seconds. So What? Up the bank to the Metro for the South Shields train. Missed it by about 5 seconds!
Despite all this, I wouldn't have missed the concert even if I'd had to walk home.
Lance.
PS: A special mention of Shirley (and her husband) who I met during the interval. Shirley came to my rescue when I told her my pen had ran out. She gave me hers - without that act of kindness this review couldn't have been written!
Thank you Shirley.
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