Bebop Spoken There

Donovan Haffner ('Best Newcomer' 2025 Parliamentary Jazz Awards): ''I got into jazz the first time I picked up a saxophone!" - Jazzwise Dec 25/Jan 26

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

18146 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 24 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Jan. 7), 24

From This Moment On ...

JANUARY 2026

Sat 10: Mark Toomey Quintet @ St Peter’s Church, Stockton-on-Tees. 7:30pm. £12.00. (inc. pie & peas). Tickets from: 07749 255038.

Sun 11: New ’58 Jazz Collective @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 11: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 11: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 11: Eva Fox & the Sound Hounds @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 12: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 12: Saltburn Big Band @ Saltburn House Hotel. 7:00-9:00pm. Free.

Tue 13: Milne Glendinning Band @ Newcastle House Hotel, Rothbury. 7:30pm. £11.00. Coquetdale Jazz.
Tue 13: Jazz Jam Sandwich @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Wed 14: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 14: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 14: Jam Session @ The Tannery, Hexham. 7:00pm. Free.
Wed 14: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 15: Mark Toomey Quartet @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm. Free. Quartet + guest Paul Donnelly (guitar).

Fri 16: Giles Strong Quartet @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. £8.00. SOLD OUT!
Fri 16: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 16: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 16: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 16: Darlington Big Band @ The Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. Opus 4 Jazz Club.
Fri 16: Leeds City Stompers @ Billy Bootleggers, Newcastle. 9:00pm. Free.

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

Friday, March 21, 2014

Mo Scott, Paul Edis & Neil Harland @ The Gala Theatre. March 21

(Review by Russell)
The monthly Friday lunchtime jazz gigs at the Gala have become so popular they are now selling out in advance. The appearance of Mo Scott was no exception. The printed programme bore little relation to the set list Scott devised on the spot. Pianist Paul Edis and double bassist Neil Harland scrambled (most professionally) to find their parts as the Empress of the Blues counted ‘em in. Scott added, helpfully: Everything’s in numerical order except for the one’s that aren’t!
Don’t Get Around Much Anymore sang Scott and proceeded to ask the question: Gee Baby Ain’t I Good to You? Edis responded with some bluesy piano playing. Scott can usually be heard singing the blues late into the night. At the Gala she found herself performing at the decidedly non-bluesy hour of one in the afternoon. Come Rain or Come Shine featured fine vocals as did Good Morning Heartache. Neil Harland set the mood on Fever and Scott’s intro to Bye Bye Blackbird hit the spot as did Edis’ solo with a fleeting quotation from Casablanca thrown in for good measure. Scott and Harland left the stage to Edis to play a solo number – My Foolish Heart (Victor Young/Ned Washington). Little did we know that Edis would be accompanied throughout by the sound of a pneumatic drill on a nearby building site! Mose Allison’s Stop This World followed, a perfect retort to the unwelcome intrusion. Scott declared You Don’t Know What Love Is, heartfelt, real.
The hour long set flew by and before the full house left to wind their way, Scott, Edis and Harland made a dash for it along Route 66. Next month at the Gala (Friday April 25) the jazz guitar duo of James Birkett and Bradley Johnston will surely play to another sold out crowd. Guitar playing of the highest order, order your tickets now – 0191 03000 266600 – because if you don’t you will be turned away. A week today Mo Scott can be heard in full throttle blues mode at the Jazz Café in Newcastle.
Russell.

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