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

Fri 09: The House Trio @ Bishop Auckland Methodist Church. 1:00pm. £9.00.
Fri 09: Nauta @ Jesmond Library, Newcastle. 1:00pm. £5.00. Trio: Jacob Egglestone, Jamie Watkins, Bailey Rudd.
Fri 09: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 09: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 09: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 09: Warren James & the Lonesome Travellers @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm. £15.00.
Fri 09: The Blue Kings @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £10.00. (£8.00. adv.). All-star band.

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).

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

Sunday, April 13, 2014

CD Review: Leslie Pintchik - In the Nature of Things.

Leslie Pintchik (pno); Steve Wilson (alt/sop); Ron Horton (tpt/flug); Scott Hardy (bs); Michael Sarin (dms); Satoshi Takeishi (perc).
(Review by Lance).
So many review CDs come through the letterbox that I've had to replace the mat in the hall and the postman is complaining of a bad back so I hope those who have sent CDs for review will understand if they don't get reviewed immediately or even ever!
This disc is such a one that most undeservedly got shuffled back down the deck. Not any longer! It's a cracker!
Leslie Pintchik came to jazz after first teaching English Literature and receiving a Master of Philosophy degree in seventeenth century English Literature! The lady can read words as well as music!
Whilst I'm impressed by all this learnin' stuff, I'm even more knocked out by her pianistic, composing and arranging skills.
The compositions are magic, you feel you know these tunes even though you've never heard them before and plagiarism doesn't even enter into it - these are hers and no-one else's! Leslie's interpretation of the one non original,  I've Grown Accustomed to her Face, is on a par with the classic Andre Previn version.
There are so many names bandied around these days - both here and "across the pond" - that genuine, straight down the middle players, usually immensely more talented than the jazzarati, get overlooked.
I'd like to think that Pintchik wasn't such a victim. The jazz of tomorrow can only be as good as the jazz of today if the jazz of today is as good as the jazz of yesterday. This disc bears comparision with the jazz of any day...
It's a disc to listen to and enjoy, not only the lady's piano and her compositions,
but also the fine solos by Wilson and Horton.
If we operated a 5 star system this would be ****.
Lance. 

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