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HOWAY THE LADS!

Bebop Spoken There

John McLaughlin: '' A Love Supreme coincided with my search for meaning in life". (DownBeat, March 2025).

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

17873 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 194 of them this year alone and, so far, 41 this month (March 14).

From This Moment On ...

MARCH 2025.

Sat 15: Hot Teapots @ St Augustine’s Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm.
Sat 15: Lagos to Longbenton + Belladonna @ Whitley Bay Big Social, Whitley Road, Whitley Bay. 2:00pm. Free. Afrobeat/jazz fusion + soul/funk/R&B
Sat 15: Creakin’ Bones @ Billy Bootleggers. Ouseburn, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free.
Sat 15: Joseph Carville Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 15: Is This Jazz? @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Tickets: www.eventbrite.co.uk. Performances by Mu Quintet, Jinjé, A Brief Utopia, John Pope & Co + André Marmot (author of Unapologetic Expression: The Inside Story of the UK Jazz Explosion) in conversation + DJ sets ‘til 3:00am. ‘A Festival of New Jazz’.
Sat 15: Vintage Explosion @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 7:30pm. SOLD OUT!
Sat 15: Alligator Gumbo @ The Forum, Darlington. 7:30pm. £15.00.
Sat 15: One Night Standards @ The White Room, Stanley. 8:00pm. £8.67 (inc. bf). Note - previously advertised Salty Dogs cancelled.
Sat 15: Howlin’ Mat @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Blues guitar.

Sun 16: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Exchange Sq., Middlesbrough. 1:00-2:45pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sun 16: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 16: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 16: Pearl Blossoms @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Ragtime.
Sun 16: Hot 8 Brass Band @ Wylam Brewery. 7:30pm. ‘Big Tuba Tour’.
Sun 16: ARQ @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Sun 16: Air4ce @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 8:30pm (8:00pm doors). £12.00.; £10.00. Tom Atkinson’s all-star band (line-up inc. Lindsay Hannon & Sue Ferris).
Sun 16: Jazz Jam @ Fabio’s, Saddler St., Durham. 8:00pm. Free. A Durham University Jazz Society promotion. All welcome.

Mon 17: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 17: Jamie Toms Quartet @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00.

Tue 18: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Laurence Harrison, Paul Grainger, Tim Johnston.
Tue 18: Phil Bancroft’s Beautiful Storm @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £13.20 & £11.00.. A JNE-Gem Arts co-promotion.

Wed 19: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 19: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 19: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 20: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, Holystone. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 20: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Nicknames.
Thu 20: Terri Green Experience @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £15.90.
Thu 20: Lindsay Hannon Trio @ The Harbour View, Roker, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Hannon’s ‘Tom Waits for No Man’ set.
Thu 20: Ray Stubbs R&B All Stars @ Mill Tavern, Hebburn. 8:30pm. Free.

Fri 21: Paul Skerritt @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 21: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 21: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 21: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 21: Giles Strong Quartet @ 1719, Hendon, Sunderland. 7:30pm. CANCELLED!
Fri 21: New Century Ragtime Orchestra @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Featuring special guest Martin Litton (piano).

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

Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Darlington Jazz Festival. Sunday Evening Part Two April 27

(Review by Russell (AKA Tolstoy).
The weekend’s finale featured the Al Wood Nine. Multi instrumentalist Al Wood (trumpet, flugelhorn, alto & soprano saxophones) always puts on a good show. Bebop Spoken Here last heard him at the Cluny in Newcastle, for this Darlington engagement the veteran Yorkshireman brought his A-team with him.
 The band: Al Wood, Jim Corry (alto & soprano saxophones), James Russell (alto & baritone saxophones), Stuart MacDonald (tenor and bass saxophones), Sam Thornton (baritone saxophone & vocals), Graham Hearn (piano), Gary Jackson (double bass) & Bob Howard (drums) + Ernie Jackson (percussion)
Benny Carter’s Come On Over opened the first set with Simon Kaylor soloing on tenor and Jim Corry on alto. Corry’s altoist band mate James Russell took a phenomenal solo on Bernie’s Tune. This was going to be some night! Pianist Graham Hearn, heard recently up the road at the Lit and Phil in Newcastle, played beautifully on Rodgers and Hart’s Spring Is Here (Not in Darlington quipped Wood). The multi instrumental talents of the frontline were first demonstrated when Corry switched to soprano on I’m Always Chasing Rainbows. Flight of the Foo Birds featured Wood on alto with sensitive support from pianist Hearn. The set’s closing number will live long in the memory. A big band aficionado had earlier commented that he was pleased to see drummer Bob Howard in the band. Dizzy’s The Champ featured a drum solo to end all drum solos. The frontline cleared the stage as Howard gave an outstanding display. It was the closing number but it was only the end of the first set! 
During the interval one aspiring young drummer was introduced to Mr Howard…they talked drums. Aim for the stars, Howard did and he is up there with the best of them! Nat Adderley’s Work Song opened the second set. Double bassist Gary Jackson - great sound, great technique - grabbed a solo before the altoists (Corry and Russell) traded fours, fast and furious, then faster and ever more furious! Wow! Simon Kaylor featured once more on Stella By Starlight, initially at a slow tempo then up to race speed. It worked. Tenor man Stuart MacDonald (he made Johnny Griffin sound pedestrian) picked up his ton weight bass saxophone - great sound, great technique - to lead the parade on Struttin’ With Some Barbecue (arr. Hearn), Sam Thornton (baritone) followed with his own cast iron sound. A number from Phil Wood’s A Btrazilian Affair concluded matters with solo after solo drawing huge applause. Veteran drummer Ernie Jackson joined the party as guest percussionist. Quite a finale!
The 2014 edition off the Darlington Jazz Festival could only be described as a resounding success. The event is a considerable undertaking and it couldn’t work without the support of many individuals and organisations. Some of those - apologies for those omitted, it is a long list! - include Creative Darlington, Darlington Borough Council, Darlington For Culture, Darlington Jazz Club and the Musicians’ Union. The festival directors - Kirsty Dunn and Shaune Eland - the festival fundraiser (essential!) Kathryn Shaw, Head of Steam staff, staff at the Forum and last but by no means least, the innumerable band of volunteer workers. These are the unsung stars of the event. Many of them are young musicians giving freely of their time. They staff the door, sell raffle tickets, act as stage crew and do the behind the scenes donkey work. See you at the 2015 Darlington Jazz Festival, the Friendly Jazz Festival.          
Russell.

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