Bebop Spoken There

Melissa Aldana: ''Having to play a ballads album, which is something very revealing for a saxophone player, would help me to question some new aspects of how to go deeper into sound." (DownBeat May, 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

18656 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 520 of them this year alone and, so far this month (June 25) 72

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

June

Mon 29: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 30: Alan Law Trio @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 2:00pm. Free.
Tue 30: Eva Fox & the Sound Hounds @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

July

Wed 01: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 01: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 01: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 02: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Millstone, Mill Rise, South Gosforth, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 02: Paul Skerritt @ Angels' Share, St George's Terrace, Jesmond, Newcastle NE2 2SX. 8:00pm. Free. Booking advised (0191 200 1975). Skerritt w. backing tapes.
Thu 02: De’Sean Jones & Blaque Dynamite feat. Urban Art Orchestra @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). De’Sean Jones (MD, tenor sax); Blaque Dynamite (Mike Mitchell, drums); Jamie Murray (drums) with UAO horns & strings.
Thu 02: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm.
Thu 02: Howlin’ Mat @ Newcastle Arts centre. 7:30pm. Free. Acoustic

Fri 03: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 03: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 03: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 03: Paul Donnelly Quartet @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm.
Fri 03: Martin Taylor @ Arc, Stockton. 8:00pm. Taylor (solo guitar).

Sat 04: Spats Langham’s Hot Fingers @ St Augustine’s Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. £10.00. Darlington New Orleans Jazz Club.
Sat 04: Michael Woods @ Cycle Hub, Quayside, Ouseburn. 1:30-2:30pm & 3:00-4:00pm. Free. Acoustic blues guitar. An Ouseburn Festival event.
Sat 04: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. £27.50. Tutor: Steve Glendinning. Take the ‘A’ Train to Summertime: From Melody to Masterclass. Enrol at: learning@jazz.coop.
Sat 04: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.

Sun 05: Smokin’ Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm. £10.00.
Sun 05: Ian Bosworth Quintet @ Chapel, Middlesbrough. 1:00pm. Free. Feat. guest TBC.
Sun 05: Michael Woods @ Cycle Hub, Quayside, Ouseburn. 1:30-2:30pm & 3:15-4:00pm. Free. Acoustic blues guitar. An Ouseburn Festival event.
Sun 05: Lydia Rae Quintet @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £10.00. Rae (vocals); Sam Lightwing (alto sax, tenor sax); Ben Lawrence (piano); Andy Champion (double bass); John Bradford (drums).
Sun 05: Sax Choir @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 05: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Table reservations (0191 261 8000). Skerritt w. backing tapes.
Sun 05: Storytellers Street Band @ Ouseburn Woodland, Ouseburn. 5:00-6:00pm. Free. An Ouseburn Festival event.
Sun 05: Gerry Richardson’s Big Idea @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Sun 05: Jambone @ Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:15-9:45pm. Free but ticketed.

Thursday, April 10, 2014

The Scottish National Jazz Orchestra directed by Tommy Smith proudly presents Mozart’s 9th Piano Concerto & Gershwin’s Rhapsody In Blue featuring special guest, Makoto Ozone

Inverness, Eden Court     25th Apr 2014 at 7.30 pm 01463 234 234  
  Online Box Office                     
Edinburgh, Queen’s Hall   26th April 2014 at 7.30 pm 0131 668 2019    
Glasgow, Royal Conservatoire  27th April 2014 at 7.30 pm   0141 332 5057           
This April sees a welcome shower of shimmering piano notes over Scotland as the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra (SNJO) premieres a new arrangement of Mozart’s 9th Piano Concerto. 
The SNJO has invited the superbly gifted pianist, Makoto Ozone to create a vivid and inventive re-imagining of Mozart’s 9th Piano Concerto for piano and Jazz Big Band. It promises to be a unique and memorable experience where the freedom of jazz is wedded to classical discipline.  The result will be an enthralling addition to the jazz repertoire. Tommy Smith’s stunning arrangement of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue also offers the ideal complement to Ozone’s Mozart, matching two iconic compositions in an intriguing programme full of life-affirming wit and artistic verve.
Makoto Ozone is no stranger to some of the most prestigious concert platforms in the world, having shared the stage with, among others, The New York Philharmonic Orchestra and the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra. He is recognized worldwide as a classical and jazz pianist of equal accomplishment, and has made more than 34 recordings, many of them with his own jazz trio. He is noted too for his collaborations with, among many others, Gary Burton, Chick Corea, Ellis Marsalis and the SNJO itself on their 2011 album Celebration.
The SNJO have begun 2014 with ambitious ideas, innovative programmes and bravura performances and earned standing ovations during recent shows featuring Kurt Elling in Syntopicon, and Revisiting Coltrane with Courtney Pine. More than that, audiences have been a bit shaken and more than a little stirred by the full measure of commitment from an impressive repertoire orchestra.
Audiences in Scotland will be the first to appreciate the SNJO’s vibrantly, fresh approach to Mozart’s 9th Piano Concertoand to Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, two universally popular classical pieces. They can also look forward to an evening of sheer, unashamed enjoyment in the company of Makoto Ozone and Scotland’s National Jazz Orchestra.
NB: There will be a free preconcert talk at 6.45pm before each concert.

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