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, May 15, 2014

CD Review JC Sanford Orchestra Views From the Inside

(Review by Russell).
JC Sanford is a co-founder of the composer’s federation, Pulse, with Darcy James Argue and Joseph C. Phillips. Living and working in Brooklyn, Sanford has NYC’s Downtown scene on his doorstep. His sixteen piece ensemble comprises musicians from the spheres of classical music and contemporary jazz. The writing embraces French impressionism, a cinematic sweep across a 20th/21st century North American landscape (the 1925 silent film Ben Hur to subversive, unsettling quasi-nursery rhymes) to big band jazz post-Gil Evans to the jazz of today.
An Attempt at Serenity, the first of twelve tracks, opens with a brief section of Buddhist recitations, giving way to the string players (variously serene, then taut) and percussion. Five of the tracks refer specifically to Brooklyn – 2nd & 7th (Brooklyn Vignette #5) and Verrazano Bikeride (Brooklyn Vignette #3) in particular succeed in evoking the sights and sounds of the borough – and two lengthy compositions vie for the soul of the album – the title track Views From the Inside and Sky Good. The CD liner notes suggest the former is “A 15plus- minute journey through beauty, dissonance, and everything in between. Positively epic…”. The latter piece features the tenor sax of Chris Bacas and is perhaps the jazz track of the album.
The ensemble playing is of the highest quality, Sanford’s writing always interesting and with fellow travellers such as the critically acclaimed Darcy James Argue, the future of the big band –jazz or other – makes for interesting times. The JC Sanford Orchestra’s Views From the Inside is released on Monday 19 May 2014 on Michael Janisch’s Whirlwind Recordings – WR4652.      
JC Sanford (composer, conductor & trombone), Satoshi Takeishi (percussion), Jacob Garchik (accordion), Tom Beckham (vibraphone), Meg Okura (violin & electronics), Will Martina (cello & electronics), Aidan O’Donnell (acoustic bass), Dan Willis (oboe, piccolo, flute & soprano saxophone), Ben Kono (English horn, bass clarinet, clarinet, flute & alto saxophone), Chris Bacas (clarinet, soprano & tenor saxophones), Kenny Berger (contra-alto saxophone, bassoon & alto flute), Taylor Haskins (trumpet, flugelhorn & harmonizer), Matt Holman (trumpet & flugelhorn), Mark Patterson (tenor trombone), Jeff Nelson (tuba & bass trombone), Chris Komer (French horn), Asuka Kakitani (conductor - tracks 6 & 12)
Russell.
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