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

Wednesday, December 03, 2014

CD Review: Samuel Eagles Quartet - Next Beginning - LIVE TONIGHT @ THE GLOBE NEWCASTLE (8pm £10)!


(I make no apologies for re-posting this CD review as the band are appearing tonight at the latest Jazz Co-op gig at The Globe. If they are only half as good as they are on the CD it would still be one helluva gig! However, I confidently expect them to be even better live! Don't miss out! - Lance)
Samuel Eagles (alt/sop); Ralph Wyld (vib); Fergus Ireland (bs); Eric Ford (dms).
(Review by Lance).
What a talented family the Eagle Clan must be! Brother Duncan has already achieved recognition with the contemporary trio Partikel and now, Sibling Samuel has emerged from the eyrie in full flight displaying a technique well capable of expressing the multitudinous rush of ideas that flow from his head/soul via either alto or soprano.
Tutoring by such greats as Mornington Lockett, Jean Toussaint and Jason Yarde, among others (no doubt brother Duncan also threw in his tenpenneth), have ensured that Samuel has tread the path of musical righteousness. Eagles cites his influences as ranging from Charlie Parker to Kenny Garrett with a nod towards Ambrose Akinmusire and Logan Richardson which is no bad place to be.
Eight original compositions, tried and tested on the London gig scene, prove that not only is Eagles a saxophone player to be reckoned with but a top notch composer too!
On this CD he is in the company of his equally talented peers. Ralph Wyld, currently studying at the Royal Academy of Music under Nick Smart and Jim Hart,  is an emerging malleteer exploring the possibilities of the vibraphone. No longer dismissed as a "Miscellaneous Instrument" by Down Beat, although the British Jazz Awards still include the instrument in that slightly derogatory category (Jim Hart was last year's winner) there is nothing miscellaneous about Wyld's playing. pithy, and swinging like his mentor.
Ferg Ireland, another regular on the London scene, arrived via Trinity and RAM before making his mark with some of the capital's A-listers such as Nat Facey, James Maddren and Jay Phelps. Here, he is the veritable rock around which the session is built.
On drums, Eric Ford, well known for his work with Eagles Major in Partikel, provides plenty of  F-IRE power on this session driving, cajoling, spurring the soloists on, pushing them to the brink then bringing them back.
An exhilarating date. I can imagine Eagles saying. "Follow that bro!"
Samuel Eagles Quartet - Next Beginning will be officially released on the F-IRE presents label  on November 10 and launched on November 16 at Pizza Express, Dean St., Soho.
The quartet play several dates promoting the album commencing on Sept. 20 at Lancaster Jazz Festival.
Lance.
PS: The Paul Edis Sextet present their Mr Hipster album that same day at the same festival giving fans an additional incentive to cross the Pennines!

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