Bebop Spoken There

John McLaughlin: ''It was then that Coltrane came along and single-handedly brought this dimension of spirituality into jazz. It was a pivotal experience to me.'' (DownBeat September, 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

18957 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 821 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Sept. 30.) 100.

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

September.

Sat 03: New Orleans Ragtime Band @ St Augustine’s Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. £10.00. Darlington New Orleans Jazz Club. Gavin Lee & co.
Sat 03: Anemone Quartet + Jeepe Zeeburg @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. NFOJAIM.
Sat 03: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. £27.50. Tutor: Steve Glendinning. Caravan. Enrol at: learning@jazz.coop.
Sat 03: Tees Bay Swing Band @ Blacksmith’s Arms, Hartlepool. 1:30pm. Free. Open rehearsal.
Sat 03: Struggle Buggy @ The Peacock, Sunderland. 6:00pm. Free. Excellent blues band.
Sat 03: Bright Street Big Band @ Washington Arts Centre. 6:30pm. £12.50 (inc. bf). Two sets: 7:30-8:15pm & 8:45-9:30pm. ‘Swing Band Dance Night’.
Sat 03: Olie Brice Quartet + Alexander Hawkins + Harper Trio @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 7:00pm. NFOJAIM.
Sat 03: Paul Skerritt Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 8:00pm. Free.
Sat 03: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.

Sun 04: Tees Bay Swing Band @ Heugh Battery, Hartlepool. 11:00am-12 noon & 1:00-2:00pm.
Sun 04: Smokin’ Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm. £10.00.
Sun 04: Ian Bosworth Quintet @ Chapel, Middlesbrough. 1:00pm. Free. Quintet w. special guest Bill Watson (trumpet).
Sun 04: Sax Choir w. Rachel Musson @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 04: Rivkala + Ceitidh Mac + Thatcher & Knowles @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:30pm. A NFOJAIM event.
Sun 04: Ruth Lambert Trio @ The Juke Shed, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free. RESCHEDULED from September 27.
Sun 04: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 04: NUJO Jazz Jam @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £3.00.

Mon 05: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 05: Saltburn Big Band @ Saltburn House Hotel. 7:00-9:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).

Tue 06: Alan Law @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 2:00pm. Free. Alan Law (piano) w. Paul Grainger (double bass).
Tue 06: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Murray Oak, Paul Grainger, John Bradford.
Tue 06: Customs House Big Band @ The Masonic Hall, Ferryhill. 7:30pm. Free.
Tue 06: Black is the Color of My Voice @ Northern Stage, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Apphia Campbell’s one-woman stage play inspired by Nina Simone. First night of two.

Wed 07: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free. Wed 07: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 07: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 07: Black is the Color of My Voice @ Northern Stage, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Apphia Campbell’s one-woman stage play inspired by Nina Simone. Second night of two.

Thu 08: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Millstone, Mill Rise, South Gosforth, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 08: Amphitrio @ The Forum, Darlington. 7:30pm. £8.00. Andrei Petrache (piano); Mike Alex (double bass); Philip Goron (drums).
Thu 08: Pete Tanton’s Chet Set @ Newcastle Arts Centre. 7:30pm. Free (donations).
Thu 08: Indigo Jazz Voices w. Little Big Band @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:45pm. £5.00.

Fri 09: TBC @ Bishop Auckland Methodist Church. 1:00pm. £9.00.
Fri 09: John Rowland Trio @ Jesmond Library, Newcastle. 1:00pm. £5.00.
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: Shalala @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £7.00.

Monday, October 06, 2014

Blue-Eyed Hawk @ the Bridge Hotel. October 5

Lauren Kinsella (voice/keys), Alex Roth (guitar, effects, voice), Laura Jurd (trumpet, synth, voice), Corrie Dick (drums, percussion, voice).
(Review by Lance/photo courtesy of Ken Drew).
Third appearance by Blue-Eyed Hawk within these hallowed pages, second showing in Newcastle by Kinsella this week and a first rate performance at last night's Splinter session at the Bridge Hotel.
Hugh Cochrane gave a fair assessment of their début CD Under the Moon, I was present at the CD launch at Kings Place last month and, even as I type, Steve H may have words winging their way to me re Lauren's gig at Kings Hall on Thursday (the girl certainly moves amongst the crowned heads!).
The gig at Kings Place scored on the grounds that each member of the quartet stepped up to the mic and gave the audience a snippet or two about the pieces they individually wrote.
Very little of that last night. However, hearing and seeing the band within the confines of the pub as opposed to row ZZ in the Sage-like hall down at Kings Place was a totally different ball game! At KP I was at an enjoyable concert, here I was in the centre of a musical maelstrom  - Living in the Fast Lane (final number before number 27 bus lured me away - thank God the driver hadn't heard it!) was just that and Somewhere (Over the Rainbow) gave a different take to the tale of the Wizard of Oz.. In this version Dorothy is blown to buggery and it is the Wicked Witch of the West who runs off with the Tin Man.
Kinsella is indeed a sorceress capable of bewitching the listener with her flawless pitching and the vocal/trumpet passages are sheer magic. Jurd, laid back, played trumpet and keys (sometimes simultaneously) quite restrained albeit not without the occasional flourish that tells you that behind the Milesian exterior there is a Dizzy fighting to be free! Roth and Dick contributed to the proceedings admirably, the former, not content with merely (merely!) playing guitar, also concocted sound potions using an ebow (I think) and fiddling with foot pedals whilst Dick varied his attack using sticks (sometimes 2 in each hand) and mallets as well as changing cymbals more times than most people change their socks in a week!
It was different.
It was an experience.
It was excellent.
Lance.
at

2 comments :

Dave Sayer said...

I was at last nights gig and maelstrom is the most apt description. It was exciting, provocative stuff. I listened to the album on the way home and decided that this is what they need on the next Eddie Stobart Trucking CD.
Cheers
Dave

Monday, October 06, 2014 12:36:00 pm
Ken Drew (on F/b) said...

Spot-on review Lance. Spellbinding and raucous all in the same performance! Great stuff, and a real treat to see them in Newcastle.

Monday, October 06, 2014 6:46:00 pm

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