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

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).

Fri 16: Giles Strong Quartet @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. £8.00. SOLD OUT!
Fri 16: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 16: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 16: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 16: Darlington Big Band @ The Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. Opus 4 Jazz Club.
Fri 16: Leeds City Stompers @ Billy Bootleggers, Newcastle. 9:00pm. Free.

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, October 07, 2014

Haste/ Kinsella/Noble/Batchelor @ Newcastle University. October 3










Haste (right): Ingrid Laubrock (tenor sax); Hannah Marshall (cello); Veryan Weston (piano).
Kinsella/Noble/Batchelor (left): Lauren Kinsella (voice); Chris Batchelor (trumpet); Liam Noble (piano)
(Review by Steve H/ photos courtesy of Ken Drew.)
Due to the late arrival of the first band who had been taken suddenly hungry in a local restaurant we were treated to an impromptu solo performance from free piano jazz wunderkid Veryan Weston.
A suitably replete Kinsella, Noble and Batchelor trio returned from their gastronomic adventure to take the stage for the first half of the scheduled programme. Kinsella is a vocal virtuoso  using the full range of her voice to improvise extensively. 
At times it felt like she was performing  scenes from a one woman play although the dialogue appeared to be ‘speaking in tongues’ rather than recognizable words.  Noble played his piano literally inside and out whilst Batchelor was not only outstanding on trumpet but with the assorted tubes and plungers he brought along to mutate his sound there was the added bonus that should the need arise he would have all the equipment necessary to unblock any drains. The band completed their set to a great ovation and were persuaded by a more than reasonably sized audience to perform an encore.
I am unable to name any of the tunes they played because as with the headline act there was zero communication with the audience. Neither of the bands introduced its members let alone the pieces they were playing. Maybe as artists they feel their music speaks for itself.
Personally I feel a little interaction between the band and the audience enhances the live experience but as Ronnie Scott once said ‘Quiet please you’re not here to enjoy yourselves’.     
After the interval Haste performed one long piece of ‘Chamber Jazz’ with all three members displaying great virtuosity and inventiveness on their respective instruments Marshall plucking her Cello at times to great aplomb whilst Laubrock produced an array of interesting and exotic sound effects from her tenor. The trio seemed to combine transcendentally and I was quite swept away as I surfed along the improvisational wave. At the end of the show I was left pontificating  as to  just how they managed to create such as a complex interactive piece of work.  To conclude I will improvise on that old English proverb – ‘Music with Haste, Recital a Pleasure’.  
Steve H.

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