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

18585 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 449 of them this year alone and, so far this month (May 31) 103

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 08: FILM: Köln 75 @ Tyneside Cinema, Newcastle. 5:15pm. Dir. Ido Fluk. Drama based on the true story of Keith Jarrett’s 1975 concert in Cologne.
Mon 08: Dave Bristow Quintet @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £22.00., £11.00., £5.50. Bristow (piano); Christian Altehülshorst (trumpet); Félix Hardouin (alto sax); Gabriel Pierre (double bass); Guillaume Prévost (drums).

Tue 09: FILM: Köln 75 @ Tyneside Cinema, Newcastle. 3:00pm. Dir. Ido Fluk. Drama based on the true story of Keith Jarrett’s 1975 concert in Cologne.
Tue 09: Jazz Jam Sandwich @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Tue 09: FILM: Köln 75 @ Tyneside Cinema, Newcastle. 8:10pm. Dir. Ido Fluk. Drama based on the true story of Keith Jarrett’s 1975 concert in Cologne.

Wed 10: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 10: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 10: Jam session @ The Tannery, Gilesgate, Hexham. 7:00pm. Free.
Wed 10: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 10: John Garner & John Pope @ Elder Beer, Heaton, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.00. JNE.

Thu 11: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Millstone, Mill Rise, South Gosforth, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 11: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £5.00. Subject: MNO of the GASbook.
Thu 11: FILM: Köln 75 @ Tyneside Cinema, Newcastle. 2:45pm. Dir. Ido Fluk. Drama based on the true story of Keith Jarrett’s 1975 concert in Cologne.
Thu 11: Indigo Jazz Voices @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:45pm. £5.00.
Thu 11: Jeremy McMurray’s Pocket Jazz Orchestra @ Arc, Stockton. 8:00pm.
Thu 11: 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 11: 58 Jazz Collective @ The Blacksmith’s Arms, Hartlepool. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 11: Ray Stubbs R&B All Stars @ The Mill Tavern, Hebburn. 8:30pm. Free

Fri 12: Dean Stockdale Trio @ Bishop Auckland Methodist Church. 1:00pm. £9.00. Dean Stockdale (piano); Mick Shoulder (double bass); John Bradford (drums).
Fri 12: Pete Tanton & Alan Law @ Jesmond Library, Newcastle. 1:00pm. £5.00. Tanton (trumpet, vocals); Law (piano).
Fri 12: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 12: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 12: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 12: Ray Stubbs R&B All Stars @ Cleveland Bay Hotel, Eaglescliffe. 9:00pm. Free.

Sat 13: Ladies of Midnight Blue + Northern Monkey Brass Band @ Northumberland Miners’ Picnic, Woodhorn Museum, Ashington NE63 9YF. Free. From 10:00am. Ladies of Midnight Blue (3:00-3:45pm); Northern Monkey Brass Band (4:00-4:45pm).
Sat 13: Sarah Spencer’s Transatlantic Jazz Band @ St Augustine’s Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. £10.00. Darlington New Orleans Jazz Club.
Sat 13: Tees Bay Swing Band @ Saltburn Bandstand. 2:30-4:30pm. Free.
Sat 13: Courtney Pine @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm. £35.80. Pine (saxophones); Robert Mitchell (piano); Rio Kai (double bass); Romarna Campbell (drums). ‘A Modern-Day Jazz Story 1986 - 2026’.

Sun 14: Front Porch Band: Swing Tyne’s Swing Social @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12 noon (doors). Donations (£5.00. - £10.00. suggested). Swing dance event w. taster class (12:30pm).
Sun 14: 58 Jazz Collective @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00-3:00pm. Free.
Sun 14: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 14: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Table reservations (0191 261 8000). Skerritt w. backing tapes.
Sun 14: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 14: Doctor Jazz @ The Old Church, Sacriston, Durham. 3:00-5:00pm . Free (donations welcome). New Orleans, blues & classic 20th century songs. Food & soft drinks available, BYOB.
Sun 14: Eddie Gripper Trio @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Gripper (piano); Clem Saynor (double bass); Patrick Barrett-Donlon (drums). Americana album tour.

Saturday, November 15, 2014

Big Bands Are Like Buses

Radio Reveling from Russell).
BBC Radio does jazz well.* The problem is there isn’t enough of it – until the annual London Jazz Festival registers on Auntie’s radar. Composer of the Week: Big Band (Monday-Friday) on Radio 3 (12 noon) looks in depth at the form. Regular presenter Donald Macleod is guided through five one hour programmes by Guy Barker starting with Pioneers on Monday 17 Nov. Tuesday – The Swing Era, Wednesday – Big Band Bebop, Thursday – The 1950s and Friday – The New Sounds. All five programmes are repeated at 6:30pm each day through the week. 
Clare Teal (Sunday 16, Radio 2, 9:00pm) plays more big band fare and Julian Joseph joins her to preview the London Jazz Festival. On Radio 3 (Tuesday, 7:30pm) Radio 3 Live in Concert there is more big band jazz live from the Barbican, London. The BBC Concert Orchestra with Clark Rundell (conductor) works with Norma Winstone and the Trish Clowes Quintet. Newly commissioned work will be heard from Clowes and Guy Barker.
Novelist John Harvey shares his Private Passions (Sunday, Radio 3, 12 noon). Charlie Resnick is sure to get some jazz played! Clare Teal pops up again on In Tune (Radio 3, Monday, 4:30pm) and later the Branford Marsalis Quartet can be heard on Jazz on 3 (11:00pm) from the LJF. The classical side of Branford will be revealed throughout the week on Essential Classics (Radio 3, Monday-Friday, 9:00am). Jamie Cullum meets Arun Ghosh (Tuesday, Radio 2, 7:00pm) and at ten o’clock The Secret Kind of Blue looks at Miles’ ’59 recording (Guy Barker presents, first broadcast in 2009). Jay Rayner appears on In Tune (Tuesday, 4:30pm) with his jazz quartet. If actors can play the blues, Rayner can play jazz. And don’t forget the blues…Paul Jones over on Radio 2, 7:00pm, Monday has a further installment from London’s Blues Fest featuring Robert Cray. And finally, on Thursday 20, catch part three of The Atlantic Records Story over on BBC 6 Music. The programme (3/13) airs at 1:00am Friday looking at the label’s jazz catalogue.
Russell.
* Last night’s gala opening of this year’s London Jazz Festival broadcast live on Radio 3  from the Barbican – Radio 3 Live in Concert: Jazz Voice – featured Guy Baker fronting the London Jazz Festival Orchestra and an array of singers including Kurt Elling, Georgie Fame and Dee Dee Bridgewater. All great stuff, until near the end of the concert a Radio 3 continuity announcer interrupted Elling and band to tell the listener it was time to leave the Barbican to join the following scheduled programme. Now, can you image live opera from the Met or the Royal Opera House being cut short before the fat lady sang?              

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