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.

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Jam Session @ Jazz Café - November 18.

Peter Gilligan (pno); Paul Grainger (bs); Paul Wight (dms); Bradley Johnston (gtr) + Paul Gowland (alt); Yuya Honami (dms); Kath Jobes, Ann Alex (vcl); ? (fl).
(Review by Lance).
The students were out in force tonight. Noisy, boisterous, but, nevertheless, adding a welcoming ambience that surely served to draw the passing stranger inside. Nothing more forbidding to the curious than the sepulchral silences that pervade at some gigs.
Johnny Mandel's Emily set the scene. Cool and relaxed in 3, the 4 on stage gave a 5 star performance and this was but the beginning. Mancini's Two For the Road didn't raise the game but it didn't lower it either.
Bouncing With Bud [Powell] would surely have met with the composers approval as Gilligan gave the venue's recently acquired electric piano a workout it won't forget in a hurry. Things Ain't What They Used To Be and Willow Weep For Me had Bradley laying down some nice guitar licks alongside the pianistics with two of the three Pauls providing the sympathy and support.
The third Paul [Gowland] joined the jam as did a Japanese student [English and Maths] on drums.
Scrapple From The Apple was the test piece and Yuya Honami graduated with Honours. The crispest brushwork this side of Chico Hamilton. As for Paul III he too was on fire with some blistering alto on Scrapple, marginally more restrained on Autumn in New York, before re-fanning the flames on Blues For Alice.
Honami, as befits a student of Maths, had no trouble handling the 3/4 time of Jim Hall's delightful Waltz New - let's hope he hangs around town for a while.
Two of the BSH ladies seized control of the mic. First up was Kath Jobes who sang Autumn Leaves with an unknown flautist who stayed on board for Ann Alex (On Green Dolphin St & Secret Love). Tivoli saw Gowland return to the fray where he truly let fly on Have You Met Miss Jones and How High the Moon/Ornithology. Needless to say, Gilligan was with him every step of the way, The satisfied smile on Grainger's face confirmed that the recipe was being cooked to perfection whilst Wight, no doubt inspired by young Yuya, ensured that this perilous Lunar Mission landed safely.
The bad news is that the specially brewed Geordie Jazz Ale is no longer, yours truly drunk the last bottle.
RIP Geordie Jazz - I knew you well.
Lance.

No comments :

Blog Archive