Bebop Spoken There

Joe Alterman: ''All I wanted to do growing up was to sound like Erroll Garner playing "Poor Butterfly." I thought that was the coolest sound I'd ever heard.'' (DownBeat November, 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

19,061 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 925 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Oct. 30) 104.

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

October.

Sat 31: Saltburn Big Band + Durham Alumni Big Band @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm.
Sat 31: East Coast Swing Band @ Cramlington Village Club, Park View, Cramlington NE23 6QJ. 7:30pm. £10.00. (from venue).

November

Sun 01: Smokin’ Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm. £10.00.
Sun 01: Ian Bosworth Quintet @ Chapel, Middlesbrough. 1:00pm. Free. Quintet w. special guest Donna Hewitt (tenor sax, clarinet)
Sun 01: Sax Choir @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 01: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 01: Sarah Heneghan Trio @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 02: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 02: Saltburn Big Band @ Saltburn House Hotel. 7:00-9:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).

Tue 03: Alan Law @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 2:00pm. Free. Alan Law (piano) w. guest tba
Tue 03: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Stu Collingwood, Paul Grainger, Abbie Finn.
Tue 03: Customs House Big Band @ The Masonic Hall, Ferryhill. 7:30pm. Free.

Wed 04: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 04: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 04: An Evening of Erykah Badu @ Holy GrAle, Durham. 7:30pm. £3.00.; £2.50. A Durham University Jazz Society event.
Wed 04: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 05: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Millstone, Mill Rise, South Gosforth, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 05: Hejira - Celebrating Joni Mitchell @ Alnwick Playhouse. 7:30pm.
Thu 05: Cut Capers @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors).
Thu 05: Northern Reaches @ Newcastle Arts Centre. 7:30pm. Free (donations). Pete Tanton, Joe Steels, Laurence Blackadder, John Hirst.
Thu 05: Fergus McCreadie @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm.

Fri 06: Mike Durham’s International Classic Jazz Party @ Village Hotel, West Allotment. 12 noon. Day 1/3.
Fri 06: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 06: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 06: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 06: Jazz Night: Bridget Metcalfe @ Saltburn House Hotel. From 6:00pm. Tickets: £40.00 (inc. a two-course meal & glass of Prosecco). Tel: 01287 658977.

Wednesday, November 05, 2014

Jam Session @ The Jazz Café or Drummers Anonymous

Peter Gilligan (pno); John Pope (bs/bs gtr); Paul Wight (dms): Bradley Johnston (gtr) + David Gray (tmb/tpt); Dave Richardson (dms); Matthew MacKellar (dms); Russ Morgan (dms).
(Review by Lance/photo by Mike Tilley to follow).
They were filming in the Jazz Café tonight but, fortunately, the camera team were quite unobtrusive so it didn't interfere with the music.
The quartet, Bradley seems to be an integral part of it these days, were on the money from the off hitting pay dirt with Billie's Bounce, Wave, Alice in Wonderland, There Will Never Be Another You (Gilligan played a blinder on this one!) and Yardbird Suite. All four musicians at the top of their game with John Pope, in the absence of Paul Grainger, slotting easily into the role of Mr Bassman.
Maybe there was a drummer's convention in town but it seemed as though every time I glanced towards the playing area there was a different stickman at the kit.
First up was Dave Richardson from, I'm told, Richmond (Yorks) who booted Scrapple From the Apple along and bossa novaed How Insensitive.
David Gray played some lusty trombone on Caravan and trumpet on In a Mellow Tone. 16 year old Matthew MacKellar was now on drums playing with a maturity that belied his years. This young man is going places (to school the next day being one of them!)
Ornithology played at speed on trombone takes some JJ Johnson-like ability and it is to young Gray's credit that he got round the course without mishap. Russ Morgan was now on the drumstool - no, not the bandleader of So Tired fame, but an ace drummer who has worked with many of the top  names in British jazz and is currently based locally. Impressed.
Gray, Pope (on bass guitar) and Wight had an impromptu go at Watermelon Man - Johnston having left to catch the last train to Clarksville or wherever - before the final (for me) number - Seven Steps to "Hebburn" as Gilligan whimsically titled it.
It was seven wet steps for me as it was now raining but I didn't care - it had been a good night.
Lance.
PS: So many drummers even Ian Forbes didn't get to play!
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