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.

Monday, December 22, 2014

Roly Veitch-Jeremy McMurray Quartet with Steve Andrews @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. December 21

RolyVeitch (guitar & vocals), Jeremy McMurray (keyboards), Mick Shoulder (double bass), Adam Sinclair (drums) & Steve Andrews (tenor & soprano saxophones, clarinet)  + Ruth Lambert (vocals)
(Review by Russell).
Derby day (0-1), the shortest day, Blaydon Jazz Club day (evening). Black Bull regulars spent hours in the kitchen preparing, baking and cooking all manner of culinary delights (cakes, pies, quiche, sausages) for the traditional table of festive offerings. The music in store promised to be the icing on top.
Club promoter Roly Veitch invited old friend Steve Andrews to make the journey across the Pennines to play a few tunes in the company of Teesside pianist Jeremy McMurray, County Durham’s Mick Shoulder (double bass) and Tynesider Adam Sinclair (drums). A relaxed set of some rarely heard numbers together with one or two standards and a Father Christmas sack full of one liners from Andrews made for an enjoyable evening.
 I Want to be Happy opened the show with Andrews on soprano then tenor, then soprano once more. Veitch weighed in with a vocal on But Not for Me (Andrews clarinet). Andrews spoke of his admiration for Artie Shaw and played a couple of songs associated with him – Don’t Take Your Love From Me and My Heart Stood Still (clarinet and soprano). In between the two Take the A Train departed for Harlem calling at Metro Centre, Central Station and all stations Way Out West.
Andrews’ trademark robust, wide vibrato tenor told us about Sweet Lorraine and the first set drew to a close with Shoulder and Sinclair firing on all cylinders on Tangerine.
The interval cholesterol feast met with approval and a platter made its way through to the bar for the Black Sheep drinkers to sample the fayre. Donated raffle prizes were plentiful. So many were they the start of the second set was delayed a while as just about everyone was in with a chance of winning a prize!
A mid-winter Autumn Leaves (Jeremy McMurray, piano, Veitch, guitar) resumed music matters and birthday boy Veitch sang Look for the Silver Lining. Yes, R. Veitch thought he’d got away with it not mentioning his birthday. The room sang Happy Birthday (lots of smiling faces) and Andrews’ leisurely tenor suggested Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas before inviting Ruth Lambert to join the boys on the stand to sing All of Me (the jazz singer dying, but not quite daring, to swing it!). Short of a Santa hat, Lambert sang Santa Baby. Anytime Ruth, not just Christmas!
You Can Depend on Me (Andrews, tenor and soprano and a swift fours with Sinclair) and in no time last orders were about to be called. Lester Leaps In beat the bell.
Thanks were offered all round; to the superb musicians on the stand, to Mr Roly Veitch for  keeping Blaydon Jazz Club on the road for thirty-plus years and  to ‘Mine Host’ at the Black Bull, a bouquet of flowers.
A thrilling occasion is in prospect with the Strictly Smokin’ Big Band taking to the Black Bull’s modest stage when the club reconvenes on March 15. A dynamic big band in a small room. It has all the makings of being a contender for Gig of the Year 2015!   
Russell.
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