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HOWAY THE LADS!

Bebop Spoken There

John McLaughlin: '' A Love Supreme coincided with my search for meaning in life". (DownBeat, March 2025).

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

17873 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 194 of them this year alone and, so far, 41 this month (March 14).

From This Moment On ...

MARCH 2025.

Sat 15: Hot Teapots @ St Augustine’s Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm.
Sat 15: Lagos to Longbenton + Belladonna @ Whitley Bay Big Social, Whitley Road, Whitley Bay. 2:00pm. Free. Afrobeat/jazz fusion + soul/funk/R&B
Sat 15: Creakin’ Bones @ Billy Bootleggers. Ouseburn, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free.
Sat 15: Joseph Carville Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 15: Is This Jazz? @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Tickets: www.eventbrite.co.uk. Performances by Mu Quintet, Jinjé, A Brief Utopia, John Pope & Co + André Marmot (author of Unapologetic Expression: The Inside Story of the UK Jazz Explosion) in conversation + DJ sets ‘til 3:00am. ‘A Festival of New Jazz’.
Sat 15: Vintage Explosion @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 7:30pm. SOLD OUT!
Sat 15: Alligator Gumbo @ The Forum, Darlington. 7:30pm. £15.00.
Sat 15: One Night Standards @ The White Room, Stanley. 8:00pm. £8.67 (inc. bf). Note - previously advertised Salty Dogs cancelled.
Sat 15: Howlin’ Mat @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Blues guitar.

Sun 16: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Exchange Sq., Middlesbrough. 1:00-2:45pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sun 16: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 16: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 16: Pearl Blossoms @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Ragtime.
Sun 16: Hot 8 Brass Band @ Wylam Brewery. 7:30pm. ‘Big Tuba Tour’.
Sun 16: ARQ @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Sun 16: Air4ce @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 8:30pm (8:00pm doors). £12.00.; £10.00. Tom Atkinson’s all-star band (line-up inc. Lindsay Hannon & Sue Ferris).
Sun 16: Jazz Jam @ Fabio’s, Saddler St., Durham. 8:00pm. Free. A Durham University Jazz Society promotion. All welcome.

Mon 17: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 17: Jamie Toms Quartet @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00.

Tue 18: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Laurence Harrison, Paul Grainger, Tim Johnston.
Tue 18: Phil Bancroft’s Beautiful Storm @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £13.20 & £11.00.. A JNE-Gem Arts co-promotion.

Wed 19: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 19: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 19: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 20: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, Holystone. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 20: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Nicknames.
Thu 20: Terri Green Experience @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £15.90.
Thu 20: Lindsay Hannon Trio @ The Harbour View, Roker, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Hannon’s ‘Tom Waits for No Man’ set.
Thu 20: Ray Stubbs R&B All Stars @ Mill Tavern, Hebburn. 8:30pm. Free.

Fri 21: Paul Skerritt @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 21: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 21: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 21: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 21: Giles Strong Quartet @ 1719, Hendon, Sunderland. 7:30pm. CANCELLED!
Fri 21: New Century Ragtime Orchestra @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Featuring special guest Martin Litton (piano).

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

Monday, April 27, 2015

Darlington Jazz Festival. April 25: Bruce Adams & Al Wood with the Durham Alumni Big Band + Durham County Youth Big Band

(Review by Russell).
The Central Hall in the Dolphin Centre has been described as a palais de danse. Built on civic pride, ornate chandeliers illuminate the grand setting as concertgoers ascend the red carpeted staircase. Function suite tables dressed in linen table cloths, flowers decorating a candlelit scene. A posh ‘do’? Nothing of the sort, this was a big band session Darlington-style!
All seats (265 of them) were sold. The Durham County Youth Big Band opened the show with a Matt Roberts’ arrangement of Mercy! Mercy! Mercy! The young musicians on the stage won applause for each and every solo effort. An abundance of talented, enthusiastic musicians were heard in all sections of the band. A Sammy Nestico arrangement of Satin Doll held no fears and a rousing St Louis Blues got the audience going. The band played This Can’t Be Love a matter of three weeks after seeing the parts for the first time at one of its regular rehearsal nights. This public premiere on such an auspicious occasion could have fallen apart but the Durham County Youth Big Band rose to the task in fine style.
The Durham County Alumni Big Band is the band to which many of the youthful players will undoubtedly graduate. The senior band took to the stage in ‘black tie’ attire. The two guest artists working with the band – Bruce Adams and Al Wood – were similarly booted and suited. Al Wood, multi instrumentalist and life-long educator put the band through its paces, expecting the best and that’s what he got. So many highlights; Alex Baker on Lady Day (magisterial), Neal Hefti’s Cute featuring Stephen Fletcher’s fine brushwork, pianist
Dean ‘Basie’ Stockdale spot-on with All of Me and Hank Mobley’s Funk in Deep Freeze putting the rhythm section to work with Adams and Wood. Trumpeter Jonny Dunn made his way down to the front of stage to give it a blast on Take the A Train. A blast!
Of course the star guests stepped-up. A Marty Paich arrangement of Bernie’s Tune heard Al wood at his best on alto. Bruce Adams played trumpet and flugelhorn. On the latter he impressed with a powerful solo on Black Orpheus and an exquisite Moonlight in Vermont in contrast to his trumpet excursions. Now, these were something else! The decibel count rose on Once I Had a Secret Love (rattling the chandeliers) and superb stratospheric work on At Last (metaphorically) brought the house down. Two numbers made the night. First, trumpeter Matthew Robinson joined Adams to play What’s New? Nerves of steel, young Robinson did himself proud. Mr Adams shook hands with Mr. Robinson - that says it all. Finally, trumpeter Tom Hill had the task of standing toe to toe with Adams on Memoiries of You. Adams played impossibly high stuff. Would the young man be able to respond? A heart-stopping moment…then Hill nailed it! Adams, impressed, shot for the stars. Could Hill do it again? You bet! The two of them went way beyond the stars time and again. A handshake. You wouldn’t believe the applause. For the first and only time during the evening Adams spoke to the audience. He said the future of jazz was in safe hands with young musicians of this calibre snapping at his heels. A grand night, grand surroundings, Darlington Jazz Festival just gets better and better.   
Russell.

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