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Bebop Spoken There

Van Morrison: ''Basically, I'm coming from jazz. Not pop, not rock, not what's commercial. That's where I started, and that's still where I am. I feel the same as I did when I was listening to Louis Armstrong, Lead Belly, Jelly Roll Morton''. (The Northern Echo, 12 June 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

18037 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 458 of them this year alone and, so far, 36 this month (June 11).

From This Moment On ...

JUNE 2025

Sun 15: Lewis Watson Quartet @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm.
Sun 15: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 15: Pasadena Roof Orchestra @ Alnwick Playhouse. 7:00pm.
Sun 15: Under the Wellie @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 15: Hannah Brine Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 16: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club (1:00pm). Free.
Mon 16: Giles Strong Quartet @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00.

Tue 17: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Alan Law, Paul Grainger, Abbie Finn.

Wed 18: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 18: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:30pm. Free. Concert performance (open to the public)..
Wed 18: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 19: Gareth John & the SOS Big Band @ The Forum Music Centre, Darlington. 7:00pm. £25.00.

Fri 20: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 20: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 20: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 20: David Gray's Flextet @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 20: Strictly Smokin’ Big Band @ Alnwick Playhouse. 7:30pm. £21.50. ‘Time After Time’.br/> Fri 20: Alexia Gardner Quintet @ Sunderland Minster. 7:30pm.
Fri 20: King Bees @ Billy Bootleggers, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. Superb Chicago blues band.

Sat 21: Milne Glendinning Band @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 21: Red Kites Jazz @ Staithes Café, Dunston. 7:00-9:00pm. Free.
Sat 21: Papa G’s Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

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

Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Darlington Jazz Festival. April 25: The Late Night Festival Jam Session

(Review by Russell).
How many jazz musicians can you get into a Darlington telephone box? Following the Bruce Adams-Al Wood concert at the Dolphin Centre it appeared that most of those in the audience were keen to get along to the Quakerhouse pub to catch the late night jam session. The Camra award-winning pub isn’t the biggest hostelry in town and its loyal patrons regularly fill the place. A horde of jazz fans duly descended on the Mechanic’s Yard venue and stood at the door…
Getting into the Quakerhouse was all but impossible. The jam session’s house band – a quartet led by Mark Toomey (alto) with pianist Jeremy McMurray, Peter Ayton (bass) and drummer Paul Smith – set-up at one end of the downstairs room, the dimensions of the floor space being approximately 3m x 2m. The sitters-in, having hot-footed it from the Dolphin Centre, dropped their cases in the yard (there was nowhere else to put them), assembled horns where they stood, then attempted to squeeze through the door to find a spot on the crowded floor. First up were Bruce Adams and Al Wood. Star names, keen participants both, the stuff of great jam sessions. Seating for punters wasn’t an option, all stood. Those in the front row were but a few centimetres from the horns of Adams, Wood and Toomey. Indeed, Bebop Spoken Here’s Deep South correspondent Tony Eales made himself useful by holding Bruce Adams’ pint. Adams played a solo, stretched out an arm and there was his pint – ‘at hand’ you might say! Some of those eager to sit-in included Dean Stockdale, Tom Stephenson, Alex Baker, Amy Baker, Steve McGarvie, Alexander Bone, Uncle Tom Cobley ‘n’ all. They played Just Friends. An apposite number given the close proximity of innumerable bodies!
Two rockers (pub regulars) were amazed at the goings-on. Has he just met him? pointing at two musicians shaking hands on first acquaintance. How could they play like that? We couldn’t do that! You don’t say! Beer went down as fast as Mark Toomey could play. At sometime after two in the morning things started to wind down. Darlington Jazz Festival at the Quakerhouse – what more could you want? Sunday would soon be dawning.     
Russell.                  

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