Bebop Spoken There

Ethan Hawke (starring as Lorenz Hart in Blue Moon): ''Larry [Lorenz] Hart would be so happy that his music and his words and his poetry are still alive.'' - The Northern Echo 27 November 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

18000 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 964 of them this year alone and, so far, 73 this month (Nov. 24).

From This Moment On ...

DECEMBER 2025

Thu 04: The Noel Dennis Band @ Prohibition Bar, Albert Road, Middlesbrough TS1 2RU. 7:00pm (doors). £10.84. Quartet plus special guest Zoë Gilby. Over 35s only. POSTPONED! New date Jan. 29
Thu 04: Paul Skerritt @ Chakh Dhoom, Jesmond, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Indian restaurant. Skerritt w. backing tapes.
Thu 04: Jools Holland’s R&B Orchestra @ Globe, Stockton. 7:30pm. Featuring Ruby Turner, Louise Marshall, Sumudu Jayatilaka & Imelda May.
Thu 04: Indigo Jazz Voices @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:45pm. £5.00.
Thu 04: Organology @ Exchange 1856, North Shields. 8:00pm. £20.50 (inc. bf). Gilad Atzmon, Ross Stanley & Joel Barford!
Thu 04: Alive & Kickin’ @ The Mill Tavern, Hebburn. 8:30pm. Free.
Thu 04: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm. Free. Guests: Jeremy McMurray (piano); Richie Emmerson (tenor sax); Josh Bentham (alto sax); Bill Watson (trumpet); Ron Smith (bass). A Tees Hot Club promotion.

Fri 05: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 05: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 05: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 05: Jazzy Xmas @ Redhills, Durham. 7:30-10:00pm. £10.00., £9.00., £8.00. Miners’ Hall, Flass St., Durham. Feat. Durham University Big Band & Durham University Jazz Orchestra.
Fri 05: Castillo Nuevo Trio @ Hotel Gotham, Newcastle. 5:30pm. Free.
Fri 05: Alligator Gumbo @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm. £16.96. Saltburn Jazz Xmas Party.

Sat 06: Sarah Spencer’s Transatlantic Band @ St Augustine’s Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. £10.00.
Sat 06: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. £27.50. Tutor: Steve Glendinning. Minor Swing. Enrol at: learning@jazz.coop.
Sat 06: Jeff Hewer Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 06: NUJO Jazz Jam @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). £3.76 (inc. bf).
Sat 06: Kaberry Big Band @ The Seahorse, Whitley Bay. 7:30pm (7:00pm doors). £15.00. (inc. hot buffet). ‘Christmas 1945’. Kaberry Big Band, formerly Vermont Big Band.
Sat 06: Smokin’ Spitfires @ Platform 1, Bedlington. 7:30pm. £6.00. Rhythm & blues.
Sat 06: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00. Xmas Party with buffet.
Sat 06: The Jive Aces @ The Witham, Barnard Castle. 8:00pm. £22.00., £20.00.
Sat 06: Brass Fiesta @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 10:30pm. Free.

Sun 07: Ian Bosworth Quintet @ Chapel, Middlesbrough. 1:00pm. Free. Feat. special guest Donna Hewitt (sax, clarinet).
Sun 07: Finn-Keeble Group @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £10.00.
Sun 07: Sax Choir @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 07: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Skerritt w. backing tapes.
Sun 07: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 2:30pm. Free. Trio + Ruth Lambert.
Sun 07: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 07: Jason Isaacs Big Band @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 5:15pm (4:00pm doors). £21.50 (inc. bf).
Sun 07: Paul Skerritt @ 3 Stories, High St. West, Sunderland. 6:30pm. Skerritt w. backing tapes.
Sun 07: Lindsay Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Support set from Play More Jazz! course participants. Note earlier start.

Mon 08: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 09: Jazz Jam Sandwich @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm

Wed 10: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 10: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 10: Jam Session @ The Tannery, Hexham. 7:00pm. Free.
Wed 10: Mike Lindup Jazz Trio @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £26.50 (inc. bf). Lindup, Yolanda Charles (bass), John Sam (drums).
Wed 10: Bold Big Band @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £12.00.

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

Thursday, May 14, 2015

CD Review: Joshua Breakstone - 2nd Avenue: The Return of The Cello-Quartet

Joshua Breakstone (gtr); Lisle Atkinson (bs); Andy Watson (dms); Mike Richmond (cello - on five tracks).
(Review by Lance).
A touch of nostalgia as I glanced at the sleeve - "Joshua Breakstone uses Ernie Ball strings exclusively". If I'd had a lousy dime for every set of Ernie Ball Super Slinky's I'd sold during my 30 year incarceration in Newcastle's Central Arcade I'd be worth a bob or two (well maybe one bob).
I don't suppose Joshua Breakstone ever bought any Super Slinkys from me, him being 3000 miles away, which is a pity because, if he had done, I'd have been able to claim to have had some involvement in one of the most listenable guitar albums I've heard since Charlie Christian showed the way.
This is guitar playing as cool as Stan on tenor or Chet on trumpet, music that makes you want to lay back and luxuriate in the sounds with maybe a G & T to hand.
We've also got a cello in the mix which is great. I've long advocated the cello - not as a double bass substitute - but as a frontline horn which is what we get here.
Bass players such as Harry Babasin, Oscar Pettiford and Sam Jones have dabbled with cello so it is far from being a first. Nevertheless, it's a worthy successor to these earlier efforts although I'd have preferred more arco and less pizzicato (I find I made a similar comment in my review of their previous album - With the Wind and the Rain) - still, I doubt if the boppy heads would have been as clean if the instrument had been bowed so what do I know!
The five tracks with cello are Thingin' (Konitz); Home (Cannonball); I'm an Old Cowhand (Mercer); Evergreenish (Dexter) and Hit It by bassist Atkinson..
The trio numbers are I Wish I Knew (Harry Warren/Mack Gordon); The Lamp is Low (Ravel and others); My Conception (Sonny Clark) and a Breakstone original 2nd Ave: Blues For Imahori.
Breakstone describes the quartet as A Chamber Jazz Foursome and I see no reason to quibble although I would have referred to it as The Chamber Jazz Foursome!
Recommended!
Lance.
Joshua Breakstone - 2nd Avenue: The Return of The Cello-Quartet available from May 21 on Capri Records.
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1 comment :

Joshua said...

Lance,

Thanks for paying attention!

Keep writing your fun and informative stuff....

Best,

Joshua

Friday, May 15, 2015 12:57:00 pm

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