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.

Friday, May 29, 2015

Strictly Rehearsing @ The Millstone. May 28

(Review by Russell)
Big band, big crowd, standing room only. Hearty Millstone pub meals, pints of beer, wine by the bottle. Last Thursday in the month, your appointment with the Strictly Smokin’ Big Band’s open public rehearsal. One or two deps in, quality deps at that.
A Foggy Day (arr. Stan Kenton) to start and baritone super dep Sue Ferris wasted no time, standing up, soloing, saying (musically): That’s my standard. Match that boys! Tenor man Paul Gowland worked with the rhythm section (sections out) on I Can’t Believe That You’re In Love with Me (arr. Tom Kubis) – a half-decent reply to Ms Ferris’ opening gambit. Golden Girl Lindsay Hannon suggested it was Too Darn Hot. Yep. Stifling. F’reez (cool name, but it was darn hot) Let the Good Times Roll (the trumpet section firing, guitarist Pawel Jedrzejewski with a bluesy edge).
An interval chat with Francophile Ken Orton (on a short visit to Tyneside). Pete Tanton confirmed some original tunes will be in the set list for his upcoming Jazz Coop set with Messrs Williams, Pope and Morgan at the Globe. Minutes later the Strictly Smokin’ boys and girls – Sue Ferris of course, and good to see Nicola Weaver on alto – were ready to go again.
This month’s session had a distinct rehearsal feel to it. MD Michael Lamb stepped out of the trumpet section more than usual, directing the band, stopping it, reworking bits and pieces (abandoning one chart altogether). Good! This is what one expects of a rehearsal night. The Millstone regulars have, perhaps, become too accustomed to the band’s near-flawless performances. This was the band being put through its paces. The Golden Girl righted matters when she declared I’m Beginning to See the Light. The instrumental high involved Gowland, Keith Robinson and Jamie Toms in a three way tenor exchange. Sax Alley is a crowd pleaser and, rehearsal night or not, it went down a storm.
The band’s next (flawless!) gig will be at the YMCA in Ashington on Saturday 6 June (an Ashington Jazz Festival event) and a Hoochie Coochie special is on the horizon – Sunday 21 June.                             
Russell.
Michael Lamb MD (trumpet), Pete Tanton (trumpet), Gordon Marshall (trumpet), Stephen Wilkinson (trumpet), Kieran Parnaby (trombone), David Barnes (trombone), Robert Perry (trombone), John Flood (trombone), Nicola Weaver (alto saxophone), Keith Robinson (alto & tenor saxophones, flute), Paul Gowland (tenor saxophone), Jamie Toms (tenor saxophone), Sue Ferris (baritone saxophone), Graham Don (keyboards), Pawel Jedrzejewski (guitar), Michael Whent (bass), Guy Swinton (drums), Lindsay Hannon (vocals) & F’reez (vocals)
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