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Bebop Spoken There

Stan Woodward: ''We're part of the British jazz scene, but we don't play London jazz. We play Newcastle jazz. The Knats album represents many things, but most importantly that Newcastle isn't overlooked". (DownBeat, April 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

17904 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 225 of them this year alone and, so far, 72 this month (March 24).

From This Moment On ...

MARCH 2025.

Fri 28: Giles Strong Quartet @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. £8.00 SOLD OUT!.
Fri 28: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 28: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 28: Spilt Milk @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 7:00-9:00pm. Free. Nolan Brothers (vocal harmonies).
Fri 28: Castillo Nuevo Orquesta @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £8.00.
Fri 28: Pete Tanton’s Chet Set @ Old Cinema Laundrette, Durham. 7:45pm.
Fri 28: Sue Ferris Quintet @ Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. £10.00. Opus 4 Jazz Club.
Fri 28: Mostly Moonlight @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Fri 28: Juliana Day & Manon McCoy @ Cumberland Arms, Byker, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.00.; £10.00. advance. JNE.

Sat 29: Edison Herbert Trio @ The Vault, Darlington 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 29: Doris Day Story @ Phoenix Theatre, Blyth. 7:30pm.
Sat 29: Squabble! @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 30: Jan Spencelayh & Dave Archbold @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 30: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 30: Jamil Sheriff Trio w. Nadim Teimoori @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm.
Sun 30: Ruth Lambert Trio @ The Juke Shed, Union Quay, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 30: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 30: Jazz Jam Sandwich! @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 30: Jamil Sheriff Trio w. Nadim Teimoori @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 31: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

APRIL 2025

Tue 01: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Joe Steels, Paul Grainger, Mark Robertson.
Tue 01: Customs House Big Band @ The Masonic Hall, North St., Ferryhill DL17 8HX. 7:30pm. Free.

Wed 02: Lauren Bush: The Jazz Singer’s Toolkit @ The Pele, Corbridge. 1:00-4:00pm. Vocalist Lauren Bush with pianist Jamil Sheriff presents a jazz singing workshop. £40.00. (inc. evening concert, see below). Registration required for workshop: www.laurenbushjazz.com. All ability levels welcome.
Wed 02: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 02: Jason Isaacs @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 2:30-4:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Wed 02: Lauren Bush & Jamil Sheriff @ The Pele, Corbridge. 7:00-9:00pm. £10.00. Concert performance. Tickets: www.laurenbushjazz.com.
Wed 02: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 02: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. POSSIBLE CANCELLATION. See website for updates: www.theglobenewcastle.bar.

Thu 03: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Women in Jazz.
Thu 03: Eva Fox & the Jazz Guys @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 03: New ’58 Jazz Collective @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm. Free. A Tees Hot Club promotion. First Thursday in the month.

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

Wednesday, June 03, 2015

Festival Report: Swaledale Festival – Liane Carroll and Friends - June 1

(From our foreign correspondent...)
On the evening of Monday 1 June your intrepid reporter ventured in wind and rain, out of the usual geographic boundaries of the beboposphere, into wild and woolly Richmondshire.
I chanced to hear an item on BBC Radio 3's Jazz Line Up about bassist Malcolm Creese and his label, Audio-B, which celebrates its 25th Anniversary this year.  In the course of this article the Swaledale Festival (Music, Arts and Walking in the Yorkshire Dales) was mentioned – Creese has been the Artistic Director of the festival since October 2007.  This gig was specifically mentioned – interesting, I thought, and e-tickets were duly purchased (fully up to date in Swaledale!).
I and my companions arrived late in Richmond thanks to the Gateshead Western Bypass.  With little time we headed to the town centre – every eaterie seems to be closed on a Monday evening!  We were, however, able to grab a quick bite in the Kings Head Hotel and arrived at the venue, the “Influence Church”, a couple of minutes after the 7.30pm start time.  This is not as strange as it may sound – the Church turns out to be a sizeable redundant cinema which serves both as a place of worship and a community facility.  We were able to sneak into the back row under the cover of some applause during the first number.
Liane Carroll was on vocals with Friends – Gwilym Simcock (piano and “Hammond”); Malcolm Creese (bass) and Dave Ohm (drums).  The format was very relaxed with Liane Carrol delivering jovial patter between numbers.  Sheep jokes seemed to be a feature.  But, to the music (more baabop than bebop – sorry!).  Liane Carroll sang and scatted with the band for most of the numbers.  For a couple of songs the boys took themselves off stage and Liane Carroll played piano and sang.  I was not taking notes but The Nearness of You (aka a claustrophobic ram – not my joke) featured, as did a couple of tracks from Carroll's most recent album, Ballads* (she wanted to call it A Load of Ballads, but this was disallowed!), including All About the Boy.  The first set lasted over one hour.  There was then a generous interval to allow the throng round the small bar to die down.  Liane herself came out to buy some wine – no freebies at this festival.  It was all very relaxed.
After about one half hour we went back in for the second set.  A surprise guest was announced as present in the audience – one Alexander Bone – although he had not brought his horn with him.  An alto sax appeared from nowhere and Alexander joined the band for a beautiful rendition of Bye-bye Blackbird as the final number.  Bows were duly taken to generous applause.  An encore ensued - Georgia provided a suitable end to the evening.
If, like me, you have not previously heard of the Swaledale Festival it is certainly worth keeping an eye out for next year.  All sorts of music is featured in all sorts of venues in the Swaledale area.  This gig was really well supported with the large auditorium well filled including a bus-load of Carroll's fans, all the way from Kent.
Hugh.
*Review by Debra of Ballads.

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