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

18573 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 437 of them this year alone and, so far this month (May 28) 91

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

May

Fri 29: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 29: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 29: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 29: Castillo Nuevo Trio @ Hotel Gotham, Newcastle. 5:30pm. Free.

Sat 30: Giles Strong Quartet @ Langley Tracks, Langley on Tyne NE47 5LA. 5:30pm (doors). £15.00 + £1.50 bf.

Sun 31: Musicians Unlimited: Big Band Blast @ West Hartlepool RFC. 1:00-3:00pm . Free.
Sun 31: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Table reservations (0191 261 8000). Skerritt w. backing tapes.
Sun 31: Sinfonia of London: Tea Dance @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 3:00pm. Free. John Wilson ensemble performing on the concourse. Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, George & Ira Gershwin & more.
Sun 31: Ruth Lambert Trio @ Juke Shed, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 31: NUJO Jazz Jam @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). £3.76.
Sun 31: Joe Steels @ The Pele, Corbridge. 7:00pm. Free (donations direct to the musicians). Joe Steels & Friends.
Sun 31: Ben Haskins Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £14.00., £12.00., £7.00.

June

Mon 01: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 01: Saltburn Big Band @ Saltburn House Hotel. 7:00-9:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Mon 01: CW Stoneking @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). Blues, Americana.

Tue 02: Mark Williams Trio @ Newcastle House Hotel, Rothbury. 7:30pm. £11.00.
Tue 02: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Alan Law, Paul Grainger, John Hirst.
Tue 02: Customs House Big Band @ The Masonic Hall, Ferryhill. 7:30pm. Free.

Wed 03: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 03: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 03: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 04: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Millstone, Mill Rise, South Gosforth, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 04: Postmodern Jukebox @ Glasshouse, Gateshead. 7:30pm.
Thu 04: 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 04: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm.

Monday, June 22, 2015

Sue Ferris Quintet @ The Black Bull. June 21

Sue Ferris (tenor & baritone saxophones, flute), Graham Hardy (trumpet & flugelhorn), Stuart Collingwood (keyboards), Ian Paterson (double bass) & Rob Walker (drums)
(Review by Russell/Photos courtesy of Roly.)
Blaydon Jazz Club invited Sue Ferris to bring in her quintet to play a gig at this year’s Blaydon Festival. The longest day was perhaps the coldest June day in living memory. Inclement weather didn’t deter the regulars and they were rewarded with a fine gig by Ferris and her top-notch band.
Peri’s Scope set the pace ensuring the boys in the band were nicely warmed up. Ferris’ regular frontline partner Graham Hardy played plunger mute on Just Squeeze Me, Stu Collingwood and Ian Paterson soloed leaving the way clear for Ferris’ tenor to take it home. An early highlight – perhaps the highlight of the night – featured Hardy and an inspired Rob Walker rifling apposite accents on Monk’s Well, You Needn’t. The little-heard Wayne Shorter composition Look at the Birdie convinced some that the cartoon birdsong owed something to the golden age of Hollywood animators.

Drummer Rob Walker made running repairs to a hi-hat stand (gaffer tape a temporary solution) leaving Ferris to fill as best she could – I don’t tell jokes, she said. Cue Roly Veitch to make a few parish announcements. One such announcement should be noted: Sunday July 5 – trumpeter Colin Aitchison and Franco Valussi (clarinet) return with Cumbria-based reedsman Steve Andrews. Don’t miss this one, arrive early or you may not get a seat. Walker up and running once more, Ferris switched to flute (Hardy made the change to flugelhorn) to close out a fantastic first set with Witchcraft.
A brace of Horace Silver tunes kicked-off the second set; Opus de Funk then Song For My Father (Ferris and Paterson the soloists). A Graham Hardy arrangement of Leonard Bernstein’s One Hand, One Heart featured the arranger himself on flugel. Ferris took a samba approach to Secret Love before picking up the big beast (her baritone sax) on two standards; Rollins’ Doxy and Hoagy’s Stardust. To round off a great night Ferris made a Black Coffee – the perfect nightcap. 
Photos.

Russell.      
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