Bebop Spoken There

John McLaughlin: ''It was then that Coltrane came along and single-handedly brought this dimension of spirituality into jazz. It was a pivotal experience to me.'' (DownBeat September, 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

18957 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 821 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Sept. 30.) 100.

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

October.

Wed 07: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free. Wed 07: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 07: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 07: Black is the Color of My Voice @ Northern Stage, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Apphia Campbell’s one-woman stage play inspired by Nina Simone. Second night of two.

Thu 08: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Millstone, Mill Rise, South Gosforth, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 08: Pete Tanton’s Chet Set @ Newcastle Arts Centre. 7:30pm. Free (donations).
Thu 08: Indigo Jazz Voices w. Little Big Band @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:45pm. £5.00.

Fri 09: Dean Stockdale Trio @ Bishop Auckland Methodist Church. 1:00pm. £9.00. Dean Stockdale (piano); Mick Shoulder (double bass); John Bradford (drums).
Fri 09: John Rowland Trio @ Jesmond Library, Newcastle. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 09: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 09: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 09: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 09: Shalala @ The Globe, Newcastle.

Sat 10: Catfish Keith @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £19.00. + bf. Jumpin’ Hot Club.

Sun 11: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 11: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 2:30pm. Free. Feat. guest Jack ‘Banjo’ Courtney (trumpet).
Sun 11: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 11: Harry Christelis Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A Jazz Co-op-JNE co-promotion.

Mon 12: Jack Pearce Quintet @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 1:00pm.
Mon 12: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 13: Alan Law @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 2:00pm. Free. Alan Law (piano) w. Julija Jacenaite (vocals).

Sunday, July 19, 2015

Americana Festival @ Sage Gateshead: James Hunter Six - July 18

James Hunter (guitar & vocals), Damian Hand (tenor saxophone), Lee Badau (baritone saxophone), Andrew Kingslow (keyboards), Jason Wilson (double bass) & Jonathan Lee (drums)
(Review by Russell)
Twenty plus years on the road, the ‘six’ have been there all along. Howlin’ Wilf and the Vee Jays to the James Hunter Six, Billboard Blues’ chart album success, Hunter does as he has always done – rock-up and play. The Essex boy with a rockabilly swagger, long-time Jumpin’ Hot Club favourite James Hunter headlined day two at this year’s festival celebrating everything Americana.
The outdoor amphitheatre adjacent to Sage Gateshead was crammed. Tables and chairs, folding tables, hampers, Stetsons. Hunter does soulful rhythm and blues. Catching sight of the headwear Hunter joked he’d better watch what he said up here in redneck country! The band’s extensive back catalogue – People Gonna Talk (2006), The Hard Way (2008), Minute by Minute (2013) – afforded Hunter a bagful of goodies including Chicken Switch and the crowd loved it. Dancers – shuffling two-left-feet types getting in the way of those would could really dance – occupied the ‘look at me’ area slap bang in front of the stage.
The horns make the ‘six’. Damian Hand (tenor) grabbed the solos, the rhythm section a non-stop powerhouse. Keys man Andrew Kingslow went for a Hammond groove, front-man Hunter rockin’ in rhythm. Occasionally Hunter’s vocal came from Sam Cooke with a grittier edge to it standing back, then further, from the mic, pleadin’ hollerin’. Stick that in yer Stetson! The Five Royales’ Baby Don’t Do It was worth standing with the rednecks. Close your eyes and it was a get-on-down James Brown soul revue.  
Russell.
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