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

18585 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 449 of them this year alone and, so far this month (May 31) 103

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

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: Webster’s Ragtime Trio @ The Witham, Barnard Castle. 7:30pm. £17.00. Trio from Texas, USA.
Thu 04: King Bees @ The Harbour View, Roker, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Chicago blues excellence!
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.

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-Thu 11: FILM: Köln 75 @ Tyneside Cinema, Newcastle. Dir. Ido Fluk. Drama based on the true story of Keith Jarrett’s 1975 concert in Cologne. Screenings TBC.
Fri 05: Pete Tanton & Alan Law @ Jesmond Library, Newcastle. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 05: House of the Black Gardenia: Summer Tyne Swing Festival @ Northumbria University Students’ Union, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £130.00; £95.00; £70.00; £50.00. Note: all day dance event (classes & socials). House of the Black Gardenia evening performance. Day 1/3.
Fri 05: Strictly Smokin’ Big Band + IKS Big Band @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £24.00. Big band double bill. IKS Big Band (Germany).
Fri 05: Jeremy McMurray’s Pocket Jazz Orchestra @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm. £15.00

Sat 06: Struggle Buggy @ Billy Bootleggers, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 3:00pm. Free. Blues.
Sat 06: Teresa Watson Band @ Billy Bootleggers, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 6:00pm. Free. Blues.
Sat 06: Lindsay Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ Dry Water Arts, Amble. 7:00pm (6:30pm doors). £15.00.
Sat 06: IKS Big Band: Summer Tyne Swing Festival @ Northumbria University Students’ Union, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £130.00; £95.00; £70.00; £50.00. Note: all day dance event (classes & socials). IKS Big Band evening performance. Day 2/3.
Sat 06: Tyne Valley Big Band @ Northumbrian Revival, West Benridge Farm, nr. Morpeth NE61 3RZ. 7:30-9:30pm. £21.47 (£2.77. child). 82nd D-Day anniversary event.
Sat 06: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.
Sat 06: FILM: The Magic City: Birmingham According to Sun Ra @ The Star & Shadow Cinema, Newcastle. 9:30pm. £7.00., £5.00. Dir. Guillaume Maupin & Pablo Guarise.

Sun 07: Smokin’ Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm. £10.00.
Sun 07: Ian Bosworth Quintet @ Chapel, Middlesbrough. 1:00pm. Free. Feat. guest Steve Walker (trumpet).
Sun 07: Joe Steels: Celebrating Wes @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £10.00. Trio: Joe Steels, Mick Shoulder, Abbie Finn.
Sun 07: Sax Choir @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Sun 07: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Table reservations (0191 261 8000). Skerritt w. backing tapes.
Sun 07: Eddie Gripper Trio @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm. Gripper (piano); Clem Saynor (double bass); Patrick Barrett-Donlon (drums). Americana album tour.
Sun 07: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 07: Magpies of Swing: Summer Tyne Swing Festival @ Northumbria University Students’ Union, Newcastle. 4:00pm. £130.00; £95.00; £70.00; £50.00. Note: all day dance event (classes & socials). Magpies of Swing afternoon performance. Day 3/3.
Sun 07: Webster’s Ragtime Trio @ The Ship Inn, Low Newton. 7:00pm. £12.50. Trio from Texas, USA.
Sun 07: Salty Dog @ Alnwick Playhouse. 7:00pm. £5.00. Performance in the Studio venue.
Sun 07: Ian Millar & Dominic Spencer @ Riding Mill Village Hall. 7:30pm. £12.00.
Sun 07: Swing Manouche @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Feat. Steve McGarvie (clarinet).

Mon 08: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 08: Dave Bristow Quintet @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £22.00., £11.00., £5.50. Bristow (piano); Christian Altehülshorst (trumpet); Félix Hardouin (alto sax); Gabriel Pierre (double bass); Guillaume Prévost (drums).

Wednesday, August 19, 2015

Jazz Café Update

Jazz Cafe summer closure
The Jazz Cafe has just closed down for its summer break and will re-open on Tuesday 1st September.
Advance ticket sales for September
This email is to give you details of three very special and musically varied Jazz Cafe promotions in September for which tickets are on sale now at the Details Art Materials Shop at Newcastle Arts Centre, 67 Westgate Road NE1 1SG. You can purchase tickets in person, or by phone to be posted by ‘recorded delivery’ for a fee  of  £2.50 for any quantity. Tel. 0191 261 5999 office hours.
Revised License
As from September the Cafe will have a revised license allowing access for young people up to 11pm when accompanied by a responsible adult. We will also be permitted to serve draught beers on the bar: keg lager plus a guest real ale.
Other events in September
For details of our free admission jam sessions and Saturday night duo performances as well as of the regular monthly Jazz North East Schmazz presentation please access our website at www.jazzcafe-newcastle.co.uk/
THE THREE MAJOR SEPTEMBER EVENTS
(1)   Mark Pringle’s Moveable Feast Trio  –  Upstairs in the Cafe  9.00pm Friday 11th September  –. £6.00 / £5.00 advance.
Pianist Mark Pringle, aged just 24, but already described by The Independent as “Stupendously talented,”  has recently graduated from  jazz studies at Birmingham Conservatoire and in October begins two years further study  in Berlin, Copenhagen and Amsterdam on a highly sought after place on the European Jazz Masters (EUJAM) Programme.
This year, thanks to a Peter Whittingham Award he has created and recorded a 12-piece ensemble, “Moveable Feast,” which tours nationally in September. The Moveable Feast Trio which he brings to the Jazz Cafe on  September 11th  - Mark on piano, James Banner double bass and Euan Palmer drums – is described by Mark as the creative core of the 12-piece where his compositions are explored with greater freedom and communicative energy.
The Independent described his piano duo album with John Law ‘This Is’ as “so full of joy that it can renew your faith not just in jazz , but music itself.”
The late John Taylor, leading European jazz pianist and composer said of Mark “Mark Pringle is an exceptionally gifted pianist and composer, and a remarkable improviser. 'A Moveable Feast' is a striking example of his writing and playing”
Listen to Mark Pringle’s music at  << sound cloud .com/markpringle >> and at <<markpringle.bandcamp.com>>
(2)  Alice Grace Quintet   – Upstairs in the Cafe  9.00pm Friday 18th September – £6.00 / £5.00 in advance
Alice Grace’s career as a jazz vocalist began aged 12 with a local big band in Kent, moved on to the National Youth Jazz Orchestra (as did Amy Winehouse) and then to appearances with the house band at Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club. After all that, jazz studies at the London Guildhall School of Music and the Amsterdam Conservatoire must have seemed almost an anti-climax!
Alice names Ella and Diana Krall as major influences and her career post-graduation has  been conventional enough for a “ jazzer”, singing with jazz and soul ensembles in venues large – including London’s Southbank Centre and Royal Albert Hall – and more intimate across the UK and Europe and most recently in Dubai and across the Emirates where she co-founded her own band. But this “jazzer” has another string to her bow. She lends her soulful tone to producers of drum n bass, dubstep and house music and also composes for these genres.
Upstairs at the Jazz Cafe Alice’s jazz side will be to the fore with an evening of originals and classic jazz standards accompanied by a hand-picked local band including another exciting recent incomer to the Northern jazz scene like herself, the drummer Russ Morgan.
Alice Grace vocals; Peter Gilligan keys; Paul Gowland tenor & alto saxes; Paul Grainger double bass; Russ Morgan drums
(3) Soundbone Plays Led Zep  –  Upstairs in the Cafe  9.00pm  Friday 25th September– £7.00 / £5.00 advance.
Ex – Oz, now Edinburgh – based trombonist Chris Greive’s adventurous, ground-breaking trio NeWt was renowned for its “satisfying clash of tone colours” (Jazzwise) and “urgent but compact sound” (The Herald, Glasgow) and played a number of times on Tyneside. Now Chris (trombone and electronics,including octave – divider for bass lines!), with NeWt’s outstandingly creative guitarist Graeme Stephen and drummer David Carnegie from Barbados and Tyneside, have formed Soundbone to play free – ranging versions of some Led Zep classics. The trio pays homage to the massive riffs and weight of the originals, while bringing a prog-jazz approach to each of the songs.
a good number of the big guns are here : an emphatically riffing Communication Breakdown, a superbly stylish Kashmir, a rattlin’ Moby Dick and an Immigration Song that threatens the Jazz Bar’s foundations.” (The Herald Glasgow) “More structured episodes are interspersed with bouts of fiery free improv mayhem....Powerful and inventive music of a high order.” (The List)
Mike Tilley, Dave Clarke and the Jazz Cafe Team


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