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

19,025 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 889 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Oct. 20) 68.

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 21: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 21: FILM: Blue Moon @ Washington Arts Centre. 1:00pm. £4.50 (inc. bf). Biopic of lyricist Lorenz Hart.
Wed 21: De'Sean Jones’ Urban Art Orchestra @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £10.00.; £5.00. student, unwaged; free to Mercury Awards ticket holders. De'Sean Jones (tenor sax, EWI); Tjoe Man Cheung (guitar); Mikele Montolli (double bass) + others TBA.
Wed 21: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 21: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 21: Roby Glod-Steve Sewell Quartet @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 8:00pm.

Thu 22: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Millstone, Mill Rise, South Gosforth, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 22: Mercury Prize @ Utility Arena Newcastle. 8:00pm. £60.25.; £48.75. Line-up inc. Knats.
Thu 22: Dean Stockdale Trio @ Bandstand!, Exhibition Park, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Tickets: £10.20 (inc. bf) via Instagram. Dean Stockdale (piano); Mick Shoulder (double bass); John Bradford (drums).
Thu 22: Olly Styles Trio @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £7.75.

Fri 23: Sara Oschlag w. Arnie Somogyi Trio @ The Lit & Phil. 1:00pm. Sara Oschlag (vocals); Ben Lawrence (piano); Arnie Somogyi (double bass); John Hirst (drums). SOLD OUT!
Fri 23: Emma Fisk’s Hot Club du Nord @ Gala Theatre, Durham. 1:00pm. Durham Jazz Festival. SOLD OUT!
Fri 23: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 23: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 23: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 23: Maja Bugge & Dave Evans @ Claypath Deli, Durham. 7:00pm. Durham Jazz Festival.
Fri 23: Knats @ King Street Social Club, North Shields. 7:00pm. £17.00., £14.70., £11.30., £5.50. SOLD OUT!
Fri 23: King Bees @ Billy Bootleggers, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. Superb Chicago blues band.
Fri 23: Sara Oschlag & Arnie Somogyi w. Ben Lawrence @ Ship Isis, Sunderland. 7:30pm. Sara Oschlag (vocals); Ben Lawrence (keyboards); Arnie Somogyi (double bass).
Fri 23: Ronnie Scott’s Soho Songbook @ Redhills, Durham. 8:00pm. James Pearson (piano); Sam Burgess (double bass); Chris Higginbottom (drums); Alex Garnett (sax); Polly Gibbons (vocals). Durham Jazz Festival. SOLD OUT!
Fri 23: SwanNek + Jacob Egglestone @ Fabio’s Bar, Durham. 9:00pm. Durham Jazz Festival.

Sat 24: Jo Harrop @ St Chad’s College, Durham. 2:00pm. Harrop w. Jamie McCredie, Paul Edis, Andy Champion & Peter Adam Hill. Durham Jazz Festival. SOLD OUT!
Sat 24: Sing Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. £27.50. Tutor: Alexia Gardner. Louis Armstrong. Enrol at: learning@jazz.coop.
Sat 24: Seb Rochford’s Finding Ways @ Sir Thomas Allen Assembly Rooms Theatre, Durham. 3:00pm. Tara Cunningham (guitar); Simon Tong (guitar); Anders Christensen (bass); Seb Rochford (drums). Durham Jazz Festival.
Sat 24: Vasilis Xenopoulos-Paul Edis Quartet @ St Chad’s College, Durham. 4:00pm. VX & PE w. Andy Champion (double bass) & Steve Hanley (drums). Durham Jazz Festival. SOLD OUT!
Sat 24: OUTRI @ Durham Fringe Academy, Durham. 4:00pm. Durham Jazz Festival.
Sat 24: Pete Roth Trio @ Sir Thomas Allen Assembly Rooms Theatre, Durham. 5:30pm. Durham Jazz Festival.
Sat 24: Durham University Jazz Society: An Evening of Standards @ Durham University Music School, Durham. 5:30pm. Durham Jazz Festival.
Sat 24: Rivkala @ Fabio’s Bar, Durham. 6:00pm. Durham Jazz Festival. SOLD OUT!
Sat 24:Eleonora Kouneni @ Claypath Deli, Durham. 7:00pm. Kouneni (vocals), Paul Edis (piano). Durham Jazz Festival. SOLD OUT!
Sat 24: Marvin Muoneké w. Strictly Smokin’ Big Band @ Gala Theatre, Durham. 7:30pm. Durham Jazz Festival.
Sat 24: Knats @ Fabio’s Bar, Durham. 9:00pm. Durham Jazz Festival. SOLD OUT!
Sat 24: Kind of Blu Jazz Jam @ Radisson Blue Hotel, Durham. 10:30pm. House rhythm section: Paul Edis, Ken Marley & Steve Hanley. Durham Jazz Festival.

Sun 25: Paul Edis workshop: Another Week, Another Composition - How I Compose @ Mark Hillery Arts Centre, Collingwood College, Durham. 10:30am. £16.00. Durham Jazz Festival.
Sun 25: Jo Harrop workshop: From Chester-le-Street to LA: A Singer’s Journey @ Claypath Deli, Durham. 11:00am. £8.50. Durham Jazz Festival.
Sun 25: Janette Mason workshop: The Art of Arranging @ Mark Hillery Arts Centre, Collingwood College, Durham. 12:30pm. £16.00. Durham Jazz Festival.
Sun 25: Dean Stockdale Quartet: Celebrating Oscar Peterson @ Durham University Music School. 1:00pm. Line-up: Dean Stockdale (piano); Jamie Taylor (guitar); Gavin Barras (double bass); Gaz Hughes (drums). Durham Jazz Festival. SOLD OUT!
Sun 25: Tom Atkinson’s Electric Miles: Celebrating Jack Johnson @ Sir Thomas Allen Assembly Rooms Theatre, Durham. 2:00-3:15pm. Durham Jazz Festival.
Sun 25: SULA @ St Chad’s College, Durham. 2:30pm. Kezia Abouma (piano), Aleks Dimitrova (bass), Miranda Radford (drums). Durham Jazz Festival. NOTE NEW TIME (2.30pm).
Sun 25: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 25: Swing into Sunday @ St Oswald’s Institute, Durham. 2:30pm. Lindy Jazz. Durham Jazz Festival.
Sun 25: Sara Oschlag w. Arnie Somogyi Trio @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm. Sara Oschlag (vocals); Richard Wetherall (keyboards); Arnie Somogyi (double bass); John Hirst (drums).
Sun 25: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 25: Ruth Lambert Trio @ The Juke Shed, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free. Ruth Lambert (vocals); Alan Law (keyboards); Paul Grainger (double bass).
Sun 25: Marvin Muoneké Quartet @ St Chad’s College, Durham. 4:00pm. Line-up: Dean Stockdale (piano); TBC (double bass); Abbie Finn (drums). Durham Jazz Festival.
Sun 25: Janette Mason Rewired @ Sir Thomas Allen Assembly Rooms Theatre, Durham. 4:30pm. Line-up: Janette Mason (piano); Jakub Cywiński (double bass); Eric Ford (drums). Durham Jazz Festival.
Sun 25: Lindsay Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ Old Cinema Launderette, Durham. 5:00pm. Durham Jazz Festival. SOLD OUT!
Sun 25: Zoë Gilby & Andy Champion @ Redhills Durham Miners’ Hall, Durham. 6:00pm. Durham Jazz Festival.
Sun 25: NUJO Jazz Jam @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £3.00.
Sun 25: Sara Oschlag w. Arnie Somogyi Trio @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Sara Oschlag (vocals); Richard Wetherall (piano); Arnie Somogyi (double bass); John Hirst (drums).
Sun 25: Durham University Jazz Society - Jazz Jam @ Fabio’s Bar, Durham. 8:00pm. Durham Jazz Festival.
Sun 25: Olivia Cuttill Quintet + King Pleasure & the Biscuit Boys @ Redhills Durham Miners’ Hall, Durham. 8:00pm. Durham Jazz Festival.

Mon 26: Sue Ferris Quintet @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 1:00pm.
Mon 26: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 27: Alan Law @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 2:00pm. Free. Alan Law (piano) w. guest TBC.
Tue 27: Eva Fox & the Sound Hounds @ Newcastle Arts Centre. 7:30pm. Free (donations).

Wednesday, October 21, 2015

Jazz Café Jam Session - Oct. 19

(Review by Lance).
18 and counting! Last night was one of those nights when everybody and their grandmother were there. On stage the age range went from 13 to infinity and they came from Norway and America as well as Durham, Sunderland and points west.
I Thought About You and Someday My Prince Will Come by the house trio set the ball rolling. They were on fire from bar one and it served as an appetising taster for tonight's Cherry Tree gig by Peter, Paul and Steve Glendinning (guitar).
From now on, with a few exceptions, it was New Faces - some barely reached puberty!
Ben Dovinson blew Misty. Nervous at first but, by his next number, was it Blue Bossa? he'd gained confidence and justified the applause given.
From Norway came Arvid Nordhus, a bluesman playing harmonica and shouting Summertime like as though he was from the Mississippi delta. Bradley on guitar for this one.
Next it was Stu Finden on double bass, Paul Gowland, alto, Fiona Finden, voice and Dylan Thompson on drums.
Thompson played with a drive that belied his 13 years - this guy will go far!
And so the night rolled on. Dylan's brother Alex - all of 15 - played alto, 14 year old Nathan Lawson was on guitar. All three had been heard by Russell busking outside Fenwick's and responded to his invitation to jam bringing, seemingly, a bus load of supporters.
Matt Jacobs took over the piano stool and gave us an idea of what to expect on Friday night at Pizza Express, Dean St., Newcastle where the Matt Jacobs Trio open up a monthly jazz gig (8pm). Rob Bates played drums as did Nick Kalenak. Nick majored in the USA and is going on to Leeds to do a master's degree. Former hit man of the Durham University Big Band Duncan Walker played soprano as did Fiona and the evening drew to a close with Steve and Joel Brown on bass and piano respectively.
What a night and what a lot of talent there is around these days!
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwVDkaLEBSw 
Lance.
Peter Gilligan (pno); Paul Grainger (bs); Russ Morgan (dms) + Ben Dovinson (tmb); Bradley Johnston (gtr); Arvid Nordhus (hca/vcl);  Stu Finden (bs); Fiona Finden (vcl/sop); Dylan Thompson (dms); Rob Bates (dms); Matt Jacobs (pno); Nathan Lawson (gtr); Alex Thompson (alt); Duncan Walker (sop); Nick Kalenak (dms); Paul Gowland (alt); Joel Brown (pno); Steve Brown (bs).

2 comments :

Keith Thompson said...

Many thanks Russell, for suggesting Alex, Nathan & Dylan come along and Play, they loved it! Here's slink to Work Song from last night https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwVDkaLEBSw

Russell said...

A really good night from young Dylan, Alex and Nathan to Matt to Joel and everyone else!

Blog Archive