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

18548 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 412 of them this year alone and, so far this month (May 19) 66

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

Thu 28: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Millstone, Mill Rise, South Gosforth, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 28: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £5.00. Subject: Miles Davis & His Favourite Musicians.
Thu 28: Castillo Nuevo Orquesta @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. £6.50. 7:30pm (doors).
Thu 28: Bobby Rush @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £25.00. + bf. Veteran USA bluesman.
Thu 28: Squabble @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Thu 28: Paul Skerritt @ Angels' Share, St George's Terrace, Jesmond, Newcastle NE2 2SX. 8:00pm. Free. Booking advised (0191 200 1975). Skerritt w. backing tapes.

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.

Saturday, December 19, 2015

Frank & Laura Radio

(Preview by Russell)
Kurt Elling presents Radio 4’s Archive on 4: The Selling of Sinatra (Saturday, 8:00pm) in which the Chicagoan looks at the image making of Francis Albert Sinatra. Clare Teal (Sunday 20, Radio 2, 9:00pm) presents a big band concert recorded at the Stables, Bucks, with guests Gary Williams, Pee Wee Ellis and Georgina Jackson. Tonight (Sunday 20) at eleven o’clock the final installment of Radio 3’s annual EBU Day of Christmas Music comes from Sofia, Bulgaria. The Bulgarian National Radio Jazz Chorus and Big Band, conducted by Antoni Donchev, perform Duke Ellington’s Sacred Concert.
 More Sinatra, the actor as opposed to the Voice of the Century, in a 1954 Mystery Theater broadcast written by George Leffert (BBC Radio 4 Extra, Monday, 3:00pm).
At eleven o’clock in the evening over on Radio 4 John Wilson talks to Georgie Fame in Mastertapes about his recording Rhythm and Blues at the Flamingo.
Matthew Parris’ Great Lives (Radio 4, 4:30pm) celebrates Harlem-born writer and civil rights activist James Baldwin. At 11:00pm on Radio 2 Ralph Johnson: Jazz Epicenter 6.7 includes jazz tracks by Kenny Burrell and Roland Kirk. The Christmas Eve edition of New Generation Artists (Radio 3, 5:45pm) ranges from CPE Bach to Tchaikovsky to a composer of today – Laura Jurd. Improvisation features the composer (trumpet) and her band Dinosaur. Jurd returns to the north east in early 2016. In the early hours of Boxing Day, BBC 6 Music Insight: New Orleans (1:00am), a 1976 documentary about NOLA, includes a timely contribution from the late Allen Toussaint.
Russell.        

2 comments :

Liz said...

The Stables of course, being in the grounds of the home of Cleo and the late John Dankworth. One of the highlights of my life was being there with the hosts and many more star studded guests. You enter it by a staircase with fairy lights at the sides, it is like tripping the light fantastic, truly Hollywood style!

Russell said...

I too have fond memories of the Stables - Eddie 'Lockjaw' Davis, Barney Kessel, John Dankworth himself and others.

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