Bebop Spoken There

Emma Rawicz: "In a couple of years I've gone from being a normal university student to suddenly being on international stages." DownBeat January 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

18246 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 100 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Jan. 31), 100

From This Moment On ...

JANUARY 2026

Wed 04: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 04: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 04: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 05: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £5.00. Subject:Times of the Day & Trios.
Thu 05: Jeremy McMurray’s Pocket Jazz Orchestra @ Arc, Stockton. 8:00pm. Special guest Emma Wilson.
Thu 05: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm.

Fri 06: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 06: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 06: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 06: Durham Alumni Big Band & Saltburn Big Band @ Saltburn Theatre. 7:30pm. £12.00. Two big bands on stage together!
Fri 06: Nauta + Littlewood Trio @ Little Buildings, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Double bill + jam session.
Fri 06: FILM: Made in America @ Star & Shadow Cinema, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Ornette Coleman.
Fri 06: Deep Six Blues @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 7:30pm.

Sat 07: The Big Easy @ St Augustine’s Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. £10.00. Darlington New Orleans Jazz Club.
Sat 07: Tees Bay Swing Band @ The Blacksmith’s Arms, Hartlepool. 1:30-3:30pm. Free. Open rehearsal.
Sat 07: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. £27.50. Tutor: Steve Glendinning. St Thomas & Bésame Mucho. Enrol at: learning@jazz.coop.
Sat 07: Side Cafe Oᴙkestar @ Café Under the Spire, Gateshead. 6:30pm. Table reservations: 0191 477 3970.
Sat 07: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.

Sun 08: Swing Tyne @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12 noon (doors). Donations. Swing dance taster class (12:30pm) + Hot Club de Heaton (live performance). Non dancers welcome.
Sun 08: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 08: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 08: Gerry Richardson’s Big Idea @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 09: Mark Williams Trio @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 1:00pm.
Mon 09: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 10: Jazz Jam Sandwich @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

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

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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