May
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.
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.
USHAW JAZZ FESTIVAL, AUGUST 26-28
2 comments :
I hate him even more than ever. The first time I bought Kind of Blue he wasn't even born. And Russel's even younger. I comfort myself that, if Lance bought it on release, I wasn't even born.
Ushaw generally allows me a pint or 3 and some time ago, following one of the gigs there, I said to Paul it would be a brilliant location for a Jazz festival. Natch, he already had it in hand; he's Lord Paul.
Whenever I tell people about forthcoming gigs at Crook, Darlo, Toon or wherever they always make excuses, but Ushaw never fails in getting ears pricked up. The building is immense, the theatre splendid, and the lounge where the smaller bands play is the most relaxing you'll ever find.
For anybody who can't stretch to a full weekend but fancies a bloody good night, Fridays ideal. Northern Monkey Brass Band are terrifically entertaining, led by the inimitable Graham Hardy, and Zoe Gilby is the most esoteric of the North East Jazz Divas, playing it straight and playing it edgy and backed by that North East powerhouse, her husband, and featuring that famous North East lass charisma.
For anybody who's up for the weekend or prefers a Saturday, there's something for everybody. Kicking things off, the regions rising teenage stars, followed by a great big-band featuring a string of the best horn players around, a workshop and a lecture - essential at any festival for sad music/art/culture/philosophy nerds like yours truly - a standard quintet (yes-sir) fronted by two of the finest horn players in the land and backed by a Lord and his trio featuring Adam Sinclair and Zoes' husband, and a jam session with the master of the jam session, proving that no man is an island.
Sunday features the New Century Ragtime Orchestra and I'm intrigued and there's nothing Jazz and I like more than intrigue.
Am I the only person who's noticed the prominence of guitarists on sat and sun. A duo on Saturday evening and I apologise I don't know of Joel McCulloch but, when you need a guitar, for a north east gig, who you gonna call? Mark Williams!
Square One are one of the New Wave of Heavy British Jazz with a new name in Jazz Guitar - Joe Williamson - and they're definitely one to watch. Oh, and I'm told the Early Birds have a promising young gun.
Drawing the festival to a close, one of the established stars on the national scene. Nigel Price makes no bones that his mission is to keep the legacy of Wes Montgomery alive. Last time he played Ushaw I said to Hammond genius Ross Stanley that this must be about as close to paradise as number one son gets.
Wes still enjoys god-like status amongst guitarists of any persuasion and this should appeal to the guitar community as well as the Jazz fraternity in the same way that McLaughlin and Metheny do, so tell your guitarist friends about it or they may not forgive you.
I've been looking forward to this festival for as long as my failing short-term memory goes, and it's nearly upon us.
Zoes' husband jokes by kind permission of John Faddis (and let's hope he doesn't batter me with his bass until after the festival).
Don't forget the grounds surrounding the college, well worth a walk round and, if the weather holds out, some lovely areas to relax between bands.
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