JULY 2025
Wed 09: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 09: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 09: Jam session @ The Tannery, Hexham. 7:00pm. Free.
Wed 09: The Hopper-Watson Quintet @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 8:00pm (7:30pm doors). £10.00. + £1.00. bf.
Wed 09: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Thu 10: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Soloists, Orchestras & Hot Fives.
Thu 10: Side Café Orkestar @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Fri 11: Paul Skerritt Quartet @ Bishop Auckland Methodist Church, Cockton Hill Road, Bishop Auckland. 1:00pm. £8.00. A Bishop Auckland Jazz promotion. New venue (second Friday in the month)!
Fri 11: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 11: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 11: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 11: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Beehive, Earsdon NE25 0SZ. 5:00-7:00pm. Free.
Fri 11: Fiona Finden Jazz Express @ Flash House Brewery, North Shields NE30 1DS. 8:00pm. Free.
Sat 12: Jazz Stage @ Mouth of the Tyne Festival. From 12 noon. Free. Vieux Carré Jazzmen (12 noon); Rendezvous Jazz (1:00pm); Mississippi Dreamboats (2:00pm); Classic Swing (3:00pm); Abbie Finn Trio (4:00pm). Stage adjacent to Tynemouth Priory.
Sat 12: Making Music Seminar: Latin American Music v. Music of Latin America @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 1:00pm. £15.00. (£5.00. online). Jason Holcomb, Alix Shepherd & Carlos Luis Rivera.
Sat 12: Edison Herbert Trio @ The Vault, Darlington 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 12: Jude Murphy & Dan Stanley @ Lovaine Community Garden, North Shields. 7:00pm (doors 6:40pm). £6.00. Limited places, booking essential (via the Community Garden website). BYOF&D.
Sat 12: Hot Club du Nord @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm. Hall Two.
Sat 12: Sleep Suppressor @ Repas 7 by Night, Berwick. 8:00pm.
Sat 12: Anth Purdy @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle.8:00pm. Free. ‘Swing Jazz Guitar’. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 13: Jazz Stage @ Mouth of the Tyne Festival. From 11:00am. Free. Trilogy of Four (11:00am); East Coast Jazzmen (12:10pm); Delta Prophets Trio (1:20pm); House of the Black Gardenia (2:30pm); Mouth of the Tyne All Stars (3:40pm). Stage adjacent to Tynemouth Priory.
Sun 13: Giles Strong Quartet @ The Sele, Hexham. 12 noon. Free. ‘The Bandstand Sessions’.
Sun 13: Julie Dexter @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:30pm (doors). £20.00. ‘The Cluny Matinee Jazz Club’.
Sun 13: ’58 Jazz Collective, Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 13: Tyne Valley Big Band @ Bishop Auckland Town Hall. 2:00pm. Tea Dance. SOLD OUT! A Durham Brass Festival event.
Sun 13: Ferg Kilsby @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm. Kilsby (trumpet, flugelhorn); Luis Verde (alto sax); Ben Lawrence (piano); Andy Champion (double bass); John Hirst (drums).
Sun 13: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 13: Sloth Racket @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. JNE.
Mon 14: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club (1:00pm). Free.
Mon 14: Brass Bash @ Hardwick Park, Co. Durham. 6:00-8:00pm. Free. Various bands. A Durham Brass Festival event.
Mon 14: Brass Bash @ The Story, Mount Oswald, Co. Durham. 6:00-8:00pm. Free. Various bands. A Durham Brass Festival event.
Tue 15: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Victoria & Albert Inn, Seaton Sluice. Tel: 0191 237 3697. 12:30pm. ‘July Jazz Barbecue’. Tickets: £15.00.
Tue 15: Brass Bash @ Hackworth Park, Shildon, Co. Durham. 6:00-9:00pm. Free. Various bands. A Durham Brass Festival event.
Tue 15: Brass Bash @ The Witham, Barnard Castle, Co. Durham. 6:00-8:00pm. Free. Various bands. A Durham Brass Festival event.
Tue 15: Julian Lage Trio @ 1856 Exchange, North Shields. 7:30pm . Lage (guitar); Jorge Roeder (double bass); Joey Barron (drums).
Tue 15: Jools Holland’s Rhythm & Blues Orchestra @ The Hippodrome, Darlington. 7:30pm.
Tue 15: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. Stu Collingwood, Paul Grainger, Bailey Rudd.
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.
Post a Comment