DECEMBER 2025
Mon 15: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Tue 16: Paul Skerritt @ Chakh Dhoom, Jesmond, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Indian restaurant. Skerritt w. backing tapes.
Tue 16: A Jazzy Xmas @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 7:30pm. Paul Edis (MD, piano); Jo Harrop (vocals); Kyran Matthews (tenor sax, soprano sax); Faye Thompson (alto sax, clarinet); Sue Ferris (flute, piccolo); Graham Hardy (trumpet, flugelhorn); Jason Holcomb (trombone);Emma Fisk (violin); Andy Champion (double bass); Matt MacKellar (drums).
Tue 16: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Stu Collingwood, Paul Grainger, Tim Johnston.
Wed 17: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Spanish City, Whitley Bay. 12 noon. £29.00 (inc. bf). ‘Festive Lunch’. VCJ on stage 12 noon (three sets 'til 4:00pm).
Wed 17: Lazy River Band @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free. Veronica Perrin, Chris Perrin, John Farragher, Phil Rutherford
Wed 17: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 17: Paul Skerritt @ Middlesbrough Town Hall. 7:00pm. Skerritt w. backing tapes.
Wed 17: A Jazzy Xmas @ Fire Station, Sunderland. 7:30pm. Paul Edis (MD, piano); Jo Harrop (vocals); Kyran Matthews (tenor sax, soprano sax); Faye Thompson (alto sax, clarinet); Sue Ferris (flute, piccolo); Graham Hardy (trumpet, flugelhorn); Jason Holcomb (trombone);Emma Fisk (violin); Andy Champion (double bass); Matt MacKellar (drums).
Wed 17: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Thu 18: Paul Skerritt @ YOLO, Ponteland. 7:00pm. ‘Swing & Jazz Night’. Skerritt w. backing tapes.
Thu 18: Joe Steels & Friends @ The Pele, Corbridge. 7:30pm. Free (donations).
Fri 19: Fraser Urquhart @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. £8.00. SOLD OUT! .
Fri 19: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free..
Fri 19: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free..
Fri 19: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00..
Fri 19: Castillo Nuevo @ Hotel Gotham, Newcastle. 5:00pm. Free. .
Fri 19: Alexia Gardner @ FIKA Art Gallery, Morpeth. 6:30pm. Gardner, Alan Law, Jude Murphy..
Fri 19: Paul Skerritt @ Middlesbrough Town Hall. 7:00pm. Skerritt w. backing tapes. .
Fri 19: Giles Strong Quartet @ Sunderland Minster. 7:30pm. Old Black Cat Jazz Club..
Fri 19: Creakin’ Bones & the Xmas Dinners @ The White Room, Stanley. 7:45pm. £13.01 (inc. bf)..
Fri 19: Mark Toomey Quintet @ The Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. Opus 4 Jazz Club.
Sat 20: Jazz Attack @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 11:00am. Free.
Sat 20: Alexia Gardner @ FIKA Art Gallery, Morpeth. 6:30pm. Gardner, Alan Law, Jude Murphy. SOLD OUT!
Sat 20: Joseph Carville Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. CANCELLED!
Sat 20: Ray Stubbs R&B All Stars @ Billy Bootleggers, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 20: Hoodoo Blues @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:15pm (doors). £14.25, £11.55. Dance class, social dancing, live music & Xmas Party. Live music from 9:00pm - Ruth Lambert, Giles Strong, Ian Paterson & John Bradford (jazz and blues).
Sat 20: John Pope Quintet @ Blank Studios, Newcastle. 7:30-8:30pm. £7.70 (inc. bf). Album recording session.
Sun 21: New ’58 Jazz Collective @ Jackosn’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 21: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. ‘Xmas Swingalong’. Skerritt w. backing tapes.
Sun 21: Ruth Lambert Trio @ Juke Shed, Union Quay, North Shields. 3:00-5:00pm. Free.
Sun 21: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 21: Strictly Smokin’ Big Band @ o2 City Hall, Newcastle. 6:00pm. £35.80., £33.25., £31.00.
Sun 21: The Globe Xmas Party @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. Live music.
Sun 21: Tweed River Jazz Band @ The Barrels Ale House, Berwick. 7:30pm. Free.
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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