Bebop Spoken There

Donovan Haffner ('Best Newcomer' 2025 Parliamentary Jazz Awards): ''I got into jazz the first time I picked up a saxophone!" - Jazzwise Dec 25/Jan 26

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

18146 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 24 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Jan. 7), 24

From This Moment On ...

JANUARY 2026

Fri 09: The House Trio @ Bishop Auckland Methodist Church. 1:00pm. £9.00.
Fri 09: Nauta @ Jesmond Library, Newcastle. 1:00pm. £5.00. Trio: Jacob Egglestone, Jamie Watkins, Bailey Rudd.
Fri 09: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 09: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 09: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 09: Warren James & the Lonesome Travellers @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm. £15.00.
Fri 09: The Blue Kings @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £10.00. (£8.00. adv.). All-star band.

Sat 10: Mark Toomey Quintet @ St Peter’s Church, Stockton-on-Tees. 7:30pm. £12.00. (inc. pie & peas). Tickets from: 07749 255038.

Sun 11: New ’58 Jazz Collective @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 11: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 11: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 11: Eva Fox & the Sound Hounds @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 12: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 12: Saltburn Big Band @ Saltburn House Hotel. 7:00-9:00pm. Free.

Tue 13: Milne Glendinning Band @ Newcastle House Hotel, Rothbury. 7:30pm. £11.00. Coquetdale Jazz.
Tue 13: Jazz Jam Sandwich @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Wed 14: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 14: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 14: Jam Session @ The Tannery, Hexham. 7:00pm. Free.
Wed 14: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 15: Mark Toomey Quartet @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm. Free. Quartet + guest Paul Donnelly (guitar).

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

Thursday, August 11, 2016

CD Review: Kristian Borring – Silent Storm

Kristian Borring (guitar), Arthur Lea (piano), Mick Coady (double bass) & Jon Scott (drums)
(Review by Russell)
Guitarist Kristian Borring’s regular working band went into the studio to record this new release on the back of a concert tour and it shows. On Silent Storm the quartet fires on all cylinders from the opening number. Borring wrote all ten tracks on the album, coming in at just under one hour. The first two numbers (When He Goes Out to Play and Ton) take no time getting into the swing of it. Borring plays with a contemporary edge whilst never losing his firm grip on the jazz guitar lexicon.
Mick Coady’s double bass playing and Jon Scott’s drumming are prominent on Ton with a sense of swing at the heart of it all. Borring’s intro to Intro to Islington Twilight gives a clear indication of the guitarist’s appreciation of the great  jazz guitar accompanists such as Jim Hall and Joe Pass. More is the pity that there is but one minute forty-five seconds of it! Islington Twilight itself moves into current groove territory.
Pianist Arthur Lea shines on the swift, swinging Cool It. Borring elects to keep out of the way, the trio swinging, latterly joining proceedings with a beautifully executed solo of his own. The title track – Silent Storm – is a masterful exposition of jazz guitar and the small jazz combo. Borring has certainly found empathetic bandmates in Lea, Coady and Scott. Drummer Scott’s brush work on Silent Storm is particularly impressive. Pianist Lea has a knack of playing the right thing at the right time, exemplified on Nosda, first soloing then comping behind bandleader Borring. Fable closes the CD. Blindfold, one could easily be playing the game of ‘name that tune’. Familiar, yet, it is, of course, a Borring composition.
Kristian Borring’s Silent Storm takes its place on the album shelves alongside recordings by Jim Hall, Barney Kessel and Joe Pass.                          
Russell.
Silent Storm by Kristian Borring is available on Jellymould Jazz (JM-JJ024).

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