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

18219 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 73 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Jan. 24), 73

From This Moment On ...

JANUARY 2026

Fri 30: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 30: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 30: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 30: Castillo Nuevo Trio @ Hotel Gotham, Newcastle. 5:30pm. Free.
Fri 30: Pete Roth Trio @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). Feat. Bill Bruford.
Fri 30: Jive Aces @ Alnwick Playhouse. 7:30pm.
Fri 30: Tweed River Jazz Band @ Northern Edge Coffee, Silver St., Berwick. 7:00pm.
Fri 30: Dan Coulthurst Quintet @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 7:30pm (7:00pm doors). £10.00 + £1.00. bf (www.wegottickets.com). Coulthurst (trumpet); Joel Steadman (bass clarinet, flute); Nico Widdowson (piano); Fergus Quill (double bass); Theo Goss (drums).

Sat 31: Darling Dollies @ St George’s Church, Jesmond, Newcastle. 3:00pm. £10.00. Vocal trio.
Sat 31: Brass Fiesta @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 10:30pm. Free.

FEBRUARY 2026

Sun 01: Smokin’ Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm. £10.00.
Sun 01: Ian Bosworth Quintet @ Chapel, Middlesbrough. 1:00pm. Free. Quintet + guest Bill Watson (trumpet, flugelhorn).
Sun 01: Sax Choir @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 01: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 01: Annie & the Caldwells @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £25.00. adv. Gospel/soul.
Sun 01: Jive Aces @ Alnwick Playhouse. 7:30pm.
Sun 01: Olly Styles Experience + Jenny Baker @ the Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 02: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 02: Saltburn Big Band @ Saltburn House Hotel. 7:00-9:00pm. Free.

Tue 03: Customs House Big Band @ The Masonic Hall, Ferryhill. 7:30pm. Free.
Tue 03: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Joe Steels, Paul Grainger, Abbie Finn.

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.

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

Monday, August 01, 2016

Orpheus Project - Preview Ellery Eskelin Tour (Globe Oct. 14)

(Press release)
The Orpheus Project is proud to present tenor heavyweight Ellery Eskelin as their second featured artist. Joined by Chris Sharkey and Matt Bourne, the trio is comprised of three strong and individual creative voices that come together to create something greater than the considerable sum of its parts.
The group will tour between October 8th and October 14th, creating performances that are sure to be as unique as they are exciting.

For the past thirty years Ellery Eskelin has been at the forefront of the global creative improvised music scene. Based in New York City, he has traveled widely performing, recording and amassing a very personal and iconoclastic body of work. And yet Ellery Eskelin has always remained deeply committed to the traditions of jazz and American music. Eskelin embodies this seeming contradiction with ease. He does not see jazz as a style or idiom but as a process. Further, a process of creative development that has great relevancy to our time. In this pursuit Eskelin consistently delivers to the listening public unadulterated, passionate music with no excuses and no apologies.
Chris Sharkey is known across Europe as being at the cutting edge of creative music. He has been a member of numerous ground-breaking groups in the UK – including Trio VD, Acoustic Ladyland and Bilbao Syndrome. Internationally, he has collaborated with musicians in France (Christian Sebille), Norway (Nils Henrik Aarsheim), Lithuania (Liudas Mockūnas) and Spain (Asociación Musica Libre). Bourne first came to national attention as a winner of the Perrier Jazz Award in 2001, which was followed by an award for innovation at the BBC Radio Jazz Awards in 2002, and the International Jazz Festivals Organisation’s International Jazz Award in 2005. Renowned for his intensely personal and sometimes confrontational solo work, Bourne’s uncanny ability to balance delicacy and virtuosity, while establishing a close affinity with his audience, have become hallmarks of his concert performances.
Full information on performances, links to book tickets, videos and more can be found on the Orpheus Project website – www.orpheusjazz.org.
October 8th – Marsden Jazz Festival
October 10th – Con Cellar Bar, London
October 11th – Fizzle, Birmingham (Ellery Eskelin Solo)
October 12th – The Lescar, Sheffield
October 13th – Seven Arts, Leeds (joint promotion – Seven Jazz & Fusebox)
October 14th – The Globe, Newcastle (joint promotion – Jazz Coop & Jazz North East)
"Eskelin could get away with murder. That tone is all the alibi he'd need...incarnating the horn's romantic tradition while inking fresh initials on its tattooed heart.” (Jazziz).
“Eskelin continues to be the most inventive American tenor player in creative music..." (Down Beat) "Ellery Eskelin, a rugged tenor saxophonist with a romantic streak that runs parallel to his experimental leanings…" (The New Yorker 2013).

“Eskelin’s warm sound and flowing melodic invention may be the first things to catch a listener’s attention. He has one of the great tenor sounds...” (The New York City Jazz Record - December 2013) The Orpheus Project is a partnership between Apollo Jazz Network and NORVOLJazz which seeks to establish a touring network for jazz in the North of England. The project is generously supported by Arts Council England through the Grants for the Arts programme.

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