Bebop Spoken There

Ron Carter quoting Sonny Rollins: ''What we call jazz - that's keeping the world in equilibrium. I don't care what kind of music you like out here today. It all comes from jazz.'' (DownBeat August, 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

18844 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 708 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Aug. 27) 77.

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

From This Moment On

September.

Wed 02: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 02: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 02: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 03: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Millstone, Mill Rise, South Gosforth, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 03: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £5.00.
Thu 03: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm. Free. Feat. Ian Bosworth (guitar); Ron Hampton (guitar); Riche Emmerson (tenor sax); Dan Johnson (tenor sax, alto sax); Garry Hadfield (keyboards); Adrian Beadnell (bass); Mark Hawkins (drums).

Fri 04: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 04: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 04: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 04: FUNK: new musicians collective @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £6.00. Line-up inc. Chris Caygill & Daniel Chandler.
Fri 04: The Upside + Lagos to Longbenton @ Cumberland Arms, Byker, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £8.00. Ska, funk, Afro-fusion & more.

Sat 05: Alligator Gumbo @ St Augustine’s Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. £10.00. Darlington New Orleans Jazz Club.
Sat 05: Tees Bay Swing Band @ Hartlepool Art Gallery. 4:00-6:15pm. £6.00. Concert performance. Tickets available from the venue - tel: 01429 869706.
Sat 05: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.

Sun 06: Smokin’ Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm. £10.00.
Sun 06: Ian Bosworth Quintet @ Chapel, Middlesbrough. 1:00pm. Free. Ian Bosworth (guitar); Richie Emmerson (tenor sax); Jeremy McMurray (keyboards); Adrian Beadnell (bass); Mark Hawkins (drums) & guest Mick Donnelly (tenor sax).
Sun 06: Tees Bay Swing Band @ Ropner Park, Stockton. 2:00-4:00pm. Free.
Sun 06: Sax Choir @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 06: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 06: Nils Kavanagh Trio @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 07: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 07: Saltburn Big Band @ Saltburn House Hotel. 7:00-9:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).

Tue 08: SH#RP Collective @ Newcastle House Hotel, Rothbury. 7:30pm. Coquetdale Jazz.
Tue 08: Jazz Jam Sandwich @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Saturday, October 15, 2016

Paul Skerritt/James Harrison @ The Jazz Café - October 14.

Paul Skerritt (vcl); James Harrison (pno).
(Review by Lance).
If Morecambe and Wise had been jazz musicians they may have sounded like tonight's pairing - with the notes, more or less, in the right order.
They have fun and music should be about fun and not about watching paint dry as a gentleman who shall remain nameless commented about a recent gig he'd attended.

No paint watching last night! Lots of slapstick comedy betwixt the duo but rarely at a detriment to the music. Skerritt, in the midst of a bout of laryngitis, occasionally struggled with the upper range but it was rarely noticeable and, pro that he is, carried it off well - no doubt high on Fisherman's Friend or Victory V lozenges. Harrison, the most talented extrovert on the scene, is never short of a phrase to fit the occasion, celebrated my departure with a chorus of The Wheels on the Bus go Round and Round!
However, before that we had;  Putting on the Ritz; If I Had You; L-o-v-e; Curtis Stiger's Hooray For Love; I'm Beginning to See the Light; Almost Like Being in Love; an incredible version of Taylor Swift's Shake it Off which had Harrison playing stride/ragtime piano! Cheek to Cheek; All About the Bass (with a keyboard bass solo by Harrison on the Nord 2 that many a bass player would have been proud of! The set concluded with Michael Jackson's The Way You Make me Feel.
Glasses recharged and it seems as though Each day is Valentine's Day - unfortunately (Thank God Val Day isn't in the Summertime!) Having said that, this was as good a version of this overworked tune that you're going to hear.
Gregory Porter's Take me to the Alley had a sombre message with a ray of hope. Not sure what to make of it will have to check out the lyric. Skerritt sung it well. Ain't no Sunshine; an uptempo What a Wonderful World, Don't Get Around Much Anymore and Sway brought my evening to a close.
A splendid session with lots of hokum mixed in with some fine singing and playing.
I'd have stayed longer but, the wheels on the bus (or in this case, the Metro) do go round and round..,
Lance.
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