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

Friday, March 10, 2017

Gerry Richardson Quartet @ Jazz Café. March 9

Gerry Richardson (Hammond organ), Garry Linsley (alto saxophone), Rod Sinclair (guitar) & Adam Sinclair (drums)
(Review by Russell)
March 9, UK Live Music Census day. A nation wide music industry census to gauge the health of the music scene canvassing opinion from audiences, musicians, venue operators and promoters. The Tyneside element included Sage Gateshead and a range of Newcastle venues from the small scale pub gig to the ‘plastic glass stand-up booking fee will apply’ establishment. As luck would have it Newcastle’s Jazz Café was on a convenient walking distance circuit of the dedicated canvassers.


In the Jazz Café’s upstairs room on Pink Lane canvassers happened upon one of the great bands…the Gerry Richardson Quartet. Imagine walking in on some of this – Jive Samba (Nat Adderley), In a Mellotone (Ellington), Money’s Getting Cheaper (Witherspoon) and more. Richardson runs his Big Idea, a nine-piece outfit. Tonight the horns were given the night off, the exception being Garry Linsley. The Cumbrian-based alto saxophonist is one of two key components in any line-up (the other Rod Sinclair, guitar) be it trio, quartet as per tonight’s gig, or the mighty Big Idea.

The Sticks, Just Squeeze Me, Mose Allison’s Everybody’s Cryin’ Mercy, every number a gem. Richardson doesn’t do anything other than great tunes and one Richardson tune that is invariably in the set list – African Sunset – duly cropped up. It’s a feature for drummer Adam Sinclair (predecessor Paul Smith developed the polyrhythmic patterns), R. Sinclair featured as soloist or rhythm guitar maestro on pretty much all tunes, and Richardson, at a relatively new Hammond (the old piece of furniture seemingly retired to the Richardson Museum of All Things Hammond), cooks and grooves (old school Blue Note lingo) non-stop. Yes, the census guys hit lucky catching Gerry Richardson at the Jazz Café. Quality of performance wasn’t being measured. If it was – on a scale of 1 to 10 – mark it down as   11. Let’s go out on some Jimmy Smith…Back at the Chicken Shack.         
Russell                
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