Bebop Spoken There

Ludovic Beier (Django Festival Allstars): ''Manouche means 'free man,' and gypsies have been travelers since they migrated west from India to Europe.'' (DownBeat March, 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

18361 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 215 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Mar. 8 ), 25

From This Moment On ...

March

Fri 13: Paul Skerritt Quartet @ Bishop Auckland Methodist Church. 1:00pm . £9.00.
Fri 13: The SH#RP Collective @ Jesmond Library, Newcastle. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 13: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 13: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 13: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 13: Soothsayers + Rookie Numbers @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). £17.51., £14.33., £11.16.

Sat 14: The Too Bad Jims @ Claypath Deli, Durham. 7:00pm (6:30pm doors). £13.20., £11.00. R&B.
Sat 14: NUJO @ Venue, Newcastle University Students’ Union. Time TBC. £15.00. supporter; £10.00. standard; £5.00. student. Seated event.

Sun 15: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 2:30pm. Free.
Sun 15: The Too Bad Jims @ The Georgian Theatre, Stockton. 3:00pm. £12.00. R&B.
Sun 15: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 15: Rebecca Poole @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £14.00., £12.00., £7.00. Poole w. Dean Stockdale & Ken Marley. CANCELLED!

Mon 16: Milne Glendinning Band @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 1:00pm.
Mon 16: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 16: Russ Morgan Quartet @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00.

Tue 17: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Alan Law (piano); Paul Grainger (double bass); Scotty Adair (drums).

Wed 18: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 18: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 18: The ’58 Jazz Collective @ Hartlepool Cricket Club, West Park, 7:30pm. £7.00.
Wed 18: Brand New Heavies @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 7:30pm.
Wed 18: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 19: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £5.00. Subject: Stephen Joshua Sondheim.
Thu 19: FILM: Köln 75 @ Forum Cinema, Hexham. 7:30pm. £10.00., £7.00., £3.00. Dir. Ido Fluk. Fictional account of Keith Jarrett’s 1975 Köln concert. A Tyne Valley Film Festival preview screening.
Thu 19: Ransom Van @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

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

Sunday, October 08, 2017

The ones that (nearly) got away. Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music 2017

(By Ken Drew) 
BSH has reviewed most of the performances given throughout the (inaugural) Newcastle Festival of Jazz and Improvised music from Thurs Sept. 29 to Sun Oct. 1.  Two gaps are filled here, not by reviews, but by pictures (easily worth a thousand words!)
On Thursday, Sept. 28, Bearpark gave the opener to the Festival upstairs in the Jazz Café.  Thanks to Diane Jones for these photos.   The line-up was: Adam Watson (Drums); Jamie Jingles (Guitar); Stephen Hall (Bass Guitar); Thomas Dixon (Saxophone); Tom Bearpark (Hammond).
Comments posted after the performance, to an audience of 30+ at the Jazz Café included:  ‘It was a great gig really enjoyed it! ‘ and ‘Great gig thank you’. 
 ----- 

On Friday, whilst there was a CD launch in progress at the Jazz Café, KOAN were performing simultaneously at The Globe. 
Thanks to Martin Donkin and Jerry Serjeant for posting these photos of KOAN at the Globe, and to Martin for adding comments to his Facebook page which I have shamelessly repeated here.  Ken Drew.
“Thanks to all the people and organisations that made KOAN 6 such a wonderful evening on Friday: To the artists who delivered fine performances and set out their original ideas with courage and passion: Culver, Space Gong, Dawn Bothwell, The Newcastle Improvisers.
To the audience for their commitment to listen outside their preferred genre and making it such a friendly evening. It felt like a community. With over 50 people coming in. We made enough money to break even and do more in 2018. Supa.
To our supporters at the Jazz Co-op for gifting us the room and the Co-op volunteers for helping. Amazing generosity of spirit. To Jazz North East and Wesley Stephenson for featuring us in the main programme and welcoming us as part of the festival. You helped us loads.
To the Koan helpers Hazel Donkin for the door, Jerry Serjeant for the photos, Phil the Ref for the hat game and timekeeping and Nick Ball for the Zoom.
To the online communities, A Better Noise, Blue Rinse, Tusk, DIY or Die, Newcastle Psychedelic Community and North East Culture Corner and Bar Loco for their continuing support and allowing me to post on their pages.
Enjoy the photos and look out for the recordings as and when they appear. See you all next time.” Martin Donkin.
Festival Gallery.

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