Bebop Spoken There

Christian McBride: ''I believe we are living in a historically embarrassing moment in American history.'' - Downbeat December 2025

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

18083 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 1047 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Dec. 14), 61.

From This Moment On ...

DECEMBER 2025

Sun 21: New ’58 Jazz Collective @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 21: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. ‘Xmas Swingalong’. Skerritt w. backing tapes.
Sun 21: Ruth Lambert Trio @ Juke Shed, Union Quay, North Shields. 3:00-5:00pm. Free.
Sun 21: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 21: Strictly Smokin’ Big Band @ o2 City Hall, Newcastle. 6:00pm. £35.80., £33.25., £31.00.
Sun 21: The Globe Xmas Party @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. Live music.
Sun 21: Tweed River Jazz Band @ The Barrels Ale House, Berwick. 7:30pm. Free.

Mon 22: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 23: Paul Skerritt @ Chakh Dhoom, Jesmond, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Indian restaurant. Skerritt w. backing tapes.

Wed 24: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 24: Alexia Gardner @ The Townhouse, Bridge St., Morpeth. 1:30-4:30pm. ‘The A Capella Sessions’. Gardner, Paula Gardner, Alexia Hope Gardner Diamany.
Wed 24: Paul Skerritt @ Mambo Wine & Dine, South Shields. 1:30pm. Skerritt w. backing tapes.

Thu 25: Alexia Gardner @ The Townhouse, Bridge St., Morpeth. 1:30-4:00pm. ‘All About the Bass Sessions’. Alexia Gardner, Paula Gardner, Jude Murphy.

Fri 26: ???

Sat 27: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. CANCELLED!
Sat 27: Leeds City Stompers @ Billy Bootleggers, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free.

Sun 28: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Skerritt w. backing tapes.
Sun 28: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 28: Paul Skerritt @ 3 Stories, High St. West, Sunderland. 6:30pm. Skerritt w. backing tapes.
Sun 28: The Society Quartet @ Hilton Garden Inn, Sunderland. 6:30pm. Jason Holcomb & co.

Mon 29: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 30: Shalala @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £8.00., £7.00. adv.

Wed 31: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 31: Lil Miss Mary & the Mr Rights Trio @ Billy Bootlegger’s, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. ‘Early NYE Bash’. Rockabilly, rhythm & blues.
Wed 31: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. ‘Midnight in Manhattan’ NYE party. £49.46 (inc. bf) & £29.38 (inc. bf).

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

Tuesday, November 14, 2017

Mondo Jazz – New International Jazz Radio Program Hosted by Ludovico Granvassu

Mondo Jazz, a new radio program hosted by Italian-turned-New-Yorker Ludovico Granvassu (Founder and Editor-in-Chief of All About Jazz Italia), has a mission of showcasing international jazz that's not readily available on the US airwaves.

Starting on November 15, 2017, the show will broadcast on Wednesdays from 10 p.m. to midnight via Radio Free Brooklyn.  (See below for additional links to the archives, playlists, Facebook page.  Radio Free Brooklyn is also available through the App Store or via the “Tune-In Radio" app, which can be subscribed to on iTunes.)

“When I first moved to the United States I was surprised that, in the country where the customer has unlimited choices, I could go to a supermarket and find 80 different brands of cereal, but in a record store the selection of jazz albums was much narrower than in record stores in Oslo, Tokyo, Brussels, London, Rome, Paris, etc. It was therefore not surprising that the playlists of the major radio stations was equally narrow," says host Granvassu. “How could it be that, in the land which gave birth to this music, jazz fans had fewer options than jazz fans from anywhere else in the world? I quickly realized that whereas record stores and radio stations abroad naturally featured albums from the US, since jazz was born in the US, they also featured albums by international jazz musicians since there are thriving jazz scenes everywhere, which produce excellent artists. These foreign artists were virtually unknown in the US and absent from American airwaves.
“My mission with Mondo Jazz is to share some of my favorite international artists with US jazz fans to widen their listening options,” adds host Granvassu.“Needless to say there will be plenty of US jazz on my program, in an attempt to show the continuity that exists between the US and the international jazz scenes. Mondo Jazz is dedicated to the proposition that jazz is a language that originated in the US but is now spoken all over the world in various, at times very strong, accents and dialects, which make it a rich resource for rewarding sonic explorations. In the end, I hope to give a small contribution towards making barriers (across music-genres and nationalities) meaningless, and show that all that matters is people, the beauty of their music and the emotions it can generate."


Schedule and themes of next episodes
  • November 15th: Episode 1: First Steps... Jazz Walking
  • November 22nd: Episode 2: Jazz Travelling
  • November 29th: Episode 3: Film Noir Jazz Soundtracks
Click on the links below for more information
Mondo Jazz
Ludovico Granvassu – Mondo Jazz (for playlists)
Radio Free Brooklyn
Podomatic archive (archived streaming and download)
Mixcloud archive (archived streaming)
Copyright © 2017 Braithwaite & Katz, All rights reserved. 

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