Bebop Spoken There

Art Blakey (to Terence Blanchard): ''You ain't Miles find your own shit to do!'' (DownBeat May, 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

18548 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 412 of them this year alone and, so far this month (May 19) 66

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

May

Mon 25: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 26: Noel Dennis Sextet @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £12.00. A Miles Davis centenary concert (Davis b. 26. 5. 1926). Noel Dennis (trumpet); Harry Keeble (tenor sax); Dean Stockdale (piano); Mark Williams (guitar); Andy Champion (double bass); John Bradford (drums). SOLD OUT!
Tue 26: Lagos to Longbenton @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Wed 27: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 27: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 27: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 27: Neighbourhood Watch + Rivkala @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £5.00. Rivkala (solo).

Thu 28: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Millstone, Mill Rise, South Gosforth, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 28: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £5.00. Subject: Miles Davis & His Favourite Musicians.
Thu 28: Castillo Nuevo Orquesta @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. £6.50. 7:30pm (doors).
Thu 28: Bobby Rush @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £25.00. + bf. Veteran USA bluesman.
Thu 28: Squabble @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Thu 28: Paul Skerritt @ Angels' Share, St George's Terrace, Jesmond, Newcastle NE2 2SX. 8:00pm. Free. Booking advised (0191 200 1975). Skerritt w. backing tapes.

Fri 29: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 29: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 29: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 29: Castillo Nuevo Trio @ Hotel Gotham, Newcastle. 5:30pm. Free.

Sat 30: Giles Strong Quartet @ Langley Tracks, Langley on Tyne NE47 5LA. 5:30pm (doors). £15.00 + £1.50 bf.

Sun 31: Musicians Unlimited: Big Band Blast @ West Hartlepool RFC. 1:00-3:00pm . Free.
Sun 31: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Table reservations (0191 261 8000). Skerritt w. backing tapes.
Sun 31: Sinfonia of London: Tea Dance @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 3:00pm. Free. John Wilson ensemble performing on the concourse. Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, George & Ira Gershwin & more.
Sun 31: Ruth Lambert Trio @ Juke Shed, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 31: NUJO Jazz Jam @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). £3.76.
Sun 31: Joe Steels @ The Pele, Corbridge. 7:00pm. Free (donations direct to the musicians). Joe Steels & Friends.
Sun 31: Ben Haskins Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £14.00., £12.00., £7.00.

Saturday, January 27, 2018

BABMUS @ The Jazz Café - Jan 25

Bearpark: Tom Bearpark (Hammond organ); Jamie Jingles (guitar); Stephen Hall (bass) & Adam Watson (drums)
(Review by Russell)
Tom Bearpark knew it, he said he wasn’t surprised. Late January is a difficult time of year to ask people to come out and support live music. Bandleader Bearpark thanked those who turned out, and, with his BABMus colleagues ready to go, fired-up the Hammond.




The Jazz Café’s upstairs room reverberated to the sound of Bearpark’s SK2. We’ve heard him at the Pink Lane upright, we’ve heard him at the house Nord, tonight, Bearpark would tussle with the big beast. The monthly BABMUS session is a platform for students on Sage Gateshead’s BA and BMus music degree courses to escape the white wall rehearsal room and play a gig in front of the paying public. Tom Bearpark isn’t Jimmy – McGriff or Smith, more like a Bearpark with a manic, at times, prog rock sound. Whatever the tune, it got the Bearpark treatment. His bandmates, guitarist Jamie Jingles (Jingles aka…that would be telling!), the assured bassist Stephen Hall and drummer Adam Watson, were up for the challenge responding to Bearpark’s signals – hand or eye – when a change in tempo was required or to return to the head.

Numbers ranged from an accomplished Tom Bearpark composition titled Sergeant Bird to a Gothic take on My Favorite Things, to, at times, a demented version of In a Sentimental Mood (if ever the musicians’ jokey alternative title applied – In a Semi-Mental Mood – this was the occasion!). Jamie Jingles shared solo spots with Bearpark. Interestingly, Jamie J doesn’t use a pick, and he certainly has a distinctive sound playing his Telecaster. The Hammond lends itself to a bossa and Bearpark duly dipped into the bag marked ‘Bossa.’ The evening’s closing number featured Adam Watson on Take Five. The 5/4 to 7/8 time signatures didn’t inhibit our drummer, this was his opportunity to let us hear what he could do, and he did just that.


Bearpark is a student band, it’s come on leaps and bounds over the last year and it’ll be interesting to see which direction these young musicians take next. 
Russell.           
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