Bebop Spoken There

Gary Bartz: ''Music is nature's gift to man. It's the only religion. We're living in a terrible era, but what a beautiful thing music is. Look how it brings us together like religion is supposed to; and with no language barriers.'' (Jazzwise September, 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

18918 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 782 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Sept. 18.) 61.

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.

Mon 21: Lewis Watson Quartet @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. Coltrane centenary.

Tue 22: ???

Wed 23: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 23: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 23: Lewis Watson Quartet @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 7:30pm. A John Coltrane Centenary Concert (b. 23. 09. 1926). SOLD OUT!
Wed 23: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 24: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Millstone, Mill Rise, South Gosforth, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 24: Castillo Nuevo Orquesta @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. £6.50. 7:30pm (doors).
Thu 24: Arun Ghosh @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 8:00pm (7:30pm doors). £21.05. (£22.00. on the door). A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Thu 24: Shalala @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £7.00.

Fri 25: Mark Williams Trio @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. £9.00.
Fri 25: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 25: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 25: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 25: Get the Blessing + Dilettante @ The Cluny (Cluny 2), Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £18.00. + bf. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Fri 25: Jazz Sabbath @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm.

Sat 26: Adam Fairhall & Johnny Hunter: Play Mary Lou Williams @ The Cumberland Arms, Byker, Newcastle. 6:00pm. Free. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Sat 26: John Pope Quintet + Urvashi @ The Cumberland Arms, Byker, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £15.40. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.

Sun 27: Salty Dog @ The Cluny. 12:30pm (doors). Free (donations).
Sun 27: Musicians Unlimited @ West Hartlepool RFC. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 27: Zach Sewell-Lara Hopper Quintet @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm. £12.00., £10.00.
Sun 27: Ruth Lambert Trio @ The Juke Shed, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free. Ruth Lambert (vocals); Giles Strong (guitar); Paul Grainger (double bass).
Sun 27: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 27: Alex Hitchcock Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £16.00., £14.00. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.

Friday, January 26, 2018

Jazz North East's "JAZZ DE LUXE" at the Lit & Phil, Newcastle - January 21 (afternoon)

Christian Alderson (d),  Pol Belardi (b), Maxime Bender (p, sax), Manu Codjia (g), David Fettman (sax), Niels Engel (d), Jerome Klein (p, d),  Sascha Ley (v), Faye MacCalman (sax, clarinet), Laurent Payfert (b), John Pope (b) 
(Review & Photos by Ken Drew)
For the third consecutive year Jazz North East kicked off their new programme with an all-dayer focusing on the jazz musicians from a single European country, Luxembourg, which is one of the smallest countries in Europe yet contains a rich mix of musical talent based on the evidence we saw today.
Whilst following a similar format to JNE's French showcase in 2016 which centred around young Paris musicians, and last year’s Netherlands extravaganza which drew heavily on the free jazz scene centred on Amsterdam, this year saw an even bigger mix of musicians across the 10 sets across the day. This included an opening set by our local Archipelago who kicked things off for the 2pm start, but would re-appear in various combinations later on as part of a mission to build creative links between Jazz North East’s ever-growing European connections.  The Luxembourg musicians then further demonstrated the available array of jazz talent assembled for the day, starting with the witty interplay of vocalist Sascha Ley & bassist Laurent Payfert, followed  by Pol Belardi's 'Force' with David Fettmann on Alto sax, Jerome Klein on piano, Pol Belardi on bass and Neils Engel on drums.
In between these 'main' performances were interleaved carefully selected duos and trios who played short 20 minutes sets to demonstrate the true universality of music across regional boundaries. First to open up the Luxembourg groupings were Maxime Bender (switching from piano to sax, then to finish, back to piano), David Fettmann and Jerome Klein, then a new working partnership of Faye MacCalman and Manu Codjia. These worked superbly well, with not a musical boundary in sight, the joint playing getting stronger by the minute as they established common ground to explore.

Overall this was a truly successful melting pot of musical talents producing a diverse range of styles and free jazz of very high quality. Even more diversity of styles was to follow in the evening session .......... but by 5:50pm it was time for a musical rest and to savour the anticipation of what was to follow.
Ken Drew
Photos.
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