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Bebop Spoken There

Van Morrison: ''Basically, I'm coming from jazz. Not pop, not rock, not what's commercial. That's where I started, and that's still where I am. I feel the same as I did when I was listening to Louis Armstrong, Lead Belly, Jelly Roll Morton''. (The Northern Echo, 12 June 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

1803759 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 480 of them this year alone and, so far, 58 this month (June 18).

From This Moment On ...

JUNE 2025

Mon 23: MSK Trio @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 1:00pm. £9.00. at the door; £8.20. (inc £0.20 bf) online, in advance.
Mon 23: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club (1:00pm). Free.

Tues 24: ???

Wed 25: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 25: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 25: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 25: The Magpies of Swing @ The Roxy, Leadgate, Co. Durham. 7:30pm. A Ginger Jitterbugs swing dance event, all welcome.

Thu 26: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Brass Instruments & the use of mutes.

Fri 27: Lewis Watson Quartet @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm.
Fri 27: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 27: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 27: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 27: Strictly Smokin’ Big Band @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 8:00pm. ‘Time After Time’.

Sat 28: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Linskill Centre, North Shields. 4:00-10:30pm. Free, but ticketed (over 18s only). A multi-bill, multi-genre ‘Canny Shiels - North Shields 800’ event. Three Kings Brewery on site.
Sat 28: Joseph Carville Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 28: Jude Murphy & Dan Stanley @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 29: Jude Murphy & Dan Stanley @ Wallington, Northumberland. 12 noon-1:00pm & 2:00-3:00pm. Tel: 01670 773606. National Trust admission prices apply. ‘Tunes in the Blooms’.
Sun 29: Glenn Miller Orchestra UK @ The Fire Station, Sunderland. 3:00pm. Ray McVay & co.
Sun 29: Ruth Lambert Trio @ Juke Shed, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 29: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 29: Zoë Gilby w. Ryton Choral Society @ Corbridge Middle School NE45 5HX. 5:30pm. £15.00. Gilby w jazz trio & choir. ‘An evening of jazz song for choir’.
Sun 29: Jazz Jam Sandwich! @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 29: John Wilson & the Sinfonia of London @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 7:30pm. ‘Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Greatest Hits’.
Sun 29: Out Front @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. JNE.

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, April 10, 2018

GIJF Day 3: Ushaw Ensemble - Sage Gateshead, April 8

Paul Edis (piano); Andy May (Northumbrian pipes); Graham Hardy (trumpet, flugelhorn); Graeme Wilson (tenor sax, flute); Emma Fisk (violin); Paul Susans (double bass); Rob Walker (drums)
(Review/photo courtesy of Ken Drew) 
Paul Edis juggles many projects and, to mix a metaphor, keeps several plates spinning at once. Educator (principally here at Sage Gateshead), working musician, often as a bandleader, busy concert promoter, there can’t be enough hours in his day to take on much else, yet now he has another project bubbling along nicely…the Ushaw Ensemble. Working to a commission, Dr Edis wrote St Cuthbert’s Suite to be performed first at Ushaw College, then, next day, in the equally impressive surroundings of Durham Cathedral and has since found a receptive audience in the generally less salubrious surroundings of jazz clubs and festivals.   
The Ushaw Ensemble opened Jazz North East’s Sunday afternoon schedule on the concourse. The usual line-up, including ‘folkie’ Andy May playing Northumbrian pipes, played two long form pieces in the forty or so minutes allotted to Edis’ seven-piece band. The Ensemble’s musicians, without exception, are accomplished soloists in their own right and Here and Now, Gone Forever placed several of them in the spotlight; Graeme Wilson’s assured tenor saxophone playing, Paul Edis reading reams of dots, the lyrical flugelhorn of Graham Hardy, bassist Paul Susans’ solo, a first contribution from the imperious Emma Fisk (violin), Andy May’s piping and Rob Walker, the man at the back, reading his part from behind the traps. So, all made their mark, with a Sunday brunch audience listening closely as the music finally became stilled.

Achill Island lies off the west coast of Ireland and, on a visit to this remote part of the world, Edis found inspiration to compose The Sound of Achill, the second piece to be featured at this year’s Gateshead International Jazz Festival. Andy May stepped forward to play Northumbrian pipes – perhaps Cuthbert himself would have readily recognised the sound, more so than the sounds of ‘jazz’ instruments as we know them. St Cuthbert’s Suite is a piece of music deserving of further exposure with, perhaps, a recording session to document the project.  
Russell .
Ken Drew Festival Photos (ongoing).                                 

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