Bebop Spoken There

Ethan Hawke (starring as Lorenz Hart in Blue Moon): ''Larry [Lorenz] Hart would be so happy that his music and his words and his poetry are still alive.'' - The Northern Echo 27 November 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

18000 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 964 of them this year alone and, so far, 73 this month (Nov. 24).

From This Moment On ...

DECEMBER 2025

Sat 06: Sarah Spencer’s Transatlantic Band @ St Augustine’s Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. £10.00.
Sat 06: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. £27.50. Tutor: Steve Glendinning. Minor Swing. Enrol at: learning@jazz.coop.
Sat 06: Jeff Hewer Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 06: NUJO Jazz Jam @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). £3.76 (inc. bf).
Sat 06: Kaberry Big Band @ The Seahorse, Whitley Bay. 7:30pm (7:00pm doors). £15.00. (inc. hot buffet). ‘Christmas 1945’. Kaberry Big Band, formerly Vermont Big Band.
Sat 06: Smokin’ Spitfires @ Platform 1, Bedlington. 7:30pm. £6.00. Rhythm & blues.
Sat 06: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00. Xmas Party with buffet.
Sat 06: The Jive Aces @ The Witham, Barnard Castle. 8:00pm. £22.00., £20.00.
Sat 06: Brass Fiesta @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 10:30pm. Free.

Sun 07: Ian Bosworth Quintet @ Chapel, Middlesbrough. 1:00pm. Free. Feat. special guest Donna Hewitt (sax, clarinet).
Sun 07: Finn-Keeble Group @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £10.00.
Sun 07: Sax Choir @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 07: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Skerritt w. backing tapes.
Sun 07: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 2:30pm. Free. Trio + Ruth Lambert.
Sun 07: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 07: Jason Isaacs Big Band @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 5:15pm (4:00pm doors). £21.50 (inc. bf).
Sun 07: Paul Skerritt @ 3 Stories, High St. West, Sunderland. 6:30pm. Skerritt w. backing tapes.
Sun 07: Lindsay Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Support set from Play More Jazz! course participants. Note earlier start.

Mon 08: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 09: Jazz Jam Sandwich @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm

Wed 10: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 10: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 10: Jam Session @ The Tannery, Hexham. 7:00pm. Free.
Wed 10: Mike Lindup Jazz Trio @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £26.50 (inc. bf). Lindup, Yolanda Charles (bass), John Sam (drums).
Wed 10: Bold Big Band @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £12.00.

Thu 11: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: West Coast (cool ) / Wordsearch (cool) Cool Jazz or ‘Cold’, ‘Cool’, ‘Hot’, ‘Warm’ in the title or lyrics.
Thu 11: George Robinson @ Prohibition Bar, Albert Road, Middlesbrough TS1 2RU. 7:00pm (doors). £5.42 (inc. bf). Vienna’s Voice charity evening featuring ’15 year old singing sensation the ‘Redcar Crooner’ George Robinson’. Over 35s only.
Thu 11: Paul Skerritt @ Chakh Dhoom, Jesmond, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Indian restaurant. Skerritt w. back tapes.
Thu 11: Ransom Van @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm.
Thu 11: Down for the Count Swing Orchestra @ Middlesbrough Town Hall. 7:30pm. £37.70 (inc. bf). ‘Swing into Xmas’.

Fri 12: Pete Tanton’s Chet Set @ Bishop Auckland Methodist Church. 1:00pm. £8.00.
Fri 12: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 12: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 12: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 12: Milne Glendinning Band @ Northumberland Club, Jesmond, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £15.00. ‘Xmas Soiree’.
Fri 12: A Jazzy Xmas @ St Cuthbert’s Centre, Crook. 7:30pm. £15.00. Paul Edis (MD, piano); Jo Harrop (vocals); Vasilis Xenopoulos (tenor sax, soprano sax); Matthew Forster (alto sax, clarinet); Sue Ferris (flute, piccolo); Graham Hardy (trumpet, flugelhorn); Jason Holcomb (trombone);Emma Fisk (violin); Andy Champion (double bass); Matt MacKellar (drums). SOLD OUT!
Fri 12: Tony Hadley: Xmas Big Band Tour 2025 @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 7:30pm.
Fri 12: Alexia Gardner @ The New Ship Inn, Newbiggin-by-the-Sea. 8:00pm. Gardner, Alan Law, Jude Murphy, Abbie Finn.
Fri 12: Jive Aces: Swingin’ Xmas Show @ The Witham, Barnard Castle. 8:00pm.

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

Friday, January 25, 2019

Burton Agnes Jazz and Blues Festival 2019 - Breaking news

(Press release).

Burton Agnes Jazz and Blues Festival are delighted to announce their first artist confirmed for 2019 – King for a Day: The Nat King Cole Story.
Featuring the world-class live music and vocals of Atila, this unique concert celebrates the centenary of the birth of one of the greatest vocalists and entertainers of the Twentieth Century: Nat King Cole.
 
‘King for a Day: The Nat King Cole Story’
Centenary Concert
Saturday 13th July: Main Stage 6.30pm-8pm
Featuring acclaimed vocalist Atila, alongside a world-class group of musicians, this thoughtful and entertaining new show takes a fresh look at the life and work of the timeless Nat King Cole, whose vocal styling in songs such as Nature BoyUnforgettable and When I Fall in Love defined a golden era of music and earned him a place in the history of American music as one of the most iconic vocalists of all time.

Following sell-out shows at London’s Hippodrome and Ronnie Scott’s, and featuring many of Nat King Cole’s most celebrated songs, alongside stylish reworkings of his lesser-known gems, this is a unique evening of music celebrating one of music’s all-time greats!
'He has a real feel for the lyric' - Sir Michael Parkinson.
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Dates have been announced for the thirteenth Burton Agnes Jazz & Blues Festival, set in one of the UK’s finest Elizabethan stately homes. Early bird tickets are now on sale.
A wide variety of jazz, blues, acoustic, soul and funk – with, above all, superb musicianship – will grace the main stage, performance tents, courtyard and Great Hall. Firmly established in the festival calendar, this is a weekend designed for the whole family to relax and enjoy, in the most beautiful festival surroundings imaginable.

Burton Agnes Jazz & Blues Festival
Burton Agnes Hall, Burton Agnes, Driffield, East Yorkshire, YO25 4NB
Friday 12th - Sunday 14th July 2019
Early Bird Tickets for the 2019 Burton Agnes Jazz & Blues Festival available now, for a limited time only, from:
or telephone 01262 490324
The Burton Agnes Jazz & Blues Festival began in 2007 and past performers have included the multi-award-winning Claire Martin OBE and Ray Gelato, Mississippi native Lisa Mills, Belfast Blues legend Kaz Hawkins, 3 time Grammy nominee Billy Branch, Jo Harrop and the New York Brass Band, to name but a few.
2019 artists and headliners will be announced very soon - to keep up to date please visit: https://www.burtonagnes.com/Jazz_Festival/Line_Up.html
See a montage of 2018’s Festival: the biggest Burton Agnes Jazz & Blues Festival to date:
They say that good things come in small packages. This may be one of the summer’s smallest gatherings, but it’s also one of the most sophisticated...’ Daily Mail

 ‘Possibly the most enjoyable jazz concert I’ve ever attended’. The Independent
Now this is a proper music festival’ The Times

One of The Daily Telegraph's best fifteen festivals for the over 50s.
“This is a very English festival, with a wonderful laid-back atmosphere…superbly organised and efficiently run, which brought together such a wide range of musical styles across a successful weekend…Yes, this is a wonderful English festival.” Fatea Magazine
“Who could have imagined such an idyllic and sublime location for a Jazz and Blues Festival….thankfully somebody did…This unique venue and event is a must attend festival….make sure you get your tickets...I guarantee you won’t be disappointed.”  Yorkshire Gig Guide
“The festival’s diverse and colourful talent is among the reasons visitors return year-after-year.” Yorkshire Times
“The location for the festival is spectacular…the festival organiser, bouncing with charisma, with infectious enthusiasm, mixing with festival goers and seemingly everywhere all at once, has a great little festival chipping away at the established music hegemony.” Bebop Spoken Here live review
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Burton Agnes Hall

Built in 1598 by Queen Elizabeth’s master mason, twenty-three generations of the same family have lived in this much-loved home, and filled the house with treasures. Today, magnificent original carvings provide a backdrop for fabulous French Impressionist paintings, contemporary furniture, tapestries and other contemporary artwork. Simon Jenkins, author of ‘England’s Thousand Best Houses, described Burton Agnes Hall as ‘the perfect English house’ and as one of England’s twenty finest homes alongside Windsor Castle,

Buckingham Palace and Chatsworth House.

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