Bebop Spoken There

Donovan Haffner ('Best Newcomer' 2025 Parliamentary Jazz Awards): ''I got into jazz the first time I picked up a saxophone!" - Jazzwise Dec 25/Jan 26

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

18146 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 24 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Jan. 7), 24

From This Moment On ...

JANUARY 2026

Sat 10: Mark Toomey Quintet @ St Peter’s Church, Stockton-on-Tees. 7:30pm. £12.00. (inc. pie & peas). Tickets from: 07749 255038.

Sun 11: New ’58 Jazz Collective @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 11: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 11: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 11: Eva Fox & the Sound Hounds @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 12: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 12: Saltburn Big Band @ Saltburn House Hotel. 7:00-9:00pm. Free.

Tue 13: Milne Glendinning Band @ Newcastle House Hotel, Rothbury. 7:30pm. £11.00. Coquetdale Jazz.
Tue 13: Jazz Jam Sandwich @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Wed 14: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 14: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 14: Jam Session @ The Tannery, Hexham. 7:00pm. Free.
Wed 14: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 15: Mark Toomey Quartet @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm. Free. Quartet + guest Paul Donnelly (guitar).

Fri 16: Giles Strong Quartet @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. £8.00. SOLD OUT!
Fri 16: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 16: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 16: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 16: Darlington Big Band @ The Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. Opus 4 Jazz Club.
Fri 16: Leeds City Stompers @ Billy Bootleggers, Newcastle. 9:00pm. Free.

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, April 26, 2019

Preview: Pepperland @ Newcastle Theatre Royal - April 26 & 27

(Preview by Russell)

American choreographer Mark Morris brings his acclaimed Dance Group to Newcastle this weekend. For two nights only - Friday and Saturday - the NYC-based company will perform Pepperland at the Theatre Royal and, what's more, there is a jazz connection of sorts which should be of interest to BSH readers.

Pepperland was created to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the classic Beatles' album Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band receiving its premiere performance in - where else? - Liverpool in May 2017. Since then Morris' work has garnered five star reviews and this Tyneside two-nighter is the final opportunity for a British dance audience to catch it before the company stops-off in Dublin on its way home to Brooklyn to prepare for a coast-to-coast American tour.

The jazz aspect? Well, the name Ethan Iverson will be familiar to fans of the jazz trio format. The Bad Plus forged a path for contemporary (piano) trios and, after many years, pianist Iverson quit the hugely popular trio to pursue other projects. One such was to write original material and re-score several Beatles' numbers including A Day in the Life, When I'm Sixty-Four and Penny Lane for Pepperland. At the Theatre Royal Iverson will be directing a seven-piece NYC ensemble which includes one or two familiar 'jazz names' including DownBeat poll winner Sam Newsome (soprano sax). The instrumentation includes the theremin (Rob Schwimmer) alongside more conventional jazz instruments - piano, trombone, percussion and Clinton Curtis' vocals.

Tickets for Pepperland are selling fast. To book your seat(s) call the Theatre Royal box office on 08448 112121. The two performances - Friday and Saturday, 7:30pm - will be of one hour and fifteen minutes duration (approx) without an interval.     
Russell 
at

1 comment :

Steve T said...

Do hope there's still some left for me.

Friday, April 26, 2019 8:39:00 am

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