Bebop Spoken There

Melissa Aldana: ''Having to play a ballads album, which is something very revealing for a saxophone player, would help me to question some new aspects of how to go deeper into sound." (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

18656 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 520 of them this year alone and, so far this month (June 25) 72

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

June

Mon 29: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 30: Alan Law Trio @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 2:00pm. Free.
Tue 30: Eva Fox & the Sound Hounds @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

July

Wed 01: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 01: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 01: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 02: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Millstone, Mill Rise, South Gosforth, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 02: Paul Skerritt @ Angels' Share, St George's Terrace, Jesmond, Newcastle NE2 2SX. 8:00pm. Free. Booking advised (0191 200 1975). Skerritt w. backing tapes.
Thu 02: De’Sean Jones & Blaque Dynamite feat. Urban Art Orchestra @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). De’Sean Jones (MD, tenor sax); Blaque Dynamite (Mike Mitchell, drums); Jamie Murray (drums) with UAO horns & strings.
Thu 02: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm.
Thu 02: Howlin’ Mat @ Newcastle Arts centre. 7:30pm. Free. Acoustic

Fri 03: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 03: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 03: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 03: Paul Donnelly Quartet @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm.
Fri 03: Martin Taylor @ Arc, Stockton. 8:00pm. Taylor (solo guitar).

Sat 04: Spats Langham’s Hot Fingers @ St Augustine’s Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. £10.00. Darlington New Orleans Jazz Club.
Sat 04: Michael Woods @ Cycle Hub, Quayside, Ouseburn. 1:30-2:30pm & 3:00-4:00pm. Free. Acoustic blues guitar. An Ouseburn Festival event.
Sat 04: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. £27.50. Tutor: Steve Glendinning. Take the ‘A’ Train to Summertime: From Melody to Masterclass. Enrol at: learning@jazz.coop.
Sat 04: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.

Sun 05: Smokin’ Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm. £10.00.
Sun 05: Ian Bosworth Quintet @ Chapel, Middlesbrough. 1:00pm. Free. Feat. guest TBC.
Sun 05: Michael Woods @ Cycle Hub, Quayside, Ouseburn. 1:30-2:30pm & 3:15-4:00pm. Free. Acoustic blues guitar. An Ouseburn Festival event.
Sun 05: Lydia Rae Quintet @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £10.00. Rae (vocals); Sam Lightwing (alto sax, tenor sax); Ben Lawrence (piano); Andy Champion (double bass); John Bradford (drums).
Sun 05: Sax Choir @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 05: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Table reservations (0191 261 8000). Skerritt w. backing tapes.
Sun 05: Storytellers Street Band @ Ouseburn Woodland, Ouseburn. 5:00-6:00pm. Free. An Ouseburn Festival event.
Sun 05: Gerry Richardson’s Big Idea @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Sun 05: Jambone @ Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:15-9:45pm. Free but ticketed.

Wednesday, June 05, 2019

Over in the Glory Land with Dave Rae's New Orleans All Stars @ Cullercoats Crescent Club - June 5

Peter Wright (trumpet); Liz Bacon (clarinet); Lawrence McBriarty (trombone); Dave Rae (banjo, guitar, vocals); Bill Colledge (string bass*); Paul Bacon (drums) + John Broddle (vocals)
(Review by Russell)

It was a story of Dave and the Duchess. Those 'in the know' rubbed shoulders with jazz royalty (Dave Rae and co.), others went 'up north' to meet up with some country bumpkins. The Vieux Carré's garden party engagement in Alnwick presented Springwell's finest with an opportunity to play a gig on the coast. The Crescent Club's Wednesday crowd turned out as usual although on this occasion the banjoist wasn't B Bennett, rather D Rae.
All I do is dream...the combo comprising part Levee Ramblers, part VCJ, was up and running. A pint of the Old Potting Shed's Wild Horses (4.1%), a toastie, the sun shining, all was well with the world. Liz Bacon handled Clarinet Marmalade without the help of a fellow liquorice sticker, then - did Dave Rae say a tune from 1787?! - Sweet Fields. The All Stars took a leap of faith to play something dangerously modern - Put on Your Old Grey Bonnet (1909, with a Dave Rae vocal), a tune George Lewis used to play. Enough risk-taking, Listen to the Mockingbird from 1855 would restore sanity! 

Bandleader Rae took another vocal on Exactly Like You leading up to the interval with a number popularised by Kid Ory - Don't Go Away Nobody. Nobody was going anywhere. The raffle came and went, with it a rather nice prize of a Rae Brothers' CD featuring Clem Avery, and before long the second set was underway.

Don't Give Up the Ship kept us on course (imagine trumpeter Peter Wright as Kid Howard), the band's sole guest, John Broddle, sang Crazy (JB doesn't look or sound like Patsy Cline) and stayed on to sing Out of Nowhere accompanied by Lawrence McBriarty's fine trombone playing backed by Rae on guitar. 

Over in the Glory Land sang Rae, one of the timeless spirituals - a highlight of the afternoon here on Cullercoats Bay. As the big hand approached three Apex Blues upped the tempo (Liz Bacon impressing on clarinet) with the ensemble taking it home, first on St Louis Blues, then a rousing Bill Bailey. Next week, if B Bennett's mob can find its way back from the Wilds of Wanney, normal service will be resumed.     
  
* New Orleanians prefer 'string bass' rather than 'double bass'! 
Russell  
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