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.

Monday, August 26, 2019

Ushaw Jazz Festival: Zoë Gilby Family Jazz All Stars - August 25


Zoë Gilby (vocals); Mark Williams (guitar); Andy Champion (double bass); Richard Brown (drums)
(Review by Russell)

A bank holiday weekend with, for once, glorious sunshine all the way. Where to take the kids? Shopping? The seaside? Nope, a sprawling country estate, that's where! No cries of: I'm bored! Can we go? Not when jazz means prizes!

Zoë Gilby's Family Jazz All Stars set up in the Francis Thompson Room at Ushaw College. Daddy...who was Francis Thompson? Er...I don't know, sit and listen to the jazz. Jazz? But I don't like...Listen, you could win a prize...

GASbook, Pannonica, Watching Sideways, there's many a string to Zoë Gilby's vocal art. To open the final day of this year's Ushaw Jazz Festival Ms Gilby brought along not just her jazz all stars, this was our APPJAG nominee's Family Jazz All Stars. We were sitting comfortably, let the story begin...

The Lady is a Tramp, the kids were diggin' it. Does anyone know what this is? enquired Gilby, pointing to one of Richard Brown's cymbals. RB looked puzzled, it was as if he hadn't seen one before and the big kids in the audience didn't have a clue. However, the very youngest knew, a forest of hands shot up keen to tell Ms Gilby that they knew the answer. And so the afternoon went on, the big kids clueless (dunce's hats donned) as the Bright Young Things (age 5-9) here at Ushaw waltzed off with all the prizes.

Juan Tizol's Caravan (RB's party-piece!) to a classy You Turned the Tables on Me, Ms Gilby's Teaching Assistants more than played the game - guitarist Mark Williams the principal (toned down!) soloist on this warm summer's afternoon. Drummer Brown and bass-playing side kick Andy Champion enjoyed the occasion (there would be little point if they didn't), sneeking in some nifty jazz chops stuff when the kids weren't looking. All the while Head Teacher Ms Gilby engaged with a room full of new jazz fans. Does anyone know what this part of Mark's guitar is called? The dunces sat mute as the smart kids piped up hoping to a win a goody bag. 

The Family Jazz All Stars' show is ideally suited to a festival audience (it's been a big hit elsewhere including the Gateshead International Jazz Festival and the London Jazz Festival) with the balance just about right - the kids vie for prizes and the big kids get to hear some jazz. Straight No Chaser, Nick Cave's Red Right Hand (one dunce thought the composer was Nick Drake!) and, to close the show, Harry Edison's Centrepiece. Day three at Ushaw was under way. 
Russell
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