Bebop Spoken There

Christian McBride: ''I believe we are living in a historically embarrassing moment in American history.'' - Downbeat December 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

18061 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 1025 of them this year alone and, so far, 39 this month (Dec. 14).

From This Moment On ...

DECEMBER 2025

Fri 19: Fraser Urquhart @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. £8.00. SOLD OUT! .
Fri 19: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free..
Fri 19: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free..
Fri 19: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00..
Fri 19: Castillo Nuevo @ Hotel Gotham, Newcastle. 5:00pm. Free. .
Fri 19: Alexia Gardner @ FIKA Art Gallery, Morpeth. 6:30pm. Gardner, Alan Law, Jude Murphy..
Fri 19: Paul Skerritt @ Middlesbrough Town Hall. 7:00pm. Skerritt w. backing tapes. .
Fri 19: Giles Strong Quartet @ Sunderland Minster. 7:30pm. Old Black Cat Jazz Club..
Fri 19: Creakin’ Bones & the Xmas Dinners @ The White Room, Stanley. 7:45pm. £13.01 (inc. bf)..
Fri 19: Mark Toomey Quintet @ The Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. Opus 4 Jazz Club.

Sat 20: Jazz Attack @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 11:00am. Free.
Sat 20: Alexia Gardner @ FIKA Art Gallery, Morpeth. 6:30pm. Gardner, Alan Law, Jude Murphy. SOLD OUT!
Sat 20: Joseph Carville Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. CANCELLED!
Sat 20: Ray Stubbs R&B All Stars @ Billy Bootleggers, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 20: Hoodoo Blues @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:15pm (doors). £14.25, £11.55. Dance class, social dancing, live music & Xmas Party. Live music from 9:00pm - Ruth Lambert, Giles Strong, Ian Paterson & John Bradford (jazz and blues).
Sat 20: John Pope Quintet @ Blank Studios, Newcastle. 7:30-8:30pm. £7.70 (inc. bf). Album recording session.

Sun 21: New ’58 Jazz Collective @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 21: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. ‘Xmas Swingalong’. Skerritt w. backing tapes.
Sun 21: Ruth Lambert Trio @ Juke Shed, Union Quay, North Shields. 3:00-5:00pm. Free.
Sun 21: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 21: Strictly Smokin’ Big Band @ o2 City Hall, Newcastle. 6:00pm. £35.80., £33.25., £31.00.
Sun 21: The Globe Xmas Party @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. Live music.
Sun 21: Tweed River Jazz Band @ The Barrels Ale House, Berwick. 7:30pm. Free.

Mon 22: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 23: Paul Skerritt @ Chakh Dhoom, Jesmond, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Indian restaurant. Skerritt w. backing tapes.

Wed 24: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 24: Alexia Gardner @ The Townhouse, Bridge St., Morpeth. 1:30-4:30pm. ‘The A Capella Sessions’. Gardner, Paula Gardner, Alexia Hope Gardner Diamany.
Wed 24: Paul Skerritt @ Mambo Wine & Dine, South Shields. 1:30pm. Skerritt w. backing tapes.

Thu 25: Alexia Gardner @ The Townhouse, Bridge St., Morpeth. 1:30-4:00pm. ‘All About the Bass Sessions’. Alexia Gardner, Paula Gardner, Jude Murphy.

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

Wednesday, February 12, 2020

Launch of the world’s first dedicated audio-visual streaming service for jazz

(Press release) 
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*jazzed will host an industry launch event featuring an exclusive performance from UK drummer Yussef Dayes at XOYO on Wednesday 12th February*
A brand-new jazz streaming platform, the first of its kind anywhere in the world, is set to transform the way the genre is consumed when it launches in the UK on Wednesday 12th February. jazzed is the world’s first dedicated audio-visual streaming destination for jazz and will offer an integrated experience for fans to listen, watch and read about the music they love. The service features a vast array of hand-curated audio channels, exclusive video content, podcasts, documentaries, interviews and much more.

Entering the market at a time when jazz is enjoying a huge surge in popularity, jazzed will offer an unprecedented variety of content and be an endless source of discovery. The platform recognises the dialogue between jazz and popular culture for over a century from early pioneers to celebrated icons, hip hop samplists to the beat of Brazil. Individual channels focus on unique ecosystems from the sound of New Orleans and Polish jazz to artist-only havens in an array of moods, grooves and discovery. Users will be able to peer round the corners of normality into the avant-garde or be uplifted by Latin jazz and Salsa beats; indulge in some of the greatest funk ever recorded; zone out with quiet soundscapes or get on board with the next thing in THE place to hear brilliant new jazz, all the time.

The platform’s video content will offer music videos, artist interviews, live concerts and sessions whilst its editorial content will be drawn from a variety of sources led by an exclusive relationship with US jazz publication JAZZIZ, whose archive of in-depth features, interviews and album reviews is second to none.

Licensing terms have been agreed with all the major labels as well as with PPL representing the independents.

 Jazzed CEO Jonathan Arendt:

“There’s strong evidence that mainstream streaming services are not meeting the needs of specialist music fans. We know that jazz listeners are interested in a deeper experience than offered by mainstream platforms and believe that jazzed, with its rich artist meta-data, HD audio quality, premium video content and beautifully curated channels is the solution.”

jazzed is a subscription service and at launch will provide initially two tiers – jazzed, an ad-funded freemium tier with 10 audio channels and comprehensive video and editorial offering, and jazzed+, a premium tier priced at £5.99 a month which offers a deeper curated experience of 40+ audio channels with an extensive choice of exclusive video and editorial.

jazzed premium, a full on-demand tier providing a vast audio and video catalogue of jazz and its derivative genres, as well as more exclusive content, will be launched later this year in premium HD quality. 

jazzed will be available on iOS, web player and via SONOS at launch.

jazzed was co-founded by former Jazz FM boss Jonathan Arendt (CEO), digital tech music pioneer Frank Taubert (COO) and former Bertelsmann and Sony Music executive Marcel Engh (CMO).

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