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, February 10, 2020

Tyneside’s Jazz Vocalist of the Year is Belgium-bound

(Press release)

Newcastle jazz musician, Zoë Gilby, has already started 2020 in fine form, following up her 2019 Parliamentary Awards Jazz Vocalist of the Year with the announcement that she is the 2020 NE Online Magazine Artist of the Year, and now she’s Belgium-bound in late March for the Leuven Jazz Festival.

Situated in the Flanders region, twenty-five kilometres east of the capital, Brussels, the Leuven Jazz Festival celebrates its eighth year this March, a ten-day extravaganza between the 19th and 29th, with a focus on the female artists – ‘singers, pianists, drummers, trumpeters; meet the female power of modern jazz.’  

“Andy and I have been to Belgium on holiday before, a few years ago, and it’s an amazing place”, smiled Zoë.
“In fact, Andy has performed in Ghent, Brussels and Saint-Niklaas with other acts so we're no strangers to the country.”

Zoë will be performing on the Sunday afternoon from 2pm at the Huiskamer familie Hermans-Pini, timing which affords an opportunity for the pair to take in some of the delights of both the festival, and of the city and its surrounding areas, then heading to the cosmopolitan region for a long weekend.  

In bringing her duo performance, alongside husband and bass player, Andy Champion, to the festival’s ‘Female Focus,’ a delighted Zoë added: “I am so honoured to be included alongside other female singers, pianists, drummers and trumpeters.
“It really will be a meeting of the female powers of modern jazz, although it’s not just a focus on the women in jazz.

“I’m also delighted to be performing with my fantastic double bass playing husband, Andy Champion and it’ll be a pleasure to be able to share our duo project.
“It’s intense to perform as just voice and bass but the buzz we create from our duo is about embracing space, and exploring energies that just the two of us can create.
“It’s a soundscape with two instruments.”

Alongside headline acts which include Vijay Iyer & Craig Taborn, Julian Lage Trio, Jakob Bro & Jesse van Ruller, Philip Catherine & Eric Legnini, LG Jazz Collective, The Breath, Incognito and LTJ Bukem, Zoë’s performance takes place on Sunday 29 March at 14:00 at the Huiskamer familie Hermans-Pini – places are at a premium so it’s urged to visit https://www.leuvenjazz.be/en/programme/detail/Zoe-gilby--andy-champion for further information.
Leuven Jazz Festival (English): https://www.leuvenjazz.be/en 
and (Dutch) https://www.leuvenjazz.be/ 

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