Bebop Spoken There

Ethan Hawke (starring as Lorenz Hart in Blue Moon): ''Larry [Lorenz] Hart would be so happy that his music and his words and his poetry are still alive.'' - The Northern Echo 27 November 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

18000 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 964 of them this year alone and, so far, 73 this month (Nov. 24).

From This Moment On ...

DECEMBER 2025

Sat 06: Sarah Spencer’s Transatlantic Band @ St Augustine’s Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. £10.00.
Sat 06: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. £27.50. Tutor: Steve Glendinning. Minor Swing. Enrol at: learning@jazz.coop.
Sat 06: Jeff Hewer Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 06: NUJO Jazz Jam @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). £3.76 (inc. bf).
Sat 06: Kaberry Big Band @ The Seahorse, Whitley Bay. 7:30pm (7:00pm doors). £15.00. (inc. hot buffet). ‘Christmas 1945’. Kaberry Big Band, formerly Vermont Big Band.
Sat 06: Smokin’ Spitfires @ Platform 1, Bedlington. 7:30pm. £6.00. Rhythm & blues.
Sat 06: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00. Xmas Party with buffet.
Sat 06: The Jive Aces @ The Witham, Barnard Castle. 8:00pm. £22.00., £20.00.
Sat 06: Brass Fiesta @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 10:30pm. Free.

Sun 07: Ian Bosworth Quintet @ Chapel, Middlesbrough. 1:00pm. Free. Feat. special guest Donna Hewitt (sax, clarinet).
Sun 07: Finn-Keeble Group @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £10.00.
Sun 07: Sax Choir @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 07: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Skerritt w. backing tapes.
Sun 07: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 2:30pm. Free. Trio + Ruth Lambert.
Sun 07: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 07: Jason Isaacs Big Band @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 5:15pm (4:00pm doors). £21.50 (inc. bf).
Sun 07: Paul Skerritt @ 3 Stories, High St. West, Sunderland. 6:30pm. Skerritt w. backing tapes.
Sun 07: Lindsay Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Support set from Play More Jazz! course participants. Note earlier start.

Mon 08: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 09: Jazz Jam Sandwich @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm

Wed 10: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 10: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 10: Jam Session @ The Tannery, Hexham. 7:00pm. Free.
Wed 10: Mike Lindup Jazz Trio @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £26.50 (inc. bf). Lindup, Yolanda Charles (bass), John Sam (drums).
Wed 10: Bold Big Band @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £12.00.

Thu 11: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: West Coast (cool ) / Wordsearch (cool) Cool Jazz or ‘Cold’, ‘Cool’, ‘Hot’, ‘Warm’ in the title or lyrics.
Thu 11: George Robinson @ Prohibition Bar, Albert Road, Middlesbrough TS1 2RU. 7:00pm (doors). £5.42 (inc. bf). Vienna’s Voice charity evening featuring ’15 year old singing sensation the ‘Redcar Crooner’ George Robinson’. Over 35s only.
Thu 11: Paul Skerritt @ Chakh Dhoom, Jesmond, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Indian restaurant. Skerritt w. back tapes.
Thu 11: Ransom Van @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm.
Thu 11: Down for the Count Swing Orchestra @ Middlesbrough Town Hall. 7:30pm. £37.70 (inc. bf). ‘Swing into Xmas’.

Fri 12: Pete Tanton’s Chet Set @ Bishop Auckland Methodist Church. 1:00pm. £8.00.
Fri 12: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 12: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 12: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 12: Milne Glendinning Band @ Northumberland Club, Jesmond, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £15.00. ‘Xmas Soiree’.
Fri 12: A Jazzy Xmas @ St Cuthbert’s Centre, Crook. 7:30pm. £15.00. Paul Edis (MD, piano); Jo Harrop (vocals); Vasilis Xenopoulos (tenor sax, soprano sax); Matthew Forster (alto sax, clarinet); Sue Ferris (flute, piccolo); Graham Hardy (trumpet, flugelhorn); Jason Holcomb (trombone);Emma Fisk (violin); Andy Champion (double bass); Matt MacKellar (drums). SOLD OUT!
Fri 12: Tony Hadley: Xmas Big Band Tour 2025 @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 7:30pm.
Fri 12: Alexia Gardner @ The New Ship Inn, Newbiggin-by-the-Sea. 8:00pm. Gardner, Alan Law, Jude Murphy, Abbie Finn.
Fri 12: Jive Aces: Swingin’ Xmas Show @ The Witham, Barnard Castle. 8:00pm.

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

Thursday, October 08, 2020

Jazz FM Awards 2020 Nominees Announced

(Press release)


The Jazz FM Awards 2020, which were postponed earlier this year due to coronavirus restrictions, will now take place at Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club in Soho on October 27th. Also announced today is the recipient of this year’s Impact Award, one of the evening’s special awards, which will be presented to multi-million-selling singer and pianist Norah Jones, and the first ever Jazz FM Awards headline sponsor in the form of foreign exchange company OANDA.

The ceremony will adhere to all government guidelines and will be a closed event that will be livestreamed on both the Jazz FM and Ronnie Scott’s Facebook pages alongside special dedicated programming on Jazz FM.

Jazz FM’s Content Director Nick Pitts: 

There’s so much to say!  Firstly, I’m so pleased that we are now in a position to move forward with a celebration of the ‘Jazz FM Awards 2020 with OANDA’.  I’d also like to thank OANDA for showing their continued support and faith in our annual celebration and upgrading their support to headline sponsor. 

Elsewhere, it’s been a tough few months for everyone in our community so a real moment to allow the brilliance to shine through is most welcome.  Venues have of course also suffered terribly so to be able to partner with the world-famous Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club as our “base” for this year reminds people that live music is still there and vitally important. I thank Fred Nash and his team for loving the idea as much as us.

And finally… congrats to Norah Jones and her Impact Award.  Norah has done so much to bring jazz music to the greater public and her 50 million record sales and 9 GRAMMYs® prove it. This year’s Jazz FM Awards with OANDA is shaping up to be not only rather unique, but also something incredibly special.”

Ronnie Scott’s General Manager Fred Nash:

We felt that Ronnie’s was the perfect place to host the awards.  The connection between Jazz FM and Ronnie’s is longstanding, and we hope this continues for many years.”

Since launching in 2013, The Jazz FM Awards with OANDA has become one of the most highly anticipated events in the music industry calendar, providing an opportunity to celebrate both emerging artists and established stars from across the genre’s increasingly vibrant and diverse community. Previous recipients include the likes of Quincy Jones, George Benson, Dame Cleo Laine, The Rolling Stones, Gregory Porter, Don Was, Hugh Masekela, Shabaka Hutchings, Nubya Garcia, Esperanza Spalding, Laura Mvula and Georgie Fame.

Amongst the nominees this year are legendary US saxophonist Charles Lloyd, iconic soul singer and Earth Wind & Fire founding member Philip Bailey, Brit Award Rising Star winner Celeste, four-time Grammy-winning Jacob Collier, genre-bending Anderson .Paak and the Mercury-nominated drummer Moses Boyd. The PPL Lifetime Achievement Award and Gold Award recipients will be announced in due course.

The Jazz FM Awards with OANDA is made possible with support from PRS for Music, PPL, Mishcon de Reya, Cambridge Audio, Arqiva, Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club, Blue Orchid Hotels, Denbies and Saville Row Gin.

Nominees.

2 comments :

Steve Crocker (on F/b) said...

Really don't understand these jazzFM awards. Who or what are they celebrating? It's a really odd list....

Anonymous said...

Maybe the fact that one of the sponsors is Saville Row Gin might have something to do with the choices ...

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