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, October 21, 2020

Leeds' Latest

(Press release)

Here is our autumn line up – all at Seven Arts in Chapel Allerton. There will be two (distanced and therefore limited numbers) concerts for each – one starting at 7:00pm and one at 8:45pm, lasting 75 mins each. We are also offering a recorded version of the concerts for those people in our audience who are not able to attend an inside concert

Thursday: 29 Oct Fergus Mcreadie Trio

Thursday: 12 Nov Ian Shaw, Ian Ballamy, Jamie Safir “What’s New”

Thursday: 26 Nov Josephine Davis “Satori”

Thursday: 3 Dec Nigel Price and “Wes Reimagined”

Thursday: 17 Dec Adrian Knowles and “Sound of 59”

 

It’s a lovely line up – the first concert has Fergus McCredie is the new rising piano star on the jazz scene from Glasgow – his trio have one award winning album to their name “Turas” and are just about to release another “Cairn”. As with many of our bands their Leeds gig is their first live concert since March. 

https://www.jazzleeds.org.uk/fergus-mccreadie-trio-29-oct/

 

Ian Shaw is one of the world’s finest male jazz vocalists. Ian teams up with legendary UK saxophonist, Iain Ballamy who has played with Hermeto Pascoal and Loose Tubes and irrepressibly brilliant pianist Jamie Safir  famous for accompanying Will Young, Elaine Delmar, Judi Jackson and more

https://www.jazzleeds.org.uk/thus-19-mar-ian-shaw-with-iain-ballamy-and-jamie-safir-seven-arts-8pm/

 

Josephine Davis “Satori” - Satori is a Coltrane-inspired spiritual jazz trio with a focus on melodic freedom and band interaction led by saxophonist and composer Josephine Davies who won Jazz Instrumentalist of the Year in the 2019 Parliamentary Jazz Awards. Their 2017 debut album attracted wide critical acclaim in the UK and Europe while their 2018 follow up ‘In The Corners Of Clouds’received equally glowing reviews

https://www.jazzleeds.org.uk/jospehine-davis-satori-26-nov/

 

Nigel Price Organ Trio with guest saxman Vasilis Xenopoulos - “Wes Reimagined”. Nigel Price is one of the UK’s leading jazz guitarists and a tireless supporter of live music, so it is with great pleasure that we welcome him back, leading his Organ Trio plus saxman Vasilis Xenopoulos in an evening of tunes made famous by the legendary guitarist Wes Montgomery.

https://www.jazzleeds.org.uk/nigel-price-organ-trio-featuring-vasilis-xenopoulos-3-dec/

 

Adrian Knowles and “Sound of 59”. It’s a warm JazzLeeds welcome back to this Leeds based group led by bassist Adrian Knowles that were such a hit at last year’s JazzLeeds Festival. They celebrate a pivotal year in jazz history. 1959 was special – it saw the release of classic jazz albums by Charlie Mingus, Miles Davis, Dave Brubeck, John Coltrane and many others. “Sounds of 59”, led by bassist Adrian Knowles and featuring some of the best of jazz musicians from Leeds, recreate the music with both music and visual displays.

https://www.jazzleeds.org.uk/thus-april-30-sound-of-59-seven-arts-8pm/

 

We’ve also got our regular Sunday afternoon gigs of course – blues and boogie pianist Henry Botham is the guest this Sunday 25 Oct at 1.30pm at Seven Arts.

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