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

18621 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 485 of them this year alone and, so far this month (June 14) 37

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

Tue 23: Alan Law Trio @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 2:00pm. Free.
Tue 23: Jude Murphy & Dan Stanley @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Wed 24: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 24: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 24: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 25: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Millstone, Mill Rise, South Gosforth, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 25: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £5.00. Subject: Forgotten Ones & Any Quintets.
Thu 25: Edgar Ho Trio @ Newcastle Arts Centre. 7:30pm. Free. Brilliant alto sax, piano & double bass trio. Unmissable!
Thu 25: Paul Skerritt @ Angels' Share, St George's Terrace, Jesmond, Newcastle NE2 2SX. 8:00pm. Free. Booking advised (0191 200 1975). Skerritt w. backing tapes.

Fri 26: Finn-Keeble Group @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. £9:00.
Fri 26: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 26: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 26: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 26: Clark Tracey @ Live Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Newcastle Jazz Festival. £26.00. Day 1/2.

Sat 27: OUTRI @ Live Theatre, Newcastle. 1:00pm. £13.01. 1:00-1:45pm. Newcastle Jazz Festival. Day 2/2.
Sat 27: Tees Bay Swing Band @ Richardson & Westgarth Sport & Social Club, Hartlepool. 1:30pm. Free. Open rehearsal. Note change of venue.
Sat 27: House of the Black Gardenia + Magpies of Swing @ The Cumberland Arms, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sat 27: Mark Toomey Quartet @ Live Theatre, Newcastle. 2:15-3:15pm. £13.01. Newcastle Jazz Festival. Day 2/2.
Sat 27: Alexia Gardner Quintet @ Live Theatre, Newcastle. 3:45-4:45pm. £13.01. Newcastle Jazz Festival. Day 2/2.
Sat 27: Rory Ingham @ Live Theatre, Newcastle. 5:30-6:30pm. £19.51. Newcastle Jazz Festival. Day 2/2. Ingham w. Dean Stockdale, Ian Paterson, Dave McKeague.
Sat 27: Castillo Nuevo Trio @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 5:30pm. Free.
Sat 27: Laura Jurd @ Live Theatre, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £26.00. Newcastle Jazz Festival. Day 2/2. Sat 27: Brass Fiesta @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 10:30pm. Free.

Sun 28: Musicians Unlimited: Big Band Blast @ West Hartlepool RFC. 1:00-3:00pm . Free.
Sun 28: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 28: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Table reservations (0191 261 8000). Skerritt w. backing tapes.
Sun 28: Tim Kliphuis Trio @ St Mary’s Church, Wooler. 3:00pm. £18.00., £6.00. A Wooler Arts Summer Concerts event. Tim Kliphuis (violin); Nigel Clark (guitar); Roy Percy (double bass).
Sun 28: Ruth Lambert Trio @ Juke Shed, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 28: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 28: An Evening of Jazz @ St James’ Church, Copper Chare, Morpeth. 7:30pm. Tickets: £10.00 from 01670 788869 or 01670 519923. Mid Northumberland Chorus (MD Robin Forbes, Emma Straughan, piano) w. jazz trio featuring Edgar Ho, Oscar Ho & Dave McKeague & special guest Emily Masser. Performance inc. Bob Chilcott’s A Little Jazz Mass + George Shearing’s Songs & Sonnets.
Sun 28: Led Bib @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £15.00., £12.00. JNE.

Mon 29: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Friday, November 27, 2020

Ronnie Scott's Jazz Orchestra live streaming from Frith Street - Nov. 26

A second superb big band in four days live streaming from Ronnie's. Monday evening it was Matt Roberts' BigISH Band, this evening the 'house orchestra' showed what it could do, then some! Directed by wise-cracking MD Pete Long, the Ronnie Scott's Jazz Orchestra blazed a trail - excellent ensemble work with killer solo contributions from across all sections. 
Hotshot trumpeter Freddy Gavita set the standard for his fellow soloists on Dave O'Higgins' Rack and Ruin. At its conclusion, MD Long exclaimed: Hot Tomato!  Gavita featured again on Social Call (Alice Grace sang the number at a recent Prohibition Bar live stream gig) as did 'bone men Callum Au and Dan Higham and, topping off Gigi Gryce's eternally popular number, Sam 'Sammy' Mayne stepped up to deliver the first of several paint-stripping alto sax solos. Hot tomato? You bet!

Scanning the sections, it looked like a who's who of the London jazz scene; the trumpets all first call, the in-demand Mr Au in the 'bones, heavyweights Alex Garnett and Dave O'Higgins playing tenor, the aforementioned Mayne on alto, Robin Aspland at the Yamaha grand, the brilliant Ed Richardson behind the traps, and, for good measure, a brace of top class big band vocalists, Ms Georgia Jackson and Mr Iain MacKenzie.

A few bars of  C Jam Blues brought Georgina Jackson to the stage to sing a knockout version of I Told Ya I Love Ya, Now Get Out (comp. Lou Carter, Herb Ellis, Johhny Frigo). Anything June Christy and Anita O'Day could do, Ms Jackson can do too. What's more, our singer is one helluva trumpet player! Talking of trumpet players...Mark Armstrong (Jazz Professor,  Royal College of Music, Artist Director, NYJO) blew the roof off on this one and he made it look so effortless, Long mischievously describing Armstrong as Britain's 'poshest Geordie'! 

Ms Jackson sang and blew on Fever, Sam Mayne blew on Joe Lippman's big band arrangement of What is This Thing Called Love? for Charlie Parker, and Armstrong and Aspland starred on Steve Pierce's arrangement of Herbie Hancock's Wiggle Waggle. 

The band's other vocalist, Iain MacKenzie, joined the party in time to close out the show with two or three numbers including a swinging In the Still of the Night. MD Long suggested the online audience might like to buy the boys a drink by way of donating a few pennies. The evening had indeed been one hot tomato!    
Russell    

Pete Long (MD); Nathan Bray, George Hogg; Freddy Gavita, Mark Armstrong (trumpets); Andy Flaxman, Callum Au, Dan Higham, Mark Frost (trombones); Adrian Revell, Sam Mayne, Dave O'Higgins, Alex Garnett, Paul Nathaniel (saxophones); Robin Aspland (piano); Steve Pierce (bass); Ed Richardson (drums); Iain MacKenzie (vocals); Georgina Jackson (vocals, trumpet). 
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