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Bebop Spoken There

Van Morrison: ''Basically, I'm coming from jazz. Not pop, not rock, not what's commercial. That's where I started, and that's still where I am. I feel the same as I did when I was listening to Louis Armstrong, Lead Belly, Jelly Roll Morton''. (The Northern Echo, 12 June 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

17,533 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 497 of them this year alone and, so far, 75 this month (June 23).

From This Moment On ...

JUNE 2025

Wed 25: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 25: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 25: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 25: The Magpies of Swing @ The Roxy, Leadgate, Co. Durham. 7:30pm. A Ginger Jitterbugs swing dance event, all welcome.

Thu 26: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Brass Instruments & the use of mutes.

Fri 27: Lewis Watson Quartet @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm.
Fri 27: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 27: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 27: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 27: Strictly Smokin’ Big Band @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 8:00pm. ‘Time After Time’.

Sat 28: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Linskill Centre, North Shields. 4:00-10:30pm. Free, but ticketed (over 18s only). A multi-bill, multi-genre ‘Canny Shiels - North Shields 800’ event. Three Kings Brewery on site.
Sat 28: Joseph Carville Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 28: Jude Murphy & Dan Stanley @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 29: Jude Murphy & Dan Stanley @ Wallington, Northumberland. 12 noon-1:00pm & 2:00-3:00pm. Tel: 01670 773606. National Trust admission prices apply. ‘Tunes in the Blooms’.
Sun 29: Bal Bruch Social Dance @ As You Like It, Sandyford, Newcastle. 12:30pm. Free. Dance event with Hot Club de Heaton performing live (2:00-3:00pm). A ‘Jar on the Bar’ event.
Sun 29: Glenn Miller Orchestra UK @ The Fire Station, Sunderland. 3:00pm. Ray McVay & co.
Sun 29: Ruth Lambert Trio @ Juke Shed, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 29: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 29: Zoë Gilby w. Ryton Choral Society @ Corbridge Middle School NE45 5HX. 5:30pm. £15.00. Gilby w jazz trio & choir. ‘An evening of jazz song for choir’.
Sun 29: Jazz Jam Sandwich! @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 29: John Wilson & the Sinfonia of London @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 7:30pm. ‘Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Greatest Hits’.
Sun 29: Out Front @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. JNE.

Mon 30: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club (1:00pm). Free.

JULY 2025

Tue 01: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Joe Steels, Paul Grainger, Mark Robertson.
Tue 01: Customs House Big Band @ Masonic Hall, Ferryhill. 7:30pm. Free.

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, March 18, 2021

KSTV: Livestream - March 18

Riley Stone-Lonergan (tenor sax); Deschanel Gordon (piano); Will Sach (bass); Will Cleasby (drums).

If nothing else, Covid has brought us closer together - virtually, that is, not physically. Even before the pandemic, many of the musicians who were and still are household names in London and points south didn't always venture further north than Leeds and, when they did, they quite often managed to get to Edinburgh without touching down in Newcastle.

Thus the enforced lockdowns and the emerging livestreams have, in effect, brought the whole world into our listening area and, in doing so, not only put faces to names but also familiarised us with their music so that, hopefully, when we next see a gig advertised we won't be saying "Who?"

The four musicians blowing up a storm tonight at Smitty's were simply phenomenal. Stone-Lonergan, listed tonight as Riley Stone, blew some of the most blistering, paint-stripping tenor since...? Well, er, since the last time I heard him! Smitty's is rapidly turning into a "tenorment" building - Xhosa's there tomorrow night and Alec Harper will be along shortly - you can bet on it!

A year ago I'd never heard of Desch Gordon but, after a gold medal at the BBC Jazz Olympics 2020,  he's now a name to tick on the ballot papers.

Wills Cleasby and Sach have been the cornerstone of many gigs at KS and tonight was no exception. Cleasby swung his ass off, Sach didn't - somebody had to look after the "bottom end" and few do it better.

The solos were long but nobody yawned this was excitement guaranteed. Over at Ronnie's I'd heard good reports about Heidi Vogel (see previous post) but, with the numbers so disproportionate between the two venues, it made me think. Up here on Tyneside there are many "fans" who regularly attend jazz concerts at Sage Gateshead who are never seen at smaller venues such as The Globe or the Black Swan. I guess it's the same the world over.

Stone-Lonergan blowing Three Little Words was up there with Sonny and Lonnie's Lament was as close as anyone's going to get to Trane until the next Messiah arrives - maybe he already has!

The opener, Monk's Teo sounded strangely like Kern's Yesterdays - presumably a contrafact with better changes. Shorter's Yes and Now and Bird's Bloomdido saw us out.

Monk, Trane, Rollins, Shorter and Bird! On top of that, I had my second vaccine this morning - two shots in the arm in one day, no wonder I'm on a high!
Lance.

(Above collage by Ken Drew, the individual screenshots are by a promising apprentice).

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