Bebop Spoken There

John McLaughlin: ''It was then that Coltrane came along and single-handedly brought this dimension of spirituality into jazz. It was a pivotal experience to me.'' (DownBeat September, 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

19,012 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 876 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Oct. 16) 55.

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

October.

Sat 17: SunOrbitUs @ Culture House, Sunderland. 11:00am - 5:00pm. Closing event in a year-long piece of music. 11:00am-1:00pm Improvisation workshop w. Faye MacCalman; 2:00-5:00pm Collective Improvised Performance by Sunderland residents. SOLD OUT!
Sat 17: Tees Bay Swing Band @ Blacksmith’s Arms, Hartlepool. 1:30pm. Free. Open rehearsal.
Sat 17: Martin Taylor @ Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle. 7:30pm. £48.72; £43.37. Solo guitar. SOLD OUT!

Sun 18: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 18: Creakin’ Bones & the Sunday Dinners @ Tyne Bar, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. Jump jive.
Sun 18: Guisborough Big Band @ Redcar Rugby Club. 5:00-8:00pm. ‘Charity Big Band Birthday Bash’ in aid of Parkinson’s UK & Young Sounds UK. Free (donations on the door).
Sun 18: Martin Taylor @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm. £23.30. Solo guitar.
Sun 18: Ben Crosland Quartet with Steve Waterman @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 19: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 19: Sue Ferris Quintet @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00.

Tue 20: Alan Law @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 2:00pm. Free. Alan Law (piano) w. Pete Tanton (trumpet, flugelhorn).
Tue 20: Graham Hardy’s Eclectic Quartet @ Queen’s Head, Rothbury. 7:30pm. £11.00. Tickets from Tully’s, Rothbury. Coquetdale Jazz. Note change of venue.
Tue 20: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Alan Law, Paul Grainger, Scotty Adair.

Wed 21: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 21: FILM: Blue Moon @ Washington Arts Centre. 1:00pm. £4.50 (inc. bf). Biopic of lyricist Lorenz Hart.
Wed 21: De'Sean Jones’ Urban Art Orchestra @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £10.00.; £5.00. student, unwaged; free to Mercury Awards ticket holders. De'Sean Jones (tenor sax, EWI); Tjoe Man Cheung (guitar); Mikele Montolli (double bass) + others TBA.
Wed 21: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 21: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 21: Roby Glod-Steve Sewell Quartet @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 8:00pm.

Thu 22: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Millstone, Mill Rise, South Gosforth, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 22: Mercury Prize @ Utility Arena Newcastle. 8:00pm. £60.25.; £48.75. Line-up inc. Knats.
Thu 22: Dean Stockdale Trio @ Bandstand!, Exhibition Park, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Tickets: £10.20 (inc. bf) via Instagram. Dean Stockdale (piano); Mick Shoulder (double bass); John Bradford (drums).
Thu 22: Olly Styles Trio @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £7.75.

Fri 23: Sara Oschlag w. Arnie Somogyi Trio @ The Lit & Phil. 1:00pm. Sara Oschlag (vocals); Ben Lawrence (piano); Arnie Somogyi (double bass); John Hirst (drums). SOLD OUT!
Fri 23: Emma Fisk’s Hot Club du Nord @ Gala Theatre, Durham. 1:00pm. Durham Jazz Festival. SOLD OUT!
Fri 23: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 23: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 23: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 23: Maja Bugge & Dave Evans @ Claypath Deli, Durham. 7:00pm. Durham Jazz Festival.
Fri 23: Knats @ King Street Social Club, North Shields. 7:00pm. £17.00., £14.70., £11.30., £5.50. SOLD OUT!
Fri 23: King Bees @ Billy Bootleggers, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. Superb Chicago blues band.
Fri 23: Sara Oschlag & Arnie Somogyi w. Ben Lawrence @ Ship Isis, Sunderland. 7:30pm. Sara Oschlag (vocals); Ben Lawrence (keyboards); Arnie Somogyi (double bass).
Fri 23: Ronnie Scott’s Soho Songbook @ Redhills, Durham. 8:00pm. James Pearson (piano); Sam Burgess (double bass); Chris Higginbottom (drums); Alex Garnett (sax); Polly Gibbons (vocals). Durham Jazz Festival. SOLD OUT!
Fri 23: SwanNek + Jacob Egglestone @ Fabio’s Bar, Durham. 9:00pm. Durham Jazz Festival.

Sunday, March 07, 2021

Live streaming 24/7...for now

Once upon a time the live gig was the occasion. Coat on, door closed, bus/Metro/cycle/walk, come rain or come shine, the social interaction at a gig was very much part of the experience. Now, in these strange times, it's the ubiquitous live stream. Coffee on/bottle opener at hand/nibbles, log on to Facebook/YouTube/other. Until lockdown restrictions are lifted the live stream is the only gig in town. 

It's possible to watch streamed gigs round the clock. At any given moment, from somewhere on the planet, musicians are online seeking to maintain a connection with their once 'live' audience. By way of illustration, the following gives an idea of the quality and quantity of live stream gigs coming up over the next few days. Today (Sunday) at 1:00pm it's Adrian Cox with his accessible Facebook Sunday Service featuring the music of Mezz Mezzrow.

At seven o'clock this evening the Tri State Jazz Society presents Jon-Erik Kellso's EarRegulars (pictured) via Facebook and YouTube and an hour later the choice is yours - Denny Ilett's Electric Lady Big Band playing the music of Jimi Hendrix at Ronnie Scott's or Pete Tanton's Riviera Quartet from Newcastle Jazz Co-op's Railway Street HQ (£7.50 minimum). Don't think of going to bed. At ten o'clock the  Alan Broadbent Trio will be live streaming from Small's, NYC. Broadbent's bass and drums will be Harvie S and Billy Mintz (see www.smallslive.com). 

Monday at 8:00 at Ronnie's is an International Women's Day special presenting Trish Clowes' My Iris (Gateshead lad Chris Montague is in Clewes' band, a great guitarist is Chris) and later in the evening another big name will be streaming from Small's, pianist Ethan Iverson with his trio (10:00pm). Thursday (Mar 11) it's the Emily Francis Trio at Ronnie's (8:00pm). At ten, the Nick Hempton Quartet hits Small's. In December, BSH Editor-in-Chief, LL, said of Hempton's set from GB's Juke Joint: An absolute gem of a session. Reason enough not to miss this one (it could be guitarist Peter Bernstein will be on the gig). And, don't think about going to bed just yet because next door at Mezzrow's at midnight it's the big boss man himself, pianist Spike Wilner (proprietor of Small's and Mezzrow's) with bassist Tyler Mitchell. There's more...Wayne Escoffery (the tenor saxophonist was in the Mingus Big Band when it played Middlesbrough a couple of years ago) on Friday and trumpeter Jeremy Pelt (Saturday), both from Small's, both ten o'clock. 

Worn out? You will be! All week at eight (Tuesday-Saturday) join Osei Mensa at Kansas Smitty's. The sessions are uniformly excellent. Don't miss 'em! Night owl, eh? Log on to Small's website to check out the late night jam sessions starting  at 1:30am. Live streams, don't you just love 'em? Bet you can't wait for normal service (ie live gigs) to be resumed!         

Russell

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