Bebop Spoken There

Donovan Haffner ('Best Newcomer' 2025 Parliamentary Jazz Awards): ''I got into jazz the first time I picked up a saxophone!" - Jazzwise Dec 25/Jan 26

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

18146 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 24 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Jan. 7), 24

From This Moment On ...

JANUARY 2026

Fri 09: The House Trio @ Bishop Auckland Methodist Church. 1:00pm. £9.00.
Fri 09: Nauta @ Jesmond Library, Newcastle. 1:00pm. £5.00. Trio: Jacob Egglestone, Jamie Watkins, Bailey Rudd.
Fri 09: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 09: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 09: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 09: Warren James & the Lonesome Travellers @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm. £15.00.
Fri 09: The Blue Kings @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £10.00. (£8.00. adv.). All-star band.

Sat 10: Mark Toomey Quintet @ St Peter’s Church, Stockton-on-Tees. 7:30pm. £12.00. (inc. pie & peas). Tickets from: 07749 255038.

Sun 11: New ’58 Jazz Collective @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 11: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 11: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 11: Eva Fox & the Sound Hounds @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 12: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 12: Saltburn Big Band @ Saltburn House Hotel. 7:00-9:00pm. Free.

Tue 13: Milne Glendinning Band @ Newcastle House Hotel, Rothbury. 7:30pm. £11.00. Coquetdale Jazz.
Tue 13: Jazz Jam Sandwich @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Wed 14: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 14: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 14: Jam Session @ The Tannery, Hexham. 7:00pm. Free.
Wed 14: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 15: Mark Toomey Quartet @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm. Free. Quartet + guest Paul Donnelly (guitar).

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

Saturday, May 15, 2021

KSTV: Two Clarinets - May 15

(Screenshot by Ken Drew)
Adrian Cox (clarinet, vocals); Giacomo Smith (clarinet); Joe Webb (piano); Will Sach (double bass); Jason Brown (drums)

Two of the hottest clarinet players around, would they try to knock spots off one another? They could have done but, having played countless gigs together, this Kansas Smitty's session proved to be an excellent clarinet summit meeting of Mr Adrian Cox and Smitty's Main Man, Mr Giacomo Smith. Supported by an A-list rhythm section of pianist Joe Webb and London resident bass and drums, Will Sach and Jason Brown, we were to be treated to a swing-a-rooney of a set. 

Trading lines, appreciating one another's scintillating solos, Cox and Smith were in fine form. Sparkling work from both men on Beijinos set both tempo and standard for an hour's worth of top class musicianship. A couple of blues, including Blame it on the Blues, rooted the session in down home territory, Begin the Beguine offered a revealing insight to a musician's preference. Smith loves Artie Shaw's big hit, Cox doesn't. Smith played it, Cox didn't...

(Collage by Ken Drew)

Broken Windmill, as played by Bechet, reunited our clarinetists, and the old war horse, Strike Up the Band, concluded yet another  KSTV session. Next week (Saturday 22, 8:00pm) it's the music of the MJQ. Russell


Set list included: BeijinosBlame it on the BluesBegin the BeguineBroken WindmillStrike Up the Band

1 comment :

NeilC said...

Man they can blow , shut your eyes and you feel like you were in a 20's Jazz club they are all such accomplished musicians . The rhythm section of the brilliant and understated Jason Brown , Will Sach and the phenomenal Joe Webb augment and compliment the trading blows of Giacomo and Adrian .

A long long time ago when I started Senior School we had two years compulsory Music lesson including learning an instrument . If I had realised you needed four hands, or it felt like it, to play Clarinet I would have chosen something else but now I wish I had persevered .

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