Bebop Spoken There

Ludovic Beier (Django Festival Allstars): ''Manouche means 'free man,' and gypsies have been travelers since they migrated west from India to Europe.'' (DownBeat March, 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

18336 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 190 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Feb. 28), 90

From This Moment On ...

March

Sat 07: Great North Big Band Jazz Festival @ Park View Community Centre, Chester-le-Street. 12 noon. Open Section (all day, closing concert performance at 7:00pm). £15.00. (£20.00 weekend ticket). Day 2/3.
Sat 07: Tenement Jazz Band @ St Augustine’s Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. £10.00. Darlington New Orleans Jazz Club.
Sat 07: Tees Bay Swing Band @ The Blacksmith’s Arms, Hartlepool. 1:30-3:30pm. Free. Open rehearsal.
Sat 07: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. £27.50. Tutor: Steve Glendinning. Antônio Carlos Jobim: Meditation & How Insensitive. Enrol at: learning@jazz.coop.
Sat 07: Castillo Nuevo Trio @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 5:30pm. Free. Sat 07: Hot Club du Nord @ St Mary’s Parish Hall, Barnard Castle. 7:00pm. £20.00., £8.00 under 16. Charity fundraiser.
Sat 07: Taupe + Marigolds + Mother Man @ Star & Shadow Cinema, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Sat 07: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.

Sun 08: Great North Big Band Jazz Festival @ Park View Community Centre, Chester-le-Street. 9:30am. School Section & Youth Section (all day). £10.00. (£20.00 weekend ticket). Day 3/3.
Sun 08: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 08: TRIO-SKW @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm. Josh Savage (drums); Lucas Kelly (organ); Tim ‘Bim’ Williams (guitar).
Sun 08: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 08: Trish Clowes’ My Iris @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Sun 08: Durham University Big Band & Foot Notes @ Elvet Methodist Church, Durham. 7:30pm. £10.00., £8.00., £6.00. Big band & a cappella ensemble.

Mon 09: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 10: Jazz Jam Sandwich @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Wed 11: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 11: Jam Session @ The Tannery, Hexham. 7:00pm. Free.
Wed 11: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 11: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free

Thu 12: Boomslang @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Fri 13: Paul Skerritt Quartet @ Bishop Auckland Methodist Church. 1:00pm . £9.00.
Fri 13: The SH#RP Collective @ Jesmond Library, Newcastle. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 13: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 13: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 13: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 13: Soothsayers + Rookie Numbers @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). £17.51., £14.33., £11.16.

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

Monday, May 17, 2021

Rossano Sportiello: Live from the flat - May 16

(Screenshot by Russell)
Rossano Sportiello (piano); Jon-Erik Kellso (trumpet); Evan Sherman (drums)

Three NYC A-listers, pianist Rossano Sportiello, trumpeter Jon-Erik Kellso and drummer Evan Sherman, live from Sportiello's flat in Greenwich Village. The focus of their attention, three musicians who, at one time or another, worked together on many a jazz stage, namely Ralph Sutton, Ruby Braff and Gus Johnson.

Sportiello cuts a genial figure, a smile never far from his face. His guests, Kellso and the young, in-demand Sherman, appear to be easy going types themselves. Sportiello's piano elegance has been noted on previous live streams, Kellso similarly elegant on trumpet, Sherman's economy of style the order of the day. A set list of standards, Sportiello would play a couple of solo pieces, including Jimmy Van Heusen's Deep in a Dream, Kellso would switch from regulation plunger mute to a recently acquired 'Kellso Pixie' mute and back again, our trumpeter taking the opportunity to plug his new endorsement deal with Huber Music! 

From When You're Smiling to I Would Do Most Anything for You (heard earlier in the day on Adrian Cox's Sunday Service) to an upbeat finale with I've Found a New Baby, the Greenwich Village trio entertained an online audience that, way back when, would have been entertained by today's subjects - Messrs Sutton, Braff and Johnson - in a NYC jazz club. Those were the days!  
Russell


Set list: When You're SmilingOld Fashioned Love; ?; Ja-DaI Would Do Most Anything for YouDeep in a DreamClimb Every MountainI've Found a New Baby

1 comment :

Patti said...

Rossano is such a classy pianist - beautifully flowing and sensitive touch, with a great rolling left hand too! I remember him at one of our Whitley Bay International Jazz Festivals in the early 2000's, appearing with the Milano Jazz Gang - he's come a long way since then!

Blog Archive