Bebop Spoken There

Christian McBride: ''I believe we are living in a historically embarrassing moment in American history.'' - Downbeat December 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

18061 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 1025 of them this year alone and, so far, 39 this month (Dec. 14).

From This Moment On ...

DECEMBER 2025

Sun 14: Musicians Unlimited + Darlington Big Band @ West Hartlepool RFC. 12 noon-6:00pm. £9.00. Musicians Unlimited’s Xmas Party. SOLD OUT!
Sun 14: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 14: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Skerritt w. backing tapes.
Sun 14: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 14: Alexia Gardner Quintet @ The White Room, Stanley. 6:30pm. £15.18 (inc. bf).
Sun 14: Paul Skerritt @ The Black Candle, South Shields. 6:30pm. Skerritt w. backing tapes.
Sun 14: Sean Noonan Trio @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. JNE.

Mon 15: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 16: Paul Skerritt @ Chakh Dhoom, Jesmond, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Indian restaurant. Skerritt w. backing tapes.
Tue 16: A Jazzy Xmas @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 7:30pm. Paul Edis (MD, piano); Jo Harrop (vocals); Kyran Matthews (tenor sax, soprano sax); Faye Thompson (alto sax, clarinet); Sue Ferris (flute, piccolo); Graham Hardy (trumpet, flugelhorn); Jason Holcomb (trombone);Emma Fisk (violin); Andy Champion (double bass); Matt MacKellar (drums).
Tue 16: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Stu Collingwood, Paul Grainger, Tim Johnston.

Wed 17: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Spanish City, Whitley Bay. 12 noon. £29.00 (inc. bf). ‘Festive Lunch’. VCJ on stage 12 noon (three sets 'til 4:00pm).
Wed 17: Lazy River Band @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free. Veronica Perrin, Chris Perrin, John Farragher, Phil Rutherford
Wed 17: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 17: Paul Skerritt @ Middlesbrough Town Hall. 7:00pm. Skerritt w. backing tapes.
Wed 17: A Jazzy Xmas @ Fire Station, Sunderland. 7:30pm. Paul Edis (MD, piano); Jo Harrop (vocals); Kyran Matthews (tenor sax, soprano sax); Faye Thompson (alto sax, clarinet); Sue Ferris (flute, piccolo); Graham Hardy (trumpet, flugelhorn); Jason Holcomb (trombone);Emma Fisk (violin); Andy Champion (double bass); Matt MacKellar (drums).
Wed 17: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 18: Paul Skerritt @ YOLO, Ponteland. 7:00pm. ‘Swing & Jazz Night’. Skerritt w. backing tapes.
Thu 18: Joe Steels & Friends @ The Pele, Corbridge. 7:30pm. Free (donations).

Fri 19: Fraser Urquhart @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. £8.00. SOLD OUT! .
Fri 19: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free..
Fri 19: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free..
Fri 19: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00..
Fri 19: Castillo Nuevo @ Hotel Gotham, Newcastle. 5:00pm. Free. .
Fri 19: Alexia Gardner @ FIKA Art Gallery, Morpeth. 6:30pm. Gardner, Alan Law, Jude Murphy..
Fri 19: Paul Skerritt @ Middlesbrough Town Hall. 7:00pm. Skerritt w. backing tapes. .
Fri 19: Giles Strong Quartet @ Sunderland Minster. 7:30pm. Old Black Cat Jazz Club..
Fri 19: Creakin’ Bones & the Xmas Dinners @ The White Room, Stanley. 7:45pm. £13.01 (inc. bf)..
Fri 19: Mark Toomey Quintet @ The Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. Opus 4 Jazz Club.

Sat 20: Jazz Attack @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 11:00am. Free.
Sat 20: Alexia Gardner @ FIKA Art Gallery, Morpeth. 6:30pm. Gardner, Alan Law, Jude Murphy. SOLD OUT!
Sat 20: Joseph Carville Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. CANCELLED!
Sat 20: Ray Stubbs R&B All Stars @ Billy Bootleggers, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 20: Hoodoo Blues @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:15pm (doors). £14.25, £11.55. Dance class, social dancing, live music & Xmas Party. Live music from 9:00pm - Ruth Lambert, Giles Strong, Ian Paterson & John Bradford (jazz and blues).
Sat 20: John Pope Quintet @ Blank Studios, Newcastle. 7:30-8:30pm. £7.70 (inc. bf). Album recording session.

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, October 14, 2021

Adrian Cox Trio with Miss Baby Sol @ Oriole, Smithfield Market, London - Oct. 13

Adrian Cox (clarinet, vocals); Dave Archer (guitar); Ferg Ireland (double bass); Miss Baby Sol (vocals)

Smithfield Market isn't the kind of place you'd associate with a music venue. East Poultry Avenue, in the heart of London's meat market, with its cold store environment, forklift trucks and articulated lorries offloading consignments more or less 24/7, is home to Oriole. A cocktails-led basement venue, it is as discreet as they come. A nondescript doorway (it could be mistaken as the gaffer's office, perhaps the canteen) leads, via a flight of stairs, to a subterranean speakeasy offering cocktails and, well, cocktails. 

Descending the stairs, the hubbub became louder, then louder still. The joint was jumpin'! In town tonight...Mr Adrian Cox! Our clarinet virtuoso leads something of an itinerant lifestyle, seemingly the man is never at home! This evening Cox made a return visit to Oriole in the company of Dave Archer and Ferg Ireland with guest vocalist Miss Baby Sol. The trio kicked off with Rose Room. Many in the capacity audience indulged in typical speakeasy activities, not least a propensity to all but ignore the musicians on stage! 

'Deed I Do, Sunny with vocals by the effervescent, irrepressible Miss Baby Sol, all of a sudden the chattering hordes turned an ear to the music! An upbeat (inappropriate?) take on God Bless the Child, whatever the gyrating Baby Sol sang and danced to, Oriole's patrons were loving it! 

Cox himself is a show-stopping entertainer, a marvellous clarinet player with equally impressive vocals. The boys in the engine room never flagged, guitarist Dave Archer flying on Just You, Just Me, bassist Ferg Ireland holding it all together. Baby Sol returned to offer an alternative take on Lullaby of Birdland, not one George Shearing would have heard during his lifetime, that's for sure! After a while, the penny dropped...Baby Sol's vocal style is reminiscent of that of the late Eartha Kitt! My Favorite Things got more of the Baby Sol treatment before Cox took charge of the finale, a crowd-pleasing romp through When the Saints Go Marching In. Russell
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