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

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).

Fri 16: Giles Strong Quartet @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. £8.00. SOLD OUT!
Fri 16: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 16: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 16: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 16: Darlington Big Band @ The Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. Opus 4 Jazz Club.
Fri 16: Leeds City Stompers @ Billy Bootleggers, Newcastle. 9:00pm. 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

Saturday, October 02, 2021

Newcastle Festival of Jazz and Improvised Music: Shiver and Run Logan Run @ Gosforth Civic Centre - Sept. 30

Shiver: Chris Sharkey (guitar); Andy Champion (electric bass); Luke Reddin-Williams (drums)

(© Ken Drew)
This appearance  by Shiver appear was in support of the launch of their new album Night School which is being released through the festival’s sister label New Jazz and Improvised Music Recordings. The title comes from the burning down of Sharkey’s abandoned old school – 'I can’t remember exactly when my old school burnt down but I can tell you I was there.' The piece was developed several years ago and the recording was actually made in Leeds in 2015 after consuming fish sandwiches the size of dolphins from their local Leeds chippy (surely they should have been the size of Sharkies).

(© Ken Drew)
The evening's performance consisted  of an unbroken symphonic rendition of that recording.  Opening with a long, gentle, melodic guitar solo from Sharkey before Champion’s throbbing electric bass entered the fray. With the drums and electronic bow to the fore an industrial techno theme developed and proceedings really began to hot up as the band blazed away. A gentle bass lead with drums and guitar in support seemed to herald the end of the fire but the flames seemed to have returned as the band cranked it up once more with a Hendrix like section. Finally the embers petered out with a gentle and graceful finale.    


A fascinating immersive creation which  frequently managed  to wrong foot the audience with its unpredictable changes of direction providing a  thoroughly enjoyable and entertaining experience.

 

Run Logan Run:

Andrew Neil Hayes (sax/electronics) Matt Brown (drums);  Dan Messore (bass guitar)

(© Ken Drew)
Run Logan Run as their name suggest hit the ground with a bang from the very first blast. Powerhouse drumming and tenor playing supplemented by bass guitar and the clever use of electronic loops got everyone energized from the off. 

The band hail from Bristol, home of the great nineties’ band Portishead, and although off a different genre I was still able to detect a hint of influence. A mixture of tracks from their newly launched album - For a Brief Moment I Could Smell The Flowers - were interspersed with older material. The outcome was a punchy creative all enveloping jazz and grungy high energy  soundscape. Yet amongst this raw energetic maelstrom emerged another side with a delightful straight ahead ballad in the middle of the set.
(© Ken Drew)
 

The final two pieces of the evening couldn’t have been more appropriately chosen Give Me Back My Slippers and then what everyone  needed after such a high energy performance Cold Showers. Steve H

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