Bebop Spoken There

David Bailey (photographer): ''When I was 16 I wanted to look like Chet Baker. He was my idol - him and James Dean.'' (Talking Pictures documentary : Four beats to the bar and no cheating April, 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

18445 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 309 of them this year alone and, so far this month (April 20 ) 43,

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

April

Thu 23: FILM: Big Mama Thornton: I Can’t Be Anyone But Me @ Tyneside Cinema, Newcastle. 6:15pm. Dir. Robert Clem (2025).
Thu 23: Castillo Nuevo Orquesta @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. £6.50. 7:30pm (doors).
Thu 23: Eva Fox & the Sound Hounds @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Thu 23: Jeremy McMurray’s Pocket Jazz Orchestra & Musicians Unlimited @ ARC, Stockton. 8:00pm. £19.00. inc. bf.

Fri 24: Noel Dennis Trio @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. Dennis, Mark Willams, Andy Champion. SOLD OUT!
Fri 24: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 24: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 24: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 24: Trio Grand @ Land of Oak & Iron, Winlaton. 6:00-9:00pm. Free.
Fri 24: Ben Vince + The Exu @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). £14.33., £11.16, £8.00. A ‘jazz adjacent’ gig!
Fri 24: Daniel John Martin w. Swing Manouche @ The Ship Isis, Sunderland. 7:30pm. £13.20 (inc. bf).
Fri 24: TBC @ The Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm.

Sat 25: Giles Strong Quartet @ Hindmarsh Hall, Alnmouth. 7:30pm. CANCELLED!
Sat 25: Daniel John Martin w. Swing Manouche @ The Old Cinema Launderette, Durham. 7:30pm (7:00pm doors). £13.20 (inc. bf).
Sat 25: ‘Portrait in Evans’: Noa Levy & Alan Barnes w. Paul Edis Trio @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm. £24.00. Sage Two. ‘Portrait in Evans’. Levy, Barnes, Edis, Andy Champion & Steve Hanley.

Sun 26: Musicians Unlimited: Big Band Blast @ West Hartlepool RFC. 1:00-3:00pm . Free.
Sun 26: Daniel John Martin w. Swing Manouche @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £10.00.
Sun 26: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: Ruth Lambert Trio @ Juke Shed, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: Ni Maxine + Nauta @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £17.51., £14.33., £11.16.
Sun 26: Joe Steels @ The Pele, Corbridge. 7:00pm. Free (donations direct to the musicians). Joe Steels & Friends.
Sun 26: C.A.L.I.E @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £16.00., £14.00., £7.00.

Mon 27: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 27: House of Blues @ the Globe, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £7.00., £5.00. advance. A student-led jazz session. ‘House of Blues’ is, perhaps, a misnomer.
Mon 27: Littlewood Trio @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £10.00 + bf, £7.00. + bf.

Tue 28: Long/Remon/Zilker @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. Tom Remon plays Irish folk!

Wed 29: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 29: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 29: Long/Remon/Zilker @ The Ship Isis, Sunderland. 7:00pm. £10.00. + £1.00. bf. Tom Remon plays Irish folk!
Wed 29: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 29: Hackney Colliery Band @ Alnwick Playhouse. 7:30pm. £25.00.

Saturday, February 12, 2022

Alan Barnes with the Dean Stockdale Trio @ Opus 4 Jazz Club - Feb. 11

Alan Barnes (alto sax, baritone sax, clarinet); Dean Stockdale (piano); Mick Shoulder (double bass); Abbie Finn (drums) + Harry Keeble (tenor sax)

A lunchtime concert over in Bishop Auckland drew a record crowd to the Town Hall. A few hours later Darlington's Opus 4 Jazz Club attracted its biggest audience in a while, there to hear Alan Barnes play his second gig of the day. Later in the evening the ever-popular Barnes, an alumnus of Leeds College of Music, would lock horns with a fellow Leeds graduate, albeit of more recent vintage. Dean Stockdale, Mick Shoulder and Abbie Finn could be described as the region's 'go-to trio', they were with AB in Bishop Auckland and here they were, ready to do it all again. 

The Traveller's Rest recently renewed its commitment to live jazz and the best possible way to celebrate the news was to invite the celebrated British jazz musician Alan Barnes to make an umpteenth visit to the West Auckland Road hostelry. AB announced he and the trio would 'Start with a little warm up thing'...It Could Happen to You. Suitably warmed-up, Chilli Pepper went from Latin to swing and back again with little more than a directorial nod from Barnes - pianist Stockdale, bassist Shoulder and drummer Finn more than up to the job. Ellington's Tonight I Shall Sleep with a Smile on My Face featured Barnes' cast iron baritone sax playing. Blues on the Beach signalled the end of a marvellous first set. 

Raffle tickets (dud, as it transpired), another pint of the Ossett Brewery's Blonde, a natter and it was time to resume matters. And what a surprise opening to the second set, our Leeds graduate, Harry Keeble, unpacking his tenor ready to do battle with Barnes (alto sax) on Anthropology. Did HK's presence on the stand inspire Barnes to ever-greater heights? Possibly. One thing's for sure, the affable Keeble held his own. Similarly, Keeble counted in Moonlight in Vermont, again, unfazed by Barnes undoubted mastery. The Opus 4 crowd loved it, there'd be more later. 

A swaggering Barnes on Cheese Cake (perhaps JazzMain's Nick Gould will cut himself a slice of Dexter Gordon's tasty number tomorrow evening during the band's Newcastle Jazz Co-op gig), Barnes and trio waltzed through Alice in Wonderland, it had been an excellent evening. Barnes thanked the trio, impressed by Dean Stockdale, as he should be, 'the superlative bass playing' of Mick Shoulder, and, of course, the other Leeds alumnus on the gig, the ever-excellent Abbie Finn. To close, Harry Keeble joined Barnes once again to go out all guns blazing on Straight No Chaser. Great stuff!   Russell                  
       
Set list: It Could Happen to You; Chili Pepper; Tonight I Shall Sleep with a Smile on My Face; Close Your Eyes; ?; Blues on the Beach; Anthropology; Moonlight in Vermont; Cheese Cake; My One and Only Love; Alice in Wonderland; Straight No Chaser. 
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