Bebop Spoken There

Melissa Aldana: ''Having to play a ballads album, which is something very revealing for a saxophone player, would help me to question some new aspects of how to go deeper into sound." (DownBeat May, 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

18656 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 520 of them this year alone and, so far this month (June 25) 72

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

June

Tue 30: Alan Law Trio @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 2:00pm. Free.
Tue 30: Eva Fox & the Sound Hounds @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

July

Wed 01: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 01: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 01: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 02: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Millstone, Mill Rise, South Gosforth, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 02: Paul Skerritt @ Angels' Share, St George's Terrace, Jesmond, Newcastle NE2 2SX. 8:00pm. Free. Booking advised (0191 200 1975). Skerritt w. backing tapes.
Thu 02: De’Sean Jones & Blaque Dynamite feat. Urban Art Orchestra @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). De’Sean Jones (MD, tenor sax); Blaque Dynamite (Mike Mitchell, drums); Jamie Murray (drums) with UAO horns & strings.
Thu 02: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm.
Thu 02: Howlin’ Mat @ Newcastle Arts centre. 7:30pm. Free. Acoustic

Fri 03: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 03: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 03: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 03: Paul Donnelly Quartet @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm.
Fri 03: Martin Taylor @ Arc, Stockton. 8:00pm. Taylor (solo guitar).

Sat 04: Spats Langham’s Hot Fingers @ St Augustine’s Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. £10.00. Darlington New Orleans Jazz Club.
Sat 04: Michael Woods @ Cycle Hub, Quayside, Ouseburn. 1:30-2:30pm & 3:00-4:00pm. Free. Acoustic blues guitar. An Ouseburn Festival event.
Sat 04: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. £27.50. Tutor: Steve Glendinning. Take the ‘A’ Train to Summertime: From Melody to Masterclass. Enrol at: learning@jazz.coop.
Sat 04: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.

Sun 05: Smokin’ Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm. £10.00.
Sun 05: Ian Bosworth Quintet @ Chapel, Middlesbrough. 1:00pm. Free. Feat. guest Kevin Eland (trumpet).
Sun 05: Michael Woods @ Cycle Hub, Quayside, Ouseburn. 1:30-2:30pm & 3:15-4:00pm. Free. Acoustic blues guitar. An Ouseburn Festival event.
Sun 05: Lydia Rae Quintet @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £10.00. Rae (vocals); Sam Lightwing (alto sax, tenor sax); Ben Lawrence (piano); Andy Champion (double bass); John Bradford (drums).
Sun 05: Sax Choir @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 05: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Table reservations (0191 261 8000). Skerritt w. backing tapes.
Sun 05: Storytellers Street Band @ Ouseburn Woodland, Ouseburn. 5:00-6:00pm. Free. An Ouseburn Festival event.
Sun 05: Gerry Richardson’s Big Idea @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Sun 05: Jambone @ Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:15-9:45pm. Free but ticketed.

Mon 06: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 06: Saltburn Big Band @ Saltburn House Hotel. 7:00-9:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).

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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