Bebop Spoken There

John McLaughlin: ''It was then that Coltrane came along and single-handedly brought this dimension of spirituality into jazz. It was a pivotal experience to me.'' (DownBeat September, 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

18957 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 821 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Sept. 30.) 100.

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

October.

Thu 08: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Millstone, Mill Rise, South Gosforth, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 08: Pete Tanton’s Chet Set @ Newcastle Arts Centre. 7:30pm. Free (donations).
Thu 08: Indigo Jazz Voices w. Little Big Band @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:45pm. £5.00.

Fri 09: Dean Stockdale Trio @ Bishop Auckland Methodist Church. 1:00pm. £9.00. Dean Stockdale (piano); Mick Shoulder (double bass); John Bradford (drums).
Fri 09: John Rowland Trio @ Jesmond Library, Newcastle. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 09: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 09: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 09: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 09: Shalala @ The Globe, Newcastle.

Sat 10: Catfish Keith @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £19.00. + bf. Jumpin’ Hot Club.

Sun 11: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 11: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 2:30pm. Free. Feat. guest Jack ‘Banjo’ Courtney (trumpet).
Sun 11: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 11: Harry Christelis Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A Jazz Co-op-JNE co-promotion.

Mon 12: Jack Pearce Quintet @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 1:00pm.
Mon 12: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 13: Alan Law @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 2:00pm. Free. Alan Law (piano) w. Julija Jacenaite (vocals).

Wed 14: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ 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.
Wed 14: NW FRQNC @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £15.00. Selina Albright, Gianni Vancini.
Wed 14: Jacob Egglestone Trio @ Elder Beer, Heaton, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.00. JNE.

Saturday, February 19, 2022

Album review: Ewan Bleach - Ewan the Night 'n' the Music

Ewan Bleach (saxes/clarinet); Colin Good (piano); John Kelly (guitar on all but "Deep Purple"); Martin Wheatley (guitar on "Deep Purple"); Jim Ydstie (bass).

With the exception of Jim Ydstie the above names are well known to BSH readers in both the north east and the north west as first class exponents of classic jazz frequently appearing at the Keswick Jazz and Blues Festival, Carlisle Jazz Club, Mike Durham's Classic Jazz Party and the Darlington New Orleans Jazz Club in various formations including Pete Horsfall's  Basin Street Brawlers and the strangely named Frog and Henry who played a fine session at the Black Swan in Sept. 2019. There were, of course, several livestreams over the next couple of years.

Bleach who plays tenor, alto, soprano and clarinet on this cutely titled album, is firmly entrenched in the Hawkins, Hodges, Bechet school with that wide vibrato so predominant in those pre-Lester days although he does quote Lester Young as one of his inspirations (Bechet is the other).

On piano, Good is everything his name suggests and more. Wheatley spells Kelly on Deep Purple - both guitarists have the idiom off to a tee - and Ydstie is laid back and super supportive.

Close your eyes and you could be drinking gin from a teacup up in Harlem or quaffing pints of real ale in a hotel near Whitley Bay.

If you like your jazz with a minimum of flattened fifths then this is for you. It's relaxing and yet stimulating. Lance

Available March 11- www.ewanbleach.com

Body and Soul; Deep Purple; Memories of You; You and the Night and the Music; Prelude to a Kiss; Si Tu Vois Ma Mère; When I Grow Too Old to Dream; The Very Thought of You; The Nearness of You.

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