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

18621 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 485 of them this year alone and, so far this month (June 14) 37

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

Wed 17: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 17: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 17: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 18: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Millstone, Mill Rise, South Gosforth, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 18: Castillo Nuevo Orquesta @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. £6.50. 7:30pm (doors).
Thu 18: Lindsay Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ Harbour View, Roker, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 18: Paul Skerritt @ Angels' Share, St George's Terrace, Jesmond, Newcastle NE2 2SX. 8:00pm. Free. Booking advised (0191 200 1975). Skerritt w. backing tapes.

Fri 19: Joe Steels Group @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. 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 Trio @ Hotel Gotham, Newcastle. 5:30pm. Free.
Fri 19: Ferg’s Imaginary Big Band @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £14.33., £11.16., £8.00.
Fri 19: Martin Litton @ Sunderland Minster. 7:30pm. £13.01 (inc. bf); £6.50 (inc. bf); £15.00 on the door. Solo piano. CANCELLED!
Fri 19: Jools Holland’s R&B Orchestra @ Hippodrome, Darlington. 7:30pm. Joe Webb support set.
Fri 19: Hot Club du Nord @ Warkworth Memorial Hall. 7:30pm.
Fri 19: Jive Aces: The Roots of Rock & Roll @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £20.00 + bf.

Sat 20: Tyne Valley Big Band @ Tynedale Beer Festival, Corbridge. 5:00-6:00pm.
Sat 20: Castillo Nuevo Trio @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 5:30pm. Free.
Sat 20: Red Kites Jazz @ Staithes Café, Dunston. 7:00-9:00pm. Free.
Sat 20: New Century Ragtime Orchestra @ Trinity Church, Gosforth, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £20.00. NCRO w. guests Dean Stockdale & Nick Ward.

Sun 21: From Lagos to Longbenton: Unity in the Community @ Sunderland Minster. From 1:30pm. Free. A multi-bill Unity in the Community event, inc. From Lagos to Longbenton.
Sun 21: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Table reservations (0191 261 8000). Skerritt w. backing tapes.
Sun 21: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 2:30pm. Free. Trio w. Graham Hardy.
Sun 21: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 21: Tweed River Jazz Band @ Barrels Ale House, Berwick. 7:00pm. Free.
Sun 21: Magpies of Swing @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 22: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 23: Alan Law Trio @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 2:00pm. Free.
Tue 23: Jude Murphy & Dan Stanley @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Tuesday, May 10, 2022

Central Bar Quintet plays Miles Davis' Workin' @ Central Bar, Gateshead - May 9

Pete Tanton (trumpet, vocals); Harry Keeble (tenor sax); Alan Law (piano); Mick Shoulder (double bass); John Bradford (drums) + Abbie Finn (drums); Tom Parry-Jones (drums)

A select crowd assembled on Half Moon Lane to listen to the Central Bar Quintet play the music of Miles Davis' mid-fifties quintet, often described as Davis' first great quintet. The 1956 Prestige album Workin' took centre stage, Pete Tanton charged with the responsibility of 'playing Miles'. Aiding and abetting the genial Tanton were Harry 'John Coltrane' Keeble on tenor sax, and the established house trio of Alan Law, piano, Mick Shoulder, bass, and drummer John Bradford.

The Theme opened the evening's concert set. The quintet finely balanced, Tanton tightly muted. It Never Entered My Mind (Keeble out), a knockout solo from pianist Law on Four, drummer, and MC, John Bradford soloing on Dave Brubeck's In Your Own Sweet Way, this was great stuff. Time to go to the bar then flip the vinyl for side two (the second set).      

Side two: the horns - Tanton and Keeble - blew as if Miles and Trane on Trane's Blues, the Central Bar Quintet well and truly into it. Keeble stepped aside for Alan Law's feature on Ahmad's Blues (Ahmad Jamal), bassist Mick Shoulder soloing as if Paul Chambers! To close, Miles' (Eddie Vinson's) Half Nelson. It had been an excellent recital/recreation/exploration of Workin', one of the Central Bar's best sessions yet. 

The recent run - and oddity - of horn-less jam sessions continued here in Gateshead with just two sitters-in, drummers both. First up, Abbie Finn. Any gig, any jam session, whatever the context, Finn is your woman. And the other drummer in the house, Tom Parry-Jones, impressed, fitting in nicely. Our medical student (what is it about medics and music?) is going to be an asset to the Tyneside jazz scene for the next few years. Check him out. From Miles to Pete Tanton, trumpeter and vocalist, we heard verse and chorus on But Not for Me and Just Friends. It had been an enjoyable concert performance and jam session. June's Central Bar session promises to be a good one, the principals (alto sax and guitar) to be confirmed (Monday 13 June). Russell       
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