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Bebop Spoken There

Van Morrison: ''Basically, I'm coming from jazz. Not pop, not rock, not what's commercial. That's where I started, and that's still where I am. I feel the same as I did when I was listening to Louis Armstrong, Lead Belly, Jelly Roll Morton''. (The Northern Echo, 12 June 2025).

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

18037 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 458 of them this year alone and, so far, 36 this month (June 11).

From This Moment On ...

JUNE 2025

Sat 14: Mr Wilson’s Second Liners @ Northumberland Miners’ Picnic, Woodhorn Museum, Ashington. 10:00am-5:00pm. Free. At intervals during the day.
Sat 14: Spanish City Rollers @ The Brae, Cullercoats. 11:00am & 1:00pm. Free. A Cullercoats Festival event.
Sat 14: Front Porch Three + Hoodoo Blues swing dance workshop @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 3:30pm. A Cullercoats Festival event.
Sat 14: Tyne Valley Big Band @ Tynedale Beer & Cider Festival, Tynedale Rugby Club, Corbridge. 4:15-5:30pm.
Sat 14: Jeff Hewer Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 14: Mark Williams Trio @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 7:30pm. £15.00. at the door; £14.35. (inc £0.35 bf) online, in advance.
Sat 14: Lindsay Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ The White Room, Stanley. 7:45pm.
Sat 14: Eva Fox & Steve Chambers @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 15: Lewis Watson Quartet @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm.
Sun 15: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 15: Pasadena Roof Orchestra @ Alnwick Playhouse. 7:00pm.
Sun 15: Under the Wellie @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 15: Hannah Brine Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 16: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club (1:00pm). Free.
Mon 16: Giles Strong Quartet @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00.

Tue 17: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Alan Law, Paul Grainger, Abbie Finn.

Wed 18: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 18: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:30pm. Free. Concert performance (open to the public)..
Wed 18: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 19: Gareth John & the SOS Big Band @ The Forum Music Centre, Darlington. 7:00pm. £25.00.

Fri 20: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free..
Fri 20: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free..
Fri 20: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00..
Fri 20: Strictly Smokin’ Big Band @ Alnwick Playhouse. 7:30pm. £21.50. ‘Time After Time’..
Fri 20: Alexia Gardner Quintet @ Sunderland Minster. 7:30pm. .
Fri 20: King Bees @ Billy Bootleggers, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. Superb Chicago blues band.

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

Monday, May 16, 2022

Hexham Jazz Festival: Day 3 (Sunday 15)

(© Malcolm Sinclair)
Northern Rail let the side down. Cancellations (staff shortages) up and down the Tyne Valley line would mean arriving late for the final evening of this year's Hexham Jazz Festival. Plan B, call into the Centurion Bar for a pint and mull over what to do. Decision made - catch the next train...in an hour's time. On the pub's big screen tv Everton were losing, later going down to nine men. Could the Merseysiders go down? Sunderland find themselves in the third tier (for younger football fans that's the old Division 3), the same fate could await Everton. 

As the pundits discussed the match, the late departing 18:55 boneshaker to Hexham chugged its way up the Tyne Valley. Sometime later (quietly taking a pew at the far end of the nave), Bruno Heinen and James Kitchman were in the middle of their piano-guitar concert. Seemingly holding the attention of Hexham Abbey's jazz parishioners, our 'out of sight but sounding fine' duo were into an intricate exchange of ideas: a chase, contrapuntal lines, these guys have done this thing before! 

(© Malcolm Sinclair)
Applause, then a speaking voice, that of Bruno Heinen. Thanking the audience, pianist Heinen related the story of his time in New York. On one occasion he braved huge snowfall to attend a Village Vanguard concert performance by Cedar Walton. It was an intimate gig, Heinen being one of three fans braving the then Arctic conditions. Heinen and Kitchman went out on Snowed in with Cedar Walton.

(© Malcolm Sinclair)
The final concert of the 2022 Hexham Jazz Festival featured three familiar faces. The Abbey Finn Trio had the honour of bringing down the curtain on what has undoubtedly been a successful event. Abbie (drums), Harry Keeble (tenor sax) and bassist Paul Grainger waste no time, kicking off with the quirkily titled The Saga of Harrison Crabfeathers. Keeble's tenor commanding in the vast space, Grainger rock solid, Finn keeping the lid on in what must be a challenging acoustic for drummers. Finn liked the title of A Real Job, saying people often ask her what her 'real job' is! This it it folks! As the trio stretched out on the ballad Mirador de los Poleos, it was time to go (the prospect of Northern Rail cancelling yet more services a distinct possibility), your correspondent making a sharp, but unobtrusive, exit. Russell     

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