Bebop Spoken There

Christian McBride: ''We knew back in the day that Emmet [Cohen] had it.'' (DownBeat July, 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

18767 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 631 of them this year alone and, so far this month (July 31) 95.

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

August

Mon 03: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 03: Saltburn Big Band @ Saltburn House Hotel. 7:00-9:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).

Tue 04: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Wed 05: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 05: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 05: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 06: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Millstone, Mill Rise, South Gosforth, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 06: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £5.00.
Thu 06: Wild Women of Wylam @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Thu 06: Jeremy McMurray’s Pocket Jazz Orchestra @ Arc, Stockton. 8:00pm. Feat. guest Zoë Gilby.
Thu 06: 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 06: Bridget Metcalfe Sextet @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm.

Fri 07: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 07: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 07: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.

Sat 08: ???

Sun 09: 58 Jazz Collective @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00-3:00pm. Free.
Sun 09: Tees Bay Swing Band @ Ropner Park, Stockton. 2:00-4:00pm. Free.
Sun 09: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 09: The Gambling Janes @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Wednesday, June 15, 2022

Paul Hartley Quartet featuring John Hallam @ the Railway, Stockport - June 14

(© Jeff Pritchard)
John Hallam (tenor/baritone sax/clarinet); Paul Hartley (guitar); Ken Marley (bass); Eryl Roberts (drums).

Lots of tunes were played tonight. Most were standards and I made the total fourteen. John gave all his instruments equal exposure and if I was asked which one I preferred I would say the baritone sax. I liked his playing on There Will Never be Another You and also You’re Driving me Crazy  - a tune you don’t hear too often these days.

               

He played tenor sax on an Erroll Garner number Shake it or Break it and I liked his tenor solo on East of the Sun which was done as a bossa nova. I thought his clarinet could have done with some amplification but he sounded good on the tune Robbin’s Nest. A composition by pianist Sir Charles Thompson which was a big hit for co-composer Illinois Jacquet back in the 1940s.


Paul Hartley’s trio did a first class job backing Hallam and I would like to mention the excellent bass work of Ken Marley and also the drummer Eryl Roberts who always keeps things swinging. I suppose tonights music could be classed as mainstream although there was one bebop excursion with Hallam's version of Sonny Stitt’s Blues Walk.

                 

The next jazz gig at the Railway is on Sunday June 19 with the Dean Stockdale Trio - Mike Farmer

 

It’s You or no One For me; Topsy; I’ve Got a Feeling I’m Falling; Robbin's Nest; There Will Never be Another You; Dream a Little Dream of me; Whispering; Blues Walk; Shake It or Break It; Love me or Leave Me; East of the Sun; You’re Driving me Crazy; Lullaby of the Leaves; Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea.

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