Bebop Spoken There

Emma Rawicz: "In a couple of years I've gone from being a normal university student to suddenly being on international stages." DownBeat January 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

18246 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 100 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Jan. 31), 100

From This Moment On ...

JANUARY 2026

Wed 04: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 04: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 04: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 05: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £5.00. Subject:Times of the Day & Trios.
Thu 05: Jeremy McMurray’s Pocket Jazz Orchestra @ Arc, Stockton. 8:00pm. Special guest Emma Wilson.
Thu 05: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm.

Fri 06: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 06: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 06: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 06: Durham Alumni Big Band & Saltburn Big Band @ Saltburn Theatre. 7:30pm. £12.00. Two big bands on stage together!
Fri 06: Nauta + Littlewood Trio @ Little Buildings, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Double bill + jam session.
Fri 06: FILM: Made in America @ Star & Shadow Cinema, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Ornette Coleman.
Fri 06: Deep Six Blues @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 7:30pm.

Sat 07: The Big Easy @ St Augustine’s Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. £10.00. Darlington New Orleans Jazz Club.
Sat 07: Tees Bay Swing Band @ The Blacksmith’s Arms, Hartlepool. 1:30-3:30pm. Free. Open rehearsal.
Sat 07: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.

Sun 08: Swing Tyne @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12 noon (doors). Donations. Swing dance taster class (12:30pm) + Hot Club de Heaton (live performance). Non dancers welcome.
Sun 08: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 08: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 08: Gerry Richardson’s Big Idea @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 09: Mark Williams Trio @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 1:00pm.
Mon 09: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 10: Jazz Jam Sandwich @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

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

Friday, June 10, 2022

Top Scottish jazz players to appear just North of the Border (down Roxburghshire way)

(Press release). Leading Scottish jazz musicians including pianists Brian Kellock and Fergus McCreadie are included in a new concert season in the Heart of Hawick venue in the Scottish Borders.

Kellock will appear in a duo with saxophonist Konrad Wiszniewski on Friday 5th August and McCreadie joins fellow rising Scottish star, saxophonist Matt Carmichael on Friday 18th November in a series of gigs that encompass folk and traditional music and singer-songwriters as well as jazz.

The series opens with leading Celtic guitarist Tony McManus, whose repertoire has included Charles Mingus’s Goodbye Pork Pie Hat, in a duo with guitarist-violinist Julia Toaspern on Friday 1st July. Other concerts that will appeal to jazz fans are violinist Alex Yellowlees’ Hot Club Quartet (Saturday 10th September) and the harp-saxophone duo of Savourna Stevenson and Steve Kettley (Saturday 26th November).

The Kellock-Wiszniewski duo is a relatively new venture, although the musicians have previously worked together in the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra, including the orchestra’s recordings of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue and the Ellington celebration, In the Spirit of Duke.

“We played our first gig as a duo on International Jazz Day at the end of April,” says Wiszniewski, a twice winner of the Best Instrumentalist prize at the Scottish Jazz Awards who also co-leads the award-winning New Focus group and spiritual jazz ensemble Mama Terra. “It was fantastic to get to play with Brian because he’s so incredibly resourceful and a really inspiring duo partner. It’s like having a whole rhythm section onstage and I can’t wait to play with him again.”   

The Heart of Hawick is situated in the town of Hawick, about an hour’s drive from Berwick upon Tweed and just north of Northumberland National Park. More information can be found HERE

Photo credits: Brian Kellock - Louis DeCarlo; Konrad Wiszniewski - Derek Clark; Fergus McCreadie - Dave Stapleton 

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