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, July 19, 2022

Alter Ego @ Blaydon Jazz Club - July 18

(© Roly Veitch)
Dave Hignett (trumpet, flugelhorn); Keith Robinson (alto sax); Niall Armstrong (tenor sax, flute); Joe Steels (guitar); Tony Abell (bass guitar); David Johnson (drums)

Hotter than Hades, Blaydon Riviera Jazz Club welcomed Alter Ego. A sextet mining the Jazz Messengers' tradition with a measure of samba and a slew of band compositions, Alter Ego arrived with debutant Joe Steels in the (metaphorical) band bus. The established frontline - Dave Hignett, Keith Robinson and Niall Armstrong - would knock out some fine, no nonsense solos, supported by bassist Tony Abel and Tyne Valley Youth Big Band alumnus, drummer David Johnson. Oh, yes, and the new recruit, guitarist Joe Steels. 

Keith Robinson's Zippit opened the programme. Fine playing all round, the Alter Ego guys knew exactly what they were doing. During the evening the thought occurred that it must have taken hours of rehearsal time to 'get down' the horn arrangements. Readers all, all hitting their cues, the select audience liked what it was hearing. Niall Armstrong's Bacon Sandwich (yes, please!) as a samba, Quasimodal (more modal than Quasimodo) with Hignett on flugelhorn, Dog Leap Bounce featuring a tremendous alto solo by Robinson, this was modern jazz at its best. 
(© Roly Veitch)

Things were heating up (musically speaking!) and Bobby Watson's Wheel Within a Wheel added more fuel to the fire (furnace). The one-time Jazz Messengers' composition asks a lot of musicians - the horns' intricate interplay, the rhythm section holding it down - and the Alter Ego guys were more than up to the task. Following a short break (beers on the terrace overlooking the Tyne), Keith Robinson and co returned to the stage to pick up where they left off. More great work by the horns on Armstrong's subtle, tricky Undertones, Tony Abell's Llangranog Blues, Armstrong's Mustard Mash (Abell soloing), Andy Hawking's How Low the Sun channeled Bird (drummer Johnson in the spotlight), all in all a marvellous evening at the Black Bull. Special mention of Joe Steels - a fine guitarist, one would never have known this was his debut gig with the band. 

Next month's Blaydon Jazz Club session (Monday 15 August) presents the Stu Collingwood Organ Trio - that's Collingwood at the organ with Harry Keeble blowing tenor sax alongside drummer Abbie Finn. It should be a good one, eight o'clock start. Russell               
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