Bebop Spoken There

David Bailey (photographer): ''When I was 16 I wanted to look like Chet Baker. He was my idol - him and James Dean.'' (Talking Pictures documentary : Four beats to the bar and no cheating April, 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

18429 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 293 of them this year alone and, so far this month (April 13 ) 27,

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

April

Fri 17: Russ Morgan Quartet @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. £8.00. SOLD OUT!
Fri 17: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 17: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 17: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 17: Castillo Nuevo Trio @ Hotel Gotham, Newcastle. 5:30pm. Free.
Fri 17: Ben Crosland Quartet @ Sunderland Minster. 7:30pm. £12.96 (inc. bf) online; £15.00 on the door. Old Black Cat Jazz Club.

Sat 18: Bright Street Big Band @ Washington Arts Centre. 6:30pm. £12.00. Swing dance sessions + Bright Street Big Band 7:30-8:15pm & 8:45-9:30pm.
Sat 18: Glenn Miller & Big Band Spectacular @ The Phoenix Theatre, Blyth. 7:30pm. £27.00 (inc. bf).

Sun 19: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 2:30pm. Trio + Lara Hopper.
Sun 19: Pete Tanton’s Chet Set @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm. £12.00., £10.00.
Sun 19: Straight to Tape @ The Tyne Bar, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. Edd Carr, Jonathan Proud, John Hirst. Blues trio.
Sun 19: Tweed River Jazz Band @ Barrels Ale House, Berwick. 7:00pm. Free.
Sun 19: Graham Hardy’s Eclectic Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.00., £10.00., £7.00.

Mon 20: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 20: Dean Stockdale Trio @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00. Stockdale, Mick Shoulder, Abbie Finn.

Tue 21: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Victoria & Albert Inn, Seaton Delaval NE25 0AT. Tel: 0191 237 3697. Tickets: £14.00. ‘Pie & Pea Lunch’.
Tue 21: Neil Cowley Trio @ The Fire Station, Sunderland. 7:30pm. £29.00., £26.00., £23.00.
Tue 21: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Joe Steels (guitar); Paul Grainger (double bass); Jack Littlewood (drums).

Wed 22: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 22: Nubiyan Twist @ Digital, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £28.75 (inc. bf).
Wed 22: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 22: Daniel John Martin w. Swing Manouche @ Bishop Auckland Methodist Church. 7:30pm. Date, time & admission TBC.
Wed 22: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 23: FILM: Big Mama Thornton: I Can’t Be Anyone But Me @ Tyneside Cinema, Newcastle. 6:15pm. Dir. Robert Clem (2025).
Thu 23: Castillo Nuevo Orquesta @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. £6.50. 7:30pm (doors).
Thu 23: Eva Fox & the Sound Hounds @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Thu 23: Jeremy McMurray’s Pocket Jazz Orchestra & Musicians Unlimited @ ARC, Stockton. 8:00pm. £19.00. inc. bf.

Tuesday, August 16, 2022

Stu Collingwood Organ Trio @ Blaydon Jazz Club - Aug 15

Stu Collingwood (organ, vocals); Harry Keeble (tenor sax); Abbie Finn (drums)

The Hammond organ sound is as popular today as it has been for many a long year. 1950s'/60s' recordings featuring Jimmy Smith, Jimmy McGriff, Richard 'Groove' Holmes and others established the art form, since when it has had many adherents. Tyneside boasts its own practitioners and one of them played a storming gig at this month's Blaydon Jazz Club session. 

Stu Collingwood, a 'been there, done that' old school pro, likes to occasionally crank up the Hammond (actually a portable Nord keyboard) and of late he's been working with two of the coming generation - tenor saxophonist Harry Keeble and drummer Abbie Finn. A set list chock full of recognisable numbers written and/or performed by household names (Ray Charles, Pee Wee Ellis, Billy Taylor, Chick Corea, Georgie Fame, Yellowjackets) ensured the session couldn't be anything other than a winner. 

Outdoor shoe off, sandshoe on, Collingwood hit the pedals. How pianists/organists do it is a mystery to mere mortals: hands and feet working overtime, seemingly taking on disparate tasks, yet somehow it all comes together! Hallelujah I Love Her So heard SC in fine voice, musically and vocally. Across two sets Harry Keeble and Abbie Finn more than played their part. Tenor man Keeble ratcheting up his solos, drummer Finn admirably keeping it firmly in the pocket. 

Yeh Yeh sang Collingwood, a swift Devil May Care, the trio's gigs to date have been few, one thing's for sure, on this evidence Collingwood, Keeble and Finn will, likely as not, pick up any number of jazz club gigs. They went out on The Cat. It had been a canny evening. 

As an aside (a separate post is in preparation), earlier in the evening a modest bronze plaque was fixed to the wall to commemorate the occasion (August 2016) when George Wein, in the company of Andy Hudson, visited the Black Bull as a guest of Blaydon Jazz Club. Yes, the George Wein, founder of the Newport Jazz Festival, Rhode Island, New York, sat and listened to the Paul Edis Trio. Suffice to say, Mr Wein was impressed. Russell              

Set list: ?; Hallelujah I Love Her So; Cool Blues; Bemsha Swing; The Chicken; I Wish I Knew How it Would Feel to be Free; Got a Match?; Revelation; Yeh, Yeh; I Thought About You; Devil May Care; In a Mellotone; The Cat.

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