Bebop Spoken There

Joe Alterman: ''All I wanted to do growing up was to sound like Erroll Garner playing "Poor Butterfly." I thought that was the coolest sound I'd ever heard.'' (DownBeat November, 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

19,057 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 921 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Oct. 29) 100.

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

October.

Fri 30: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 30: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 30: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.

Sat 31: Saltburn Big Band + Durham Alumni Big Band @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm.
Sat 31: East Coast Swing Band @ Cramlington Village Club, Park View, Cramlington NE23 6QJ. 7:30pm. £10.00. (from venue).

November

Sun 01: Smokin’ Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm. £10.00.
Sun 01: Ian Bosworth Quintet @ Chapel, Middlesbrough. 1:00pm. Free. Quintet w. special guest Donna Hewitt (tenor sax, clarinet)
Sun 01: Sax Choir @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 01: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 01: Sarah Heneghan Trio @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 02: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 02: Saltburn Big Band @ Saltburn House Hotel. 7:00-9:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).

Tue 03: Alan Law @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 2:00pm. Free. Alan Law (piano) w. guest tba
Tue 03: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Stu Collingwood, Paul Grainger, Abbie Finn.
Tue 03: Customs House Big Band @ The Masonic Hall, Ferryhill. 7:30pm. Free.

Wed 04: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ 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: An Evening of Erykah Badu @ Holy GrAle, Durham. 7:30pm. £3.00.; £2.50. A Durham University Jazz Society event.
Wed 04: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 05: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Millstone, Mill Rise, South Gosforth, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 05: Hejira - Celebrating Joni Mitchell @ Alnwick Playhouse. 7:30pm.
Thu 05: Cut Capers @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors).
Thu 05: Northern Reaches @ Newcastle Arts Centre. 7:30pm. Free (donations). Pete Tanton, Joe Steels, Laurence Blackadder, John Hirst.
Thu 05: Fergus McCreadie @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm.

Friday, November 11, 2022

TJ Johnson & guests @ Jamboree, London - Nov. 9

TJ Johnson (piano, vocals); James Kitchman (guitar); Alex Clarke (tenor sax) 

Walk two minutes from King's Cross Railway Station and you might stumble upon Jamboree. On the other hand, you're more likely to walk straight past a nondescript back lane not ever knowing that there is a thriving music venue no more than fifty metres off the main drag. Three o'clock Wednesdays, TJ Johnson holds court, invariably a musician friend will drop by second set. This week there was a larger turn out than usual. TJ said: I know why you're all here, you're going to Adrian Cox's gig tonight, aren't you? Adding: I'm Adrian's warm up act. 

Warm up act or not, TJ Johnson is an attraction in his own right*. Piano and vocals, as casual as you like, jazz, blues, country, gospel, an all round entertainer is TJ. Opening with The Glory of Love, TJ and Adrian's Army went for a gentle stroll along the highways and byways of the recorded history of popular music. Every Day I Have the Blues, Old Fashioned Love, Beale Street Blues, it wasn't long before a swing dance couple took to the floor. 

Ramblin' Man, One of These Days, this was TJ in fine form, joined by Northumbrian James Kitchman. Yes, local hero (Hexhamshire) guitarist Kitchman has long since been a fixture on the London scene and here he was fitting in nicely with his old mate TJ. Come Rain or Come Shine featured Kitchman, an excellent solo! Pete Johnson's Jump for Joy and Roll 'em Pete (Big Joe Turner often sang those two numbers) on a Wednesday afternoon in London, you couldn't make it up! Third set (it's a 3:00 'til 6:00pm gig), TJ was joined by another friend (lockdown live stream partner), Alex Clarke playing tenor sax. Again, as casual as you like, no fuss, joining the boys on a few tunes including a seasonal Autumn Leaves and the perennial 'Deed I Do. It was time to go, Adrian Cox's 100 Club gig was fast approaching.

* TJ Johnson will be 'up north' next week to play a couple of gigs. The first of them at Newcastle's Lit & Phil (1:00pm, Friday 18 Nov.) is a sellout. To enquire about returns call 0191 232 0192. The following day (Sat 19, 12:30pm) TJ will be at St Augustine's Parish Centre to play a Darlington New Orleans Jazz Club engagement. Russell            
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