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

18445 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 309 of them this year alone and, so far this month (April 20 ) 43,

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 24: Noel Dennis Trio @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. Dennis, Mark Willams, Andy Champion. SOLD OUT!
Fri 24: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 24: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 24: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 24: Trio Grand @ Land of Oak & Iron, Winlaton. 6:00-9:00pm. Free.
Fri 24: Ben Vince + The Exu @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). £14.33., £11.16, £8.00. A ‘jazz adjacent’ gig!
Fri 24: Daniel John Martin w. Swing Manouche @ The Ship Isis, Sunderland. 7:30pm. £13.20 (inc. bf).

Sat 25: Giles Strong Quartet @ Hindmarsh Hall, Alnmouth. 7:30pm. CANCELLED!
Sat 25: Daniel John Martin w. Swing Manouche @ The Old Cinema Launderette, Durham. 7:30pm (7:00pm doors). £13.20 (inc. bf).
Sat 25: ‘Portrait in Evans’: Noa Levy & Alan Barnes w. Paul Edis Trio @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm. £24.00. Sage Two. ‘Portrait in Evans’. Levy, Barnes, Edis, Andy Champion & Steve Hanley.

Sun 26: Musicians Unlimited: Big Band Blast @ West Hartlepool RFC. 1:00-3:00pm . Free.
Sun 26: Daniel John Martin w. Swing Manouche @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £10.00.
Sun 26: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: Ruth Lambert Trio @ Juke Shed, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: Ni Maxine + Nauta @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £17.51., £14.33., £11.16.
Sun 26: Joe Steels @ The Pele, Corbridge. 7:00pm. Free (donations direct to the musicians). Joe Steels & Friends.
Sun 26: C.A.L.I.E @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £16.00., £14.00., £7.00.

Mon 27: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 27: House of Blues @ the Globe, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £7.00., £5.00. advance. A student-led jazz session. ‘House of Blues’ is, perhaps, a misnomer.
Mon 27: Littlewood Trio @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £10.00 + bf, £7.00. + bf.

Tue 28: Long/Remon/Zilker @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. Tom Remon plays Irish folk!

Wed 29: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 29: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 29: Long/Remon/Zilker @ The Ship Isis, Sunderland. 7:00pm. £10.00. + £1.00. bf. Tom Remon plays Irish folk!
Wed 29: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 29: Hackney Colliery Band @ Alnwick Playhouse. 7:30pm. £25.00.

Thu 30: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £5.00. Subject: International Jazz Day & JANE AGM.
Thu 30: Duke Junction @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £14.00., £12.00., £7.00. Nadim Teimoori (tenor sax); Jeff Hewer (guitar); Martin Longhawn (organ); Steve Hanley (drums). An International Jazz Day event & the 12th anniversary of Newcastle Jazz Co-op acquiring the Globe!

Tuesday, December 06, 2022

A Jazz Christmas Carol by the Alan Barnes Octet

Saturday 10th December @ The Black Swan at Newcastle Arts Centre

The Alan Barnes Octet brings the jazzy ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future to The Black Swan at Newcastle Arts Centre on Saturday 10th December.

Having performed most recently in the North East with Strictly Smokin' Big Band, Paul Edis Trio and Gaz Hughes Sextet, we're pleased to see Alan return to Newcastle, this time in the fine company of his own octet: Bruce Adams (trumpet and flugelhorn), Mark Nightingale (trombone), Robert Fowler (saxophones and clarinet), Karen Sharp (saxophones and clarinet), David Newton (piano), Simon Thorpe (bass) and Clark Tracey (drums).

This suite of pieces takes the audience through the characters and scenes of ‘A Christmas Carol'. Readings from the original Dickens novella tell the story, with eight virtuoso musicians bringing the characters and scenes to life - switching audiences from hilarity to pathos with a skill that would have done credit to Dickens himself!

It's a family night out that's also a treat for the jazz connoisseur; delighting anyone who loves music or literature – or just Christmas!

Tickets available now from www.newcastle-arts-centre.co.uk, by phone 0191 261 561

2 comments :

Dave said...

Alan Barnes is coming to Town
Alan Barnes is coming to Town
A-lan Ba-a-a-arnes is co-o-o-o-ming to To-o-own
I first saw Alan Barnes in a duo with the immaculately coiffed Dave Newton in a bar on Scarborough sea front that felt like it was underground but wasn’t. I last saw him in a duo with the still immaculately coiffed Dave Newton in a village hall in Northumberland, on a hill, high above the sea.
In between Alan Barnes laid claim to being the hardest working man in show business, running through a series of projects, both recorded and played live, running his Woodville Records label, occasionally turning up in other peoples’ groups and orchestras and compering the Scarborough Jazz Festival every year.
One of the highlights was his suite Songs for Unsung Heroes co-written with playwright Alan Plater which paid tribute to, and pricked the pomposity (Miles Davis especially) of some of the stars of this music we love so much.
It is the A Jazz Christmas Carol that brings him up here this time. Recorded in a probably not very wintry September 2015 it was toured at the time with a local date at Ushaw College, Durham
The album cover shows Mr Barnes in a less than flattering nightshirt, as elegant as the average tarpaulin, that fits where it touches. For this Saturday’s gig Mr Barnes has assembled the same team that appeared on the album, (see above), with no substitutes and no one on the bench, which is no mean feat in itself. The CD runs to about 50 minutes but I expect that it will be extended by some of that improvisation we hear so much about. There will, of course, also be some of Mr Barnes’ Christmas cracker quality jokes.
I shall be at this one and will do a Terry ‘n’ Bob and try and avoid the England score until I get home and can watch the recording.
Dave Sayer

Russell said...

The Likely Lads didn't have to contend with the mobile phone. At the Black Swan on Saturday evening you could hear the muffled cry/cries of 'Get in'! Conversely, if you don't hear anything, it'll be a case of 'Vive la France'!

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