Bebop Spoken There

Art Blakey (to Terence Blanchard): ''You ain't Miles find your own shit to do!'' (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

18532 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 396 of them this year alone and, so far this month (May 15) 50

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

May

Sat 16: Sing Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. £27.50. Tutor: Alexia Gardner. God Bless the Child - Lady Day!. Enrol at: learning@jazz.coop.
Sat 16: Kaberry Big Band @ the Seahorse Pub, Hillheads Rd., Whitley Bay NE23 8HR. From 7:30pm. £15.00
Sat 16: Lady Nade @ Arc, Stockton. 8:00pm. ‘Lady Nade sings Nina Simone’.

Sun 17: Glenn Miller & Big Band Spectacular @ Forum Theatre, Billingham. 7:30pm.
Sun 17: QOW Trio @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £14.00., £12.00., £7.00. Spike Wells, Riley Stone-Lonergan & Eddie Myer.

Mon 18: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 18: Mark Williams Trio @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00.

Tue 19: GoGo Penguin + Daudi Matsiko @ Wylam Brewery, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). £22.00 + £4.40 bf.
Tue 19: Danny Lowndes’ Hot Club @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £15.00 + £5.00 bf.
Tue 19: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Michael Young (piano); Paul Grainger (double bass); Mark Robertson (drums).

Wed 20: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 20: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 20: Jordan Jackson @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £19.80 (inc. bf); £15.40 (inc. bf).
Wed 20: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 21: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Millstone, Mill Rise, South Gosforth, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 21: Jazz Classics with Rivkala @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. Rivkala (vocals); Alan Law (piano); Paul Grainger (double bass).
Thu 21: 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 22: Paul Skerritt @ Market Place, Durham. From 12 noon. Free. Skerritt w. backing tapes.
Fri 22: Paul Edis Trio @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. £9.00. Edis, Andy Champion, Steve Hanley.
Fri 22: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 22: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 22: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 22: Castillo Nuevo Trio @ Hotel Gotham, Newcastle. 5:30pm. Free.
Fri 22: Paul Edis Trio @ St Cuthbert’s Centre, Crook. 7:30pm. £TBC. Edis, Andy Champion, Steve Hanley.

Tuesday, December 13, 2022

Kind of Blue & a jam session @ Central Bar, Gateshead - Dec. 12

Pete Tanton (trumpet); Sue Ferris (alto sax, tenor sax); Alan Law (piano); Mick Shoulder (double bass); John Bradford (drums) + Ike Stow (trombone); Giles Strong (guitar)

Kind of Blue on a bitterly cold Monday evening. Freezing outside and, to be honest, not much warmer inside, the lure was the rare opportunity to hear the Central Bar Quintet 'play through' perhaps the most famous LP and, to this day, probably the biggest selling jazz album of all time. The ace rhythm section - Messrs Alan Law (Bill Evans, Wynton Kelly), Mick Shoulder (Paul Chambers) and John Bradford (Jimmy Cobb) - would provide the foundation for the modal frontline of Pete Tanton (Miles Davis) and Sue Ferris (John Coltrane, Cannonball Adderley). 

That's one helluva star-studded line-up, isn't it? Pete, Sue, Alan, Mick and John! And off they went, as per the Columbia recording, with So What. Mick getting his head and fingers round the instantly recognisable bass line, Pete coming in right on cue, as Milesian as you're likely to hear. Open horn or tightly muted, Pete's playing couldn't be bettered. Freddie Freeloader with Sue on alto (Cannonball), Pete sublime on Blue in Green, we were right there, 1959. 

Sue blew the alto sax blues on All Blues, fantastic! And then, to take it out, Flamenco Sketches. A little over one hour, the audience as attentive as it was possible to be, it had been a treat. 

Interval, colder than cold, it looked as though second set sitters-in would be thin on the (icy) ground. 

Ike Stow threw his hat into the ring calling Frankie and Johnny. Bold 'bone from the lanky enthusiast, staying on for Dark Eyes and Mercy, Mercy, Mercy. Giles Strong dropped by, Ralph Rainger's If I Should Lose You his first selection followed by I'll Remember April. Guitar playing of the highest order, whenever Giles is next in concert, be sure to be there. Gateshead's Central Bar on Half Moon Lane, second Monday in the month, it's the place to be. The Central Bar Quintet will be giving January a miss, the next session - put it in your 2023 diary - will be on Monday February 13. Russell        

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