Bebop Spoken There

Emma Rawicz: "In a couple of years I've gone from being a normal university student to suddenly being on international stages." DownBeat January 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

18246 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 100 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Jan. 31), 100

From This Moment On ...

JANUARY 2026

Wed 04: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ 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: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 05: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £5.00. Subject:Times of the Day & Trios.
Thu 05: Jeremy McMurray’s Pocket Jazz Orchestra @ Arc, Stockton. 8:00pm. Special guest Emma Wilson.
Thu 05: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm.

Fri 06: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 06: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 06: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 06: Durham Alumni Big Band & Saltburn Big Band @ Saltburn Theatre. 7:30pm. £12.00. Two big bands on stage together!
Fri 06: Nauta + Littlewood Trio @ Little Buildings, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Double bill + jam session.
Fri 06: FILM: Made in America @ Star & Shadow Cinema, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Ornette Coleman.
Fri 06: Deep Six Blues @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 7:30pm.

Sat 07: The Big Easy @ St Augustine’s Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. £10.00. Darlington New Orleans Jazz Club.
Sat 07: Tees Bay Swing Band @ The Blacksmith’s Arms, Hartlepool. 1:30-3:30pm. Free. Open rehearsal.
Sat 07: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. £27.50. Tutor: Steve Glendinning. St Thomas & Bésame Mucho. Enrol at: learning@jazz.coop.
Sat 07: Side Cafe Oᴙkestar @ Café Under the Spire, Gateshead. 6:30pm. Table reservations: 0191 477 3970.
Sat 07: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.

Sun 08: Swing Tyne @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12 noon (doors). Donations. Swing dance taster class (12:30pm) + Hot Club de Heaton (live performance). Non dancers welcome.
Sun 08: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 08: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 08: Gerry Richardson’s Big Idea @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 09: Mark Williams Trio @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 1:00pm.
Mon 09: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 10: Jazz Jam Sandwich @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

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

Friday, February 24, 2023

Manchester Jazz Festival is back to jazz-up your Summer!

(Press release) Manchester Jazz Festival is back for 10 days of jam-packed festival fun and musical vibes across the city this May! 

mjf2023 will take place between 19 - 28 May 2023 at venues and sites across Manchester, celebrating the latest up and coming talent from across the North, and the best names in contemporary jazz including: Hot 8 Brass Band, Buena Vista Social Club's Eliades Ochoa, Mica Millar, Billy Cobham, Arun Ghosh, Fred Wesley and the New J.B.’s, Yemi Bolatiwa and many more... 

The festival begins with a spectacular FREE opening weekender at the new vibrant neighbourhood: First Street (mjf @ First Street) from 19 – 21 May 2023. There will be three event stages: Main Stage, Garden Stage and HOME stage, each celebrating the breadth and individuality of our home-grown scene: bands from, or with a strong connection to, the North.  

There are weekday gigs at St Ann’s Church, nightly gigs at Matt & Phreds, events at Forsyth Music Shop and at The Yard with partners NQ Jazz, with a couple of cheeky additions at The Blue’s Kitchen and the festival closes with an extended weekend-long party at Band on the Wall. mjf are also hosting a new commission *THEMORY taking place at The International Anthony Burgess Foundation - an immersive audiovisual installation, drawing from the subjective and fluid forces of family and history, place and time.  

Ticket prices range from free to £35 but there’s plenty of free-to-access music and activities taking place at locations across the city centre, including the whole opening weekender: mjf @ First Street.  

Tickets go on general sale at 10am on Friday 24 February at manchesterjazz.com 

***** 

Highlights of the festival programme are as follows:  

·         mjf @ First Street, 19 - 21 May 

Wizards of Twiddly, Yemi Bolatiwa, Good Habits, Ni Maxine, Charlotte Keeffe’s Right Here Right Now Quartet, Nick Walters, Ferg’s Imaginary Big Band, Apollo House, Nasa Parka, Moby Dickless, Aaron Wood & James Girling, Gary Washington Quartet, Rory A. Green, Paint or Pollen, J2oh and Moore & Fairhall. 

As well as some of the North’s leading artists gracing the Main Stage on Friday and Saturday (19 - 20 May), some of Greater Manchester’s 18-25 year-old bands from mjf’s soundcheck talent development programme, and a selection of mjf hothouse alumni artists, will perform on the Garden Stage and on Sunday (21 May) mjf partners with Jazz North to celebrate 10 years of the northern line touring support scheme: showcasing five acts selected by industry leaders.  

·          The Yard, presented in association with NQ Jazz, 22 - 24 May 

Donovan Haffer, Alina Bzhezhinska’s HipHarp Collective ft. Tony Kofi and Nathaniel Facey Trio 

·          St Ann’s Church, 24 - 26 May 

Freight Train featuring Paul Clavis, Liam Noble & Cathy Jordan, Robert Mitchell and Stan Sulzmann & Nikki Iles 

·          Matt and Phreds, 19 - 27 May 

Alligator Gumbo, Henry Botham's New Orleans Piano Gumbo, Los Chichanos, Arun Ghosh, M&P x mjf Open Jam, Cuba Vida Salsa Band, The Chanteuse, Jim Wallace, Baiana, Dan Burnett and Deadbeat Brass. 

·          Band on the Wall, 25 - 28 May 

Mica Millar, Rosie Frater-Taylor, Band on the Wall triple-bill: Robocobra, Romarna Campbell & Marcus Joseph, Hot 8 Brass Band (*at Albert Hall, promoted by Band on the Wall and mjf), Julie Campiche Quartet, Hannabiell & The Midnight Blue Collective and Buena Vista Social Club's Eliades Ochoa. 

·          Forsyths, 25 - 26 May 

Nishla Smith - The Beast, The James Pearson Trio (Ronnie Scott’s) – 100 Years of Jazz Piano 

·         The Blue’s Kitchen, 23 – 24 May 

Fred Wesley & The New J.B.'s and Miles Davis: Kind of Blue with Olivia Cuttill Quintet 

Steve Mead, mjf CEO and Artistic Director, said: “We can’t wait to welcome you back to our 10-day festival - the 28th mjf - to share some hugely inspiring artists with a host of venues and partners across the city.   

mjf is acknowledged for championing northern talent, under-the-radar artists and debuts of new music, as well as bringing some big names to Manchester, and of course for celebrating the diversity of our music and its artists.  

For many, mjf is the sound of surprise – it’s the sound we love and we hope you will too. We can’t wait for you to join us.”   

mjf2023 will take place from 19 – 28 May 2023 in venues across Manchester city centre. Tickets go on sale at 10am on 24 February at manchesterjazz.com   

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