Bebop Spoken There

Gary Bartz: ''Charlie Parker was my introduction to the religion of music. And so he's always with me .'' - Downbeat November 2025.

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

17972 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 936 of them this year alone and, so far, 45 this month (Nov. 14).

From This Moment On ...

November

Sun 16: Jo Harrop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:30pm. Duo performance.
Sun 16: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 2:30pm. Free. ‘Jazz Sunday’ with special guest PETE TANTON.
Sun 16: Lorne Lofsky-Nigel Price Quartet @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm. Lofsky (guitar); Price (guitar); Jeremy Brown (double bass); Joel Barford (drums).
Sun 16: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 16: Lorne Lofsky-Nigel Price Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Lofsky (guitar); Price (guitar); Jeremy Brown (double bass); Joel Barford (drums).

Mon 17: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club (1:00pm). Free.
Mon 17: Finn-Keeble Quartet @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00.

Tue 18: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Alan Law, Paul Grainger, Abbie Finn.

Wed 19: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 19: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 19: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 20: Castillo Nuevo Orquesta @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £6.50.

Fri 21: Tom Remon & Tony Ormesher @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT! Guitar duo.
Fri 21: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 21: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 21: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 21: Castillo Nuevo Trio @ Hotel Gotham, Newcastle. 5:30pm.
Fri 21: Pete Tanton’s Chet Set @ Sunderland Minster. 7:30pm.
Fri 21: East Coast Swing Band @ 1856 Exchange, North Shields. 7:30pm.
Fri 21: Martin Speake Quartet @ Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm.

Sat 22: Make Music Seminar: Latin American Music vs. Music of Latin America @ Glasshouse, Gateshead. 1:00pm. Live performance feat. Jason Holcomb, Alix Shepherd, Carlos Luis Rivera.
Sat 22: Tim Kliphuis Trio @ Berwick Parish Church, Parade, Berwick. 2:00pm. £15.00. A Berwick Music Society concert promotion. Kliphuis (violin), Nigel Clark (guitar), Roy Percy (double bass).
Sat 22: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 22: Bywater Call @ Anarchy Brew Co., Newcastle. 7:00pm. £27.50. Soul/blues.
Sat 22: Paul Skerritt Big Band @ The Westovian Theatre, South Shields. 7:30pm.

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

Wednesday, February 15, 2023

Rossano Sportiello: # 90 Live at the Flat in Greenwich Village - Feb. 14

Rossano Sportiello (piano); Emmet Cohen (piano); Johnny O'Neal (piano, vocals) + Giuseppe Cucchiara (double bass) 

Wow! This was a good one! Number 90 (# 90) in the series, Rossano Sportiello revealed his Tuesday evening online sessions were inspired by fellow pianist Emmet Cohen's Monday evening lockdown sessions (the running total of Cohen's streams is way in excess of one hundred weekly sessions). Subject to touring commitments, Sportiello and Cohen continue to perform from their respective NYC apartments to an online, global audience. This evening Sportiello invited Cohen and the legendary Johnny O'Neal to join him 'Live at the Flat'. 

Facebook, YouTube, the choice was/is yours, Sportiello opened with You'd Be So Nice to Come Home to, wonderful. Cohen solo on Maple Leaf Rag, Johnny O'Neal and Cohen playing a four-hander Stompin' at the Savoy, O'Neal singing (Sportiello at the upright) Blame it on My Youth, this was wonderful late night entertainment (10:00pm here on Tyneside, five in the afternoon in the Big Apple). A Sportiello ballad original (accompanied by fellow Italian, bassist Giuseppe Cucchiara) in homage to George Shearing featuring fabulous stride piano with a nod to the Sheik of Araby. Wonderful. To end this week's stream, all three pianists sat/jostled at the piano to play an amazing six-hander After You've Gone. Bravo! Rossano Sportiello will be back at his Greenwich Village flat at the end of March as the man is soon to set off on tour. If you're anywhere near one of his tour dates you could do worse than go along on the night! Russell

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