Bebop Spoken There

Donovan Haffner ('Best Newcomer' 2025 Parliamentary Jazz Awards): ''I got into jazz the first time I picked up a saxophone!" - Jazzwise Dec 25/Jan 26

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

18146 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 24 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Jan. 7), 24

From This Moment On ...

JANUARY 2026

Sat 10: Mark Toomey Quintet @ St Peter’s Church, Stockton-on-Tees. 7:30pm. £12.00. (inc. pie & peas). Tickets from: 07749 255038.

Sun 11: New ’58 Jazz Collective @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 11: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 11: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 11: Eva Fox & the Sound Hounds @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 12: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 12: Saltburn Big Band @ Saltburn House Hotel. 7:00-9:00pm. Free.

Tue 13: Milne Glendinning Band @ Newcastle House Hotel, Rothbury. 7:30pm. £11.00. Coquetdale Jazz.
Tue 13: Jazz Jam Sandwich @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Wed 14: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 14: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 14: Jam Session @ The Tannery, Hexham. 7:00pm. Free.
Wed 14: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 15: Mark Toomey Quartet @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm. Free. Quartet + guest Paul Donnelly (guitar).

Fri 16: Giles Strong Quartet @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. £8.00. SOLD OUT!
Fri 16: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 16: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 16: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 16: Darlington Big Band @ The Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. Opus 4 Jazz Club.
Fri 16: Leeds City Stompers @ Billy Bootleggers, Newcastle. 9:00pm. 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

Monday, May 01, 2023

Suzanne Fonseca Quartet @ the Railway, Stockport - April 30

Suzanne Fonseca (trombone); Jim Collins (tenor sax); Richard Wetherall (piano); Gavin Barras (bass).

This was a drummer-less outfit and fortunately on hand to keep the groove solid was bassman Gavin Barras who has been involved in many great gigs here at the Railway. Jim Collins is often seen here as a member of Freddie Garner's Quartet but on this occasion we heard him using a more mellow approach to blend with Suzanne’s trombone. The twelve tunes played tonight were mainly familiar standards done at a relaxed medium tempo. There was one which was played at a slower tempo and that was the ballad Nancy With the Laughing Face.

Richard Wetherall got to play some interesting solos on the house upright and he never seems to run out of ideas. I like the sound of the trombone in jazz and one of the best small jazz groups ever was the Jazztet lead by Benny Golson and Curtis Fuller. They got the blend of tenor sax and trombone to sound like one instrument and it would be interesting to hear what Suzanne and Jim could do with some of those Jazztet tunes like Whisper Not for instance. Suzanne finished the concert as she always does with her version of Besame Mucho and we all agreed it had been an excellent evening of modern jazz.      


The next jazz night at the Railway is on Tuesday with the Ed Kainyek Quartet. Mike Farmer


In a Mellotone; Triste; Poor Butterfly; Gone With the Wind; Stella by Starlight; Times A-Wastin’; Have You Met Miss Jones?; Softly as in a Morning Sunrise; Night and Day; Nancy With The Laughing Face; Pennies From Heaven; Besame Mucho.

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