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

Thu 08: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £5.00. Subject: Jazz Milestones of 1976.

Fri 09: The House Trio @ Bishop Auckland Methodist Church. 1:00pm. £9.00.
Fri 09: Nauta @ Jesmond Library, Newcastle. 1:00pm. £5.00. Trio: Jacob Egglestone, Jamie Watkins, Bailey Rudd.
Fri 09: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 09: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 09: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 09: Warren James & the Lonesome Travellers @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm. £15.00.
Fri 09: The Blue Kings @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £10.00. (£8.00. adv.). All-star band.

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.

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

Sunday, June 25, 2023

Album review: Matt Holborn's Learn to Draw - *here (and other stories)

Matt Holborn (violin); Kourosh Kanani (guitar); Domenico Angarano (bass); Joost Hendrickx (drums) + on track 6 Miranda Lewis Brown (cello); Julia Reis (viola) 

Matt Holborn's new album *here (and other stories) is the debut release from the violinist's Learn to Draw project. A noted Djangologist and a fixture on the London jazz scene, Holborn has assembled a top class quartet - guitarist and fellow Djangologist Kourosh Kanani, bassist Domenico Angarano and drummer Joost Hendrickx - augmented on Learn to Draw (the sixth track on the album) by two string players from the London-based J.A.M. ensemble - Miranda Lewis Brown, cello, and Julia Dos Reis.  

The product of a Hull Jazz Festival commission, the recording's seven tracks are something of a departure from the music associated with the London Django Collective. Embracing a wide range of styles and influences from Eastern Europe, India, America and beyond, Here is a suite of tunes inspired by, perhaps depicting, some of the many facets of Hull, Holborn's home town. Prior to going into the studio, Holborn made a point of returning to the city to reacquaint himself with his childhood haunts, to the extent that he signed up to a guided tour of the city. Paul, the tour guide on the day, lends his name to the opening track - Here suite - Paul's Round.

Jazz, folk and more, with melody at its core, the varied, disparate sounds are, perhaps, a response to Hull's historical links with people and communities from across the globe. The album's press release refers to Learn to Draw's 'indie tinged study of 3 part string writing combined with sections of improvised string ensemble playing'. It's likely that written and improvised sections are at the heart of each track. The album's forty six minutes' worth of material demands repeated listening which, no doubt, will reveal more riches.                              
Learn to Draw's *here (and other stories) is available from www.mattholborn.com. Russell

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