Bebop Spoken There

Ludovic Beier (Django Festival Allstars): ''Manouche means 'free man,' and gypsies have been travelers since they migrated west from India to Europe.'' (DownBeat March, 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

18402 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 266 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Mar. 31 ), 76

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

April

Thu 02: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £5.00. Subject: Musicians playing classical & orchestral music.
Thu 02: The Noel Dennis Band @ Prohibition Bar, Albert Road, Middlesbrough TS1 2RU. 7:00pm (doors). £10.84. Quartet plus special guest Zoë Gilby. Over 21s only.
Thu 02: Renegade Brass Band @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors).
Thu 02: Shalala @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £7.00. adv..
Thu 02: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm.

Fri 03: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 03: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 03: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 03: King Bees @ Billy Bootleggers, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). Free. Chicago blues.

Sat 04: Jake Leg Jug Band @ St Augustine’s Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. £10.00. Darlington New Orleans Jazz Club.
Sat 04: Tees Bay Swing Band @ The Blacksmith’s Arms, Hartlepool. 1:30-3:30pm. Free. Open rehearsal.
Sat 04: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. £27.50. Tutor: Steve Glendinning. Anthropology. Enrol at: learning@jazz.coop.
Sat 04: Wild Women of Wylam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). £10.00.
Sat 04: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.

Sun 05: Smokin’ Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm. £10.00.
Sun 05: Ian Bosworth Quintet @ Chapel, Middlesbrough. 1:00pm. Free Quintet + guest Neil Brodie (trumpet).
Sun 05: Mark Williams & Tom Remon @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £10.00.
Sun 05: Sax Choir @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 05: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 05: Jazzmain @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £14.00., £12.00., £7.00.

Mon 06: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 06: Saltburn Big Band @ Saltburn House Hotel. 7:00-9:00pm. Free.

Tue 07: Customs House Big Band @ The Masonic Hall, Ferryhill. 7:30pm. Free.
Tue 07: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Ben Lawrence (piano); Paul Grainger (double bass); Abbie Finn (drums).

Wed 08: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 08: Jam session @ The Tannery, Hexham. 7:00pm. Free.
Wed 08: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 08: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 08: Zoë Gilby & Johnny Hunter @ Elder Beer, Heaton, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.00. JNE.

Wednesday, July 26, 2023

Jazz sets the Edinburgh Fringe swinging


(© Benjamin Ealovega)

(Press release): Scottish jazz features prominently in a new pop-up venue on the Edinburgh Fringe during August.

Saxophonists Tommy Smith and Helena Kay (pictured left), pianists Fergus McCreadie and Brian Kellock, guitarist Graeme Stephen, drummer Tom Bancroft and singer Georgia Cécile are among the leading names included in the programme at the Rose Theatre in Edinburgh’s colourful Rose Street from Friday 4th to Monday August 28.

(Phone shot)
Graeme Stephen and his duo partner, guitarist and poet Don Paterson (pictured left) open the programme on the 4th. Paterson, who co-led the Celtic-jazz group Lammas with saxophonist Tim Garland before his poetry career took off, recently published a memoir, Toy Fights, which has been hailed as a classic of its kind. He and Stephen are united by their shared love of John Abercrombie and Bill Frisell.

Stephen will also present live soundtracks to the classic films The Penalty and Nosferatu on Wednesday 9 and Sunday 13.

(© Derek Clark)
Stars of the recent Buxton International Festival's jazz weekend, Tommy Smith and the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra’s regular pianist, Peter Johnstone (pictured left), play on Sunday 27, and Helena Kay’s trio play on Saturday 12. Fergus McCreadie features in a duo with saxophonist Matt Carmichael (Wednesday 16) and in Carmichael’s quintet (Thursday 24) and Brian Kellock presents his swinging tribute to guitarist and raconteur Marty Grosz (Sunday 13).

Tom Bancroft pays homage to drummer Paul Motian in Motian & Me (Friday 11 and Thursday 17) and his saxophone-playing twin, Phil, in addition to featuring in Motian & Me, plays a trio date on Monday 14. The multi-award-winning Georgia Cécile plays two concerts, on Tuesday 22 and Wednesday 23.

(Tommy Smith phone shot)
The programme also includes the hard grooving Nimbus Sextet, the manouche-styled Viper Swing, Glasgow-based jazz-funk-folk juggernaut Fat-Suit, saxophone-guitar pairing Konrad Wiszniewski & Haftor Medboe, singer Niki King, the free-wheeling AKU, and Trio Magico, who specialise in the music of Brazilian icon Egberto Gismonti.

Douglas Robertson, of the Soundhouse organisation who are running the venue in partnership with Bellfield Brewery, said: “We’re really pleased to be presenting a showcase of the best of Scottish music at this year’s Fringe. Along with the jazz programme, we have some of the best folk and traditional musicians and we’re looking forward to letting visitors to the Fringe experience the high quality that’s on Edinburgh’s doorstep.”

Tickets for all shows at the Rose Theatre are available HERE.

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