Bebop Spoken There

Dominick "Domo" Branch: ''Most people say drummers can't write, they're just time-keepers only beating on things. But I have a very musical brain.'' (DownBeat February, 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

18288 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 142 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Feb. 14), 42

From This Moment On ...

February

Fri 20: Alex Clarke w. Dean Stockdale Trio @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT! Clarke w. Dean Stockdale, Mick Shoulder, Abbie Finn.
Fri 20: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 20: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 20: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 20: Squabble @ Warkworth Memorial Hall. 7:00pm. Steve Chambers (organ); Jude Murphy (double bass, vocals); Sid White (drums).
Fri 20: Jive Aces @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 7:00pm (6:30pm doors).
Fri 20: Alex Clarke w. Dean Stockdale Trio @ Sunderland Minster. 7:30pm. Clarke w. Dean Stockdale, Mick Shoulder, Abbie Finn.

Sat 21: ???

Sun 22: Musicians Unlimited: Big Band Blast @ West Hartlepool RFC. 1:00-3:00pm . Free.
Sun 22: Joe Steels Group @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm. A Blue Patch album tour.
Sun 22: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 22: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 22: Harben Kay Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 23: Joe Steels Group @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 1:00pm. A Blue Patch album tour.
Mon 23: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 24: Finn-Keeble Group @ Newcastle House Hotel, Rothbury. 7:30pm. £11.00.
Tue 24: Liam Oliver & Shayo Oshodi @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Wed 25: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 25: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 25: Geordie Jazz Jam @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. Newcastle University jam session. All welcome.
Wed 25: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 26: Castillo Nuevo Orquesta @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £6.50.
Thu 26: Shalala @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £7.00 adv.
Thu 26: Mick Cantwell Band @ The Harbour View, Roker, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Blues.

Fri 27: Joe Steels Group @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. £8.00. SOLD OUT! A Blue Patch album tour.
Fri 27: Alan Barnes w. Mick Shoulder Trio @ Bishop Auckland Methodist Church. 1:00pm. £9.00. Trio: Rick Laughlin (piano); Mick Shoulder (double bass); Tim Johnston (drums).
Fri 27: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 27: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 27: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 27: Radio Hito + Eddie Prévost, Silvain Schmid & Tom Wheatley @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). £12.22., £10.10., £8.00.
Fri 27: Giacomo Smith w Strictly Smokin’ Big Band @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm.
Fri 27: Alan Barnes w. Mick Shoulder Trio @ The Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. £15.00. Trio: Rick Laughlin (piano); Mick Shoulder (double bass); Tim Johnston (drums).

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, 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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