Bebop Spoken There

Joe Alterman: ''All I wanted to do growing up was to sound like Erroll Garner playing "Poor Butterfly." I thought that was the coolest sound I'd ever heard.'' (DownBeat November, 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

19,061 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 925 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Oct. 30) 104.

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

October.

Sat 31: Saltburn Big Band + Durham Alumni Big Band @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm.
Sat 31: East Coast Swing Band @ Cramlington Village Club, Park View, Cramlington NE23 6QJ. 7:30pm. £10.00. (from venue).

November

Sun 01: Smokin’ Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm. £10.00.
Sun 01: Ian Bosworth Quintet @ Chapel, Middlesbrough. 1:00pm. Free. Quintet w. special guest Donna Hewitt (tenor sax, clarinet)
Sun 01: Sax Choir @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 01: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 01: Sarah Heneghan Trio @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 02: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 02: Saltburn Big Band @ Saltburn House Hotel. 7:00-9:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).

Tue 03: Alan Law @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 2:00pm. Free. Alan Law (piano) w. guest tba
Tue 03: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Stu Collingwood, Paul Grainger, Abbie Finn.
Tue 03: Customs House Big Band @ The Masonic Hall, Ferryhill. 7:30pm. Free.

Wed 04: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 04: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 04: An Evening of Erykah Badu @ Holy GrAle, Durham. 7:30pm. £3.00.; £2.50. A Durham University Jazz Society event.
Wed 04: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 05: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Millstone, Mill Rise, South Gosforth, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 05: Hejira - Celebrating Joni Mitchell @ Alnwick Playhouse. 7:30pm.
Thu 05: Cut Capers @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors).
Thu 05: Northern Reaches @ Newcastle Arts Centre. 7:30pm. Free (donations). Pete Tanton, Joe Steels, Laurence Blackadder, John Hirst.
Thu 05: Fergus McCreadie @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm.

Fri 06: Mike Durham’s International Classic Jazz Party @ Village Hotel, West Allotment. 12 noon. Day 1/3.
Fri 06: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 06: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 06: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 06: Jazz Night: Bridget Metcalfe @ Saltburn House Hotel. From 6:00pm. Tickets: £40.00 (inc. a two-course meal & glass of Prosecco). Tel: 01287 658977.

Monday, July 24, 2023

The Martin Speake Quartet @ The Globe - July 23

(© Sheila Herrick)
Martin Speake (alto sax); Francis Tulip (guitar); Tommy Fuller (double bass); Steve Hanley (drums)

The fourth and final engagement of Martin Speake's tour of north east venues. First Bishop Auckland, then Darlington, followed by Hexham and onto this evening's gig at Newcastle Jazz Co-op HQ. The Globe's advance bookings indicated a good number of folk would be making their way to Railway Street. As the rain finally relented the hordes (it's all relative) descended.

(© Sheila Herrick)
Four familiar faces - bandleader, alto saxophonist Martin Speake, local hero, guitarist Francis Tulip, Switzerland based bassist Tommy Fuller and Leeds based drummer Steve Hanley - took to the stage without fanfare. 

Speake's post bop, razor-sharp alto lines didn't tear it up (they weren't designed to), the opener, Toxicity (based upon I Got Rhythm), signalled where he was coming from. To his right, the mightily impressive Francis Tulip. As a local lad, north east jazz fans know that Tulip can shred with the best of them. This evening we heard a restrained - dare one say 'refined'? - Francis Tulip. Playing on the edge with one foot firmly planted on the inside, resisting the temptation to take it outside, this was Tulip the maturing guitarist. 

(© Sheila Herrick)
Francis T's old pal, bassist Tommy Fuller divides his time between Switzerland and the UK. Four gigs with Martin Speake seems like nice work if you can get it and Fuller got it! Thinking about it, like Tulip, Fuller showed commendable restraint. One sensed the influence of one M. Speake. Tucked away in the corner, Steve Hanley, a drummer for any and every occasion, a 'listening' musician. 

Most of the compositions were from the pen of M. Speake with a couple of standards thrown in for good measure and you couldn't spot the join. Speake brought along copies of any number of CDs he's recorded over the years, however, one chart he never got round to recording - Universal Connections - received an airing right here on Railway Street. Several times during the course of two sets Speake and Tulip played lines in unison, most impressive! It had been an evening of top class jazz. Next week (Sunday 30 July) it's David Gray's Flextet, eight o'clock start.                       

Set list included: Toxicity; Twister; Dancing in the Dark; Bouncy; 4/4; Hildegard; Universal Connections; Where Are You?.
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