Bebop Spoken There

John McLaughlin: ''It was then that Coltrane came along and single-handedly brought this dimension of spirituality into jazz. It was a pivotal experience to me.'' (DownBeat September, 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

18957 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 821 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Sept. 30.) 100.

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

September.

Fri 02: Alison Gill + Markrokosmos @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music (NFOJAIM).SOLD OUT!
Fri 02: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 02: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 02: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 02: Gilby & Hunter + Andy Champion @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 6:00pm. NFOJAIM. SOLD OUT!
Fri 02: Abbie Finn Quartet @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm. The Abbie Finn Trio augmented by Dean Stockdale (piano).
Fri 02: Alexia Gardner Trio @ Warkworth Memorial Hall. 7:30pm. £15.00.
Fri 02: Zoe Rahman Trio @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 8:00pm. NFOJAIM. SOLD OUT!

Sat 03: New Orleans Ragtime Band @ St Augustine’s Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. £10.00. Darlington New Orleans Jazz Club. Gavin Lee & co.
Sat 03: Anemone Quartet + Jeepe Zeeburg @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. NFOJAIM.
Sat 03: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. £27.50. Tutor: Steve Glendinning. Caravan. Enrol at: learning@jazz.coop.
Sat 03: Tees Bay Swing Band @ Blacksmith’s Arms, Hartlepool. 1:30pm. Free. Open rehearsal.
Sat 03: Struggle Buggy @ The Peacock, Sunderland. 6:00pm. Free. Excellent blues band.
Sat 03: Bright Street Big Band @ Washington Arts Centre. 6:30pm. £12.50 (inc. bf). Two sets: 7:30-8:15pm & 8:45-9:30pm. ‘Swing Band Dance Night’.
Sat 03: Olie Brice Quartet + Alexander Hawkins + Harper Trio @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 7:00pm. NFOJAIM.
Sat 03: Paul Skerritt Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 8:00pm. Free.
Sat 03: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.

Sun 04: Tees Bay Swing Band @ Heugh Battery, Hartlepool. 11:00am-12 noon & 1:00-2:00pm.
Sun 04: Smokin’ Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm. £10.00.
Sun 04: Ian Bosworth Quintet @ Chapel, Middlesbrough. 1:00pm. Free. Quintet w. special guest Bill Watson (trumpet).
Sun 04: Sax Choir w. Rachel Musson @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 04: Rivkala + Ceitidh Mac + Thatcher & Knowles @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:30pm. A NFOJAIM event.
Sun 04: Ruth Lambert Trio @ The Juke Shed, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free. RESCHEDULED from September 27.
Sun 04: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 04: NUJO Jazz Jam @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £3.00.

Mon 05: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 05: Saltburn Big Band @ Saltburn House Hotel. 7:00-9:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).

Tue 06: Alan Law @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 2:00pm. Free. Alan Law (piano) w. Paul Grainger (double bass).
Tue 06: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Murray Oak, Paul Grainger, John Bradford.
Tue 06: Customs House Big Band @ The Masonic Hall, Ferryhill. 7:30pm. Free.
Tue 06: Black is the Color of My Voice @ Northern Stage, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Apphia Campbell’s one-woman stage play inspired by Nina Simone. First night of two.

Wed 07: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free. Wed 07: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 07: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 07: Black is the Color of My Voice @ Northern Stage, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Apphia Campbell’s one-woman stage play inspired by Nina Simone. Second night of two.

Thu 08: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Millstone, Mill Rise, South Gosforth, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 08: Amphitrio @ The Forum, Darlington. 7:30pm. £8.00. Andrei Petrache (piano); Mike Alex (double bass); Philip Goron (drums).
Thu 08: Pete Tanton’s Chet Set @ Newcastle Arts Centre. 7:30pm. Free (donations).
Thu 08: Indigo Jazz Voices w. Little Big Band @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:45pm. £5.00.

Sunday, January 28, 2024

Nicola Farnon Trio: a Perfect Loverly Day @ The Gala, Durham - Jan 26

© Russell)
Nicola Farnon (double bass, vocals); Richard Wetherall (piano); Phil Johnson (drums)

After a break of a couple of months or so, the Gala Theatre's monthly lunchtime concert series resumed with the welcome return of Nicola Farnon. Last heard in Durham pre-pandemic (April 2017) working in a scratch trio with Paul Edis and Russ Morgan, it came as little surprise Ms Farnon would once again play to a full house. 

For this January 2024 engagement, Farnon brought along her established trio of Richard Wetherall and Phil Johnson, pianist Wetherall making the trip across the Pennines, bassist and vocalist Farnon travelling 'up north' with drummer Phil Johnson from their Yorkshire base. Opening with Vernon Duke's Taking a Chance on Love, in an instant Farnon's trio won over the capacity audience. Straight ahead, swinging jazz, just what Dr Jazz ordered to blow away those mid-winter blues. 

(© Russell)
It's one thing to be a swinging bass player (Farnon is just that), it's another to simultaneously sing and play swinging bass lines. Pianist Wetherall has been around the block a few times. In demand throughout the north of England and beyond, a cv boasting sessions with the likes of Alan Skidmore and Bobby Wellins, Radio 3 exposure, and sharing a concert bill with Tony Bennett, the term 'go-to' springs to mind. Drummer Phil Johnson cuts a casual figure. An alumnus of the celebrated Wigan Youth Jazz Orchestra, gigs with the likes of Alan Barnes, Jim Mullen, Bobby Shew and a long list of big bands (Nelson Riddle Orchestra UK, Squadronnaires), Johnson knows the score.

A set comprising GASbook gems and two or three original compositions simply flew by. Farnon's engaging performance, the trio swinging along with aplomb, the Gala audience lapped it up: Rodgers and Hart's I Didn't Know What Time it Was, a perky take on Jerome Kern's Pick Yourself Up, Farnon's When Love's as Good as Loving Gets and, a candidate for modern day GASbook status, Perfect Loverly Day, replete with Farnon's affecting Wiltshire burr.

At the end of an entertaining hour the audience wanted to hear more, a quick encore, then to the sales desk. Farnon's CDs deservedly found many new homes. Russell        

Set list: Taking a Chance on Love; Perfect Loverly Day; Pick Yourself Up; It's Just Got to be That Way; When Love's as Good as Loving Gets; I Didn't Know What Time it Was; The Nearness of You; Sing; I Could Have Danced All Night; The Little Things That Matter the Most. 

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