Bebop Spoken There

Melissa Aldana: ''Having to play a ballads album, which is something very revealing for a saxophone player, would help me to question some new aspects of how to go deeper into sound." (DownBeat May, 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

18656 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 520 of them this year alone and, so far this month (June 25) 72

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

June

Wed 01: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 01: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 01: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 02: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Millstone, Mill Rise, South Gosforth, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 02: Paul Skerritt @ Angels' Share, St George's Terrace, Jesmond, Newcastle NE2 2SX. 8:00pm. Free. Booking advised (0191 200 1975). Skerritt w. backing tapes.
Thu 02: De’Sean Jones & Blaque Dynamite feat. Urban Art Orchestra @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). De’Sean Jones (MD, tenor sax); Blaque Dynamite (Mike Mitchell, drums); Jamie Murray (drums) with UAO horns & strings.
Thu 02: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm.
Thu 02: Howlin’ Mat @ Newcastle Arts centre. 7:30pm. Free. Acoustic

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: Paul Donnelly Quartet @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm.
Fri 03: Martin Taylor @ Arc, Stockton. 8:00pm. Taylor (solo guitar).

Sat 04: Spats Langham’s Hot Fingers @ St Augustine’s Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. £10.00. Darlington New Orleans Jazz Club.
Sat 04: Michael Woods @ Cycle Hub, Quayside, Ouseburn. 1:30-2:30pm & 3:00-4:00pm. Free. Acoustic blues guitar. An Ouseburn Festival event.
Sat 04: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. £27.50. Tutor: Steve Glendinning. Take the ‘A’ Train to Summertime: From Melody to Masterclass. Enrol at: learning@jazz.coop.
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. Feat. guest Kevin Eland (trumpet).
Sun 05: Michael Woods @ Cycle Hub, Quayside, Ouseburn. 1:30-2:30pm & 3:15-4:00pm. Free. Acoustic blues guitar. An Ouseburn Festival event.
Sun 05: Lydia Rae Quintet @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £10.00. Rae (vocals); Sam Lightwing (alto sax, tenor sax); Ben Lawrence (piano); Andy Champion (double bass); John Bradford (drums).
Sun 05: Sax Choir @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 05: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Table reservations (0191 261 8000). Skerritt w. backing tapes.
Sun 05: Storytellers Street Band @ Ouseburn Woodland, Ouseburn. 5:00-6:00pm. Free. An Ouseburn Festival event.
Sun 05: Gerry Richardson’s Big Idea @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Sun 05: Jambone @ Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:15-9:45pm. Free but ticketed.

Mon 06: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 06: Saltburn Big Band @ Saltburn House Hotel. 7:00-9:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).

Tue 07: Alan Law Trio @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 2:30pm. Free.
Tue 07: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Ben Lawrence (piano); Paul Grainger (double bass); John Bradford (drums).
Tue 07: Customs House Big Band @ The Masonic Hall, Ferryhill. 7:30pm. Free.

Monday, January 01, 2024

Preview: 2024 (part 1)

That was a very good year for jazz, wasn't it? 2023 that is. Packed houses, sold out notices, a 'one in, one out'  system in operation at a jam session (honestly!), who said: Jazz is dead?!  At BSH HQ (that's Hebburn, South Tyneside) it's time look forward to this year, 2024. And what a year it promises to be! On the local scene (broadly Tyneside, up north to Berwick, down to the Tees Delta and west to Hexham and sundry Tyne Valley outposts) there are many great gigs to look forward to. And there is 'local' interest further afield, both nationally and internationally...

The award-winning Globe (Newcastle Jazz Co-op's community owned venue) has some very tasty looking gigs lined up, Jeremy McMurray's bi-monthly concert presentation at Arc, Stockton is invariably a sellout and Sunderland is on the up. That's a revitalised Wearside jazz scene and SAFC! The Fire Station (adjacent to the Empire) is one of several jewels in Sunderland's much-touted 'Cultural Quarter' and then there is a no-expense-spared new venue, step forward Seventeen Nineteen (see photo). Dating from 1719 (hence the name), the renovated Georgian church in Hendon is to present a monthly jazz concert, the first one featuring Mick Shoulder's Swing Manouche (the date for your diary - Friday 15 March). First the Fire Station, now Seventeen Nineteen. Wearsiders unite, support your local jazz venues! 

Monthly lunchtime sessions in Bishop Auckland, Durham and Newcastle go from strength to strength, this year presenting some of the very best musicians based right here on BSH's doorstep alongside several high profile national names and one or two international guests. Similarly, lunchtime Dixieland/New Orleans residencies continue to thrive (Cullercoats, Holywell, Monkseaton, Stockton).

There's more, much more. Jazz North East will be presenting a slew of gigs across Newcastle and at the Glasshouse (formerly Sage Gateshead), 2024 marks Blaydon Jazz Club's 40th anniversary year. BJC's first concert of the year presents the brilliant jazz guitar duo of James Birkett and Bradley Johnston (Monday 18 March at the Black Bull on Bridge Street). Jam sessions abound - the Black Swan, Newcastle Arts Centre (first and third Tuesdays in the month), the Globe's various sessions (Sundays and Wednesdays) and over in Gateshead a first Sunday evening in the month session at the Schooner on South Shore Road. 

The New Century Ragtime Orchestra will embark upon a mammoth tour comprising all of two concert dates. Two gigs in a calendar year for the NCRO constitutes a tour! Dorman's (Darlington), Claypath Deli (Durham), Hops and Cheese (Hartlepool), Gosforth Civic Theatre (Newcastle), King's Hall (Newcastle, Thursday lunchtime, term time), Prohibition Bar (Newcastle), they'll all be chipping in throughout the year. Part two tomorrow...Russell
at

No comments :

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments ( Atom )

Blog Archive