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

Tue 30: Alan Law Trio @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 2:00pm. Free.
Tue 30: Eva Fox & the Sound Hounds @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

July

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).

Wednesday, May 22, 2024

A second decade Black Swan Jam session - May 21

Alan Law (piano); Paul Grainger (double bass); John Bradford (drums) + John Rowland (tenor sax); Ruth Lambert (vocals); Kate O'Neill (vocals); Bradley Johnston (guitar); Kyriaki Pantelidou (vocals); Mollie Birmingham (vocals); Stuart Turner (guitar); David Gray (trombone); Becky Tuck (vocals); Esther Coombes (alto sax, clarinet); Remi Coulthard-Boardman (vocals) 


Saturday's tenth anniversary jam session special would take some beating. Would this evening's jam session be a case of  'after the Lord Mayor's show'? The early birds duly arrived, the doors opened and the Black Swan began to fill up. Many new faces took their seats, perhaps they stumbled across Saturday's super jam during the Late Shows' culture-vulture trail (the Black Swan but one of many participating venues).
Alan Law playing piano guarantees a pulsating, swinging session. Aided and abetted by Paul Grainger and John Bradford, things were set fair. St Thomas for starters, one-nil to Mr. A. Law. John Rowland blew laid back tenor, David Gray blew 'Showtime' 'bone, joined throughout the evening by a galaxy of vocalists. Teach Me Tonight sang Ruth Lambert, one of the stars of Saturday's extravaganza. Wow! Bang on form, as usual. 

Kate O'Neill got all Misty and more, then, not In Walked Bud, but In Walked Bradley. Yes, guitarist Bradley Johnston, no less, joined the party. Fellow party-goer Kyriaki Pantelidou sang I Fall in Love Too Easily, accompanied by Joe Pass, sorry, Bradley Johnston. We hadn't seen or heard Kyriaki in a long time, time spent studying in Limerick, Ireland, accounting for her absence. A most welcome return to Tyneside. Bradley and Kyriaki hung around to make telling contributions to Manhã de Carnaval (P. Grainger and J. Bradford in sympathetic supporting roles). 

Mollie Birmingham sang as only Mollie Birmingham can, wringing out every last drop from Nature Boy then My Funny Valentine. Stuart Turner, of the Rockin' Turner Brothers, rocked up toting a Telecaster. Working alongside 'Showtime', Stuart played some knock out guitar on Don't Get Around Much Anymore and Lullaby of Birdland. Esther Coombes joined the party late (clarinet and alto sax), Becky Tuck belted out Me or Leave Me, great stuff! And then there was 'Remi CB'. That's recent graduate Remi Coulthard-Boardman singing Moondance. Boy, Remi sure can sing! We came full circle with a super-charged Ruth Lambert hollerin' Love Me Like a Man. After the Lord Mayor's show? Not a bit of it. Another excellent session, next one Tuesday June 4. Russell  

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