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 08, 2024

The Black Swan Jam session - May 7

This evening’s Black Swan jam session attracted yet another full house, they were queuing at half past six, an hour before the down beat. The house trio - Stuart Collingwood, Paul Grainger and Abbie Finn - warmed up with Henry Mancini’s Days of Wine and Roses. It wasn’t long before the first of the hopefuls caught the eye of MC Grainger. 

Up stepped Harry Keeble. A tenor saxophonist of some renown, this evening HK arrived with a soprano sax. Well, let’s hear if he can play the thing. Of course he could! Unforgettable the choice, great stuff! And it wasn’t long before alto saxophonist Luis Verde joined HK to play Lover Man. If that was to be the highlight, it was worth queuing for.

The singers got the nod: Kate O’Neill sang Night and Day and It’s Only a Paper Moon. Jan Spencelayh chose Love Me or Leave Me followed by a surprise vocal duet with Davd Gray, our duo making a great job of It Had to Be You.

MC Grainger called for a piano player. His luck was in, step forward Murray Wankling. What’s more, Jamie Watkins was in the house (our MC joined Stu C at the bar). Drummer Abbie took five, Bailey Rudd a more than capable sub. The house trio returned to the stage to support Messrs. Keeble and Verde on a rip-roaring take on Ornithology. The horns blazing, MC Grainger cookin’. If that was to be the highlight, it had been worth queuing for.

There’s no use crying over spilt milk, so the saying goes. The Nolan brothers were first heard many years ago busking on Northumberland Street. As school kids, they were good, very good, superb vocal harmonies. Fast forward a few years to this evening’s Black Swan jam session. Now, as young adults, calling themselves Spilt Milk, how would they shape up? Oscar, Isaac and Theo sang Me and Mrs. Jones. Now, it takes something special to upstage Harry and Luis, but on this occasion Spilt Milk did just that. Superb!

The finishing line was coming into view. MC Grainger called on the Esther Coombes Experience to close the session. Esther, clarinet and alto sax, is one of the Black Swan jam session’s most loyal supporters and, with all onboard the ECE, they went out on Chameleon, all blowing, drummer Bailey nailing the groove. It had been quite a night. The next session will be on Tuesday, May 21. It all starts at 7:30pm but if you want a seat you know what to do…starting queuing now. Russell 

Stuart Collingwood (piano); Paul Grainger (double bass); Abbie Finn (drums) + Harry Keeble (soprano sax); Luis Verde (alto sax); Kate O'Niell (vocals); David Gray (trombone, trumpet, ocarina, vocals), Edgar Bell (trumpet); Bailey Rudd (drums); Jan Spencelayh (vocals); Murray Wankling (piano); Ian Drever (vocals); Jamie Watkins (double bass); Shayo (vocals); Esther Coombes (clarinet, alto sax); the Nolan brothers - Oscar, Isaac & Theo (the Spilt Milk vocalists)

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