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

19,012 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 876 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Oct. 16) 55.

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 17: SunOrbitUs @ Culture House, Sunderland. 11:00am - 5:00pm. Closing event in a year-long piece of music. 11:00am-1:00pm Improvisation workshop w. Faye MacCalman; 2:00-5:00pm Collective Improvised Performance by Sunderland residents. SOLD OUT!
Sat 17: Tees Bay Swing Band @ Blacksmith’s Arms, Hartlepool. 1:30pm. Free. Open rehearsal.
Sat 17: Martin Taylor @ Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle. 7:30pm. £48.72; £43.37. Solo guitar. SOLD OUT!

Sun 18: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 18: Creakin’ Bones & the Sunday Dinners @ Tyne Bar, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. Jump jive.
Sun 18: Guisborough Big Band @ Redcar Rugby Club. 5:00-8:00pm. ‘Charity Big Band Birthday Bash’ in aid of Parkinson’s UK & Young Sounds UK. Free (donations on the door).
Sun 18: Martin Taylor @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm. £23.30. Solo guitar.
Sun 18: Ben Crosland Quartet with Steve Waterman @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 19: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 19: Sue Ferris Quintet @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00.

Tue 20: Alan Law @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 2:00pm. Free. Alan Law (piano) w. Pete Tanton (trumpet, flugelhorn).
Tue 20: Graham Hardy’s Eclectic Quartet @ Queen’s Head, Rothbury. 7:30pm. £11.00. Tickets from Tully’s, Rothbury. Coquetdale Jazz. Note change of venue.
Tue 20: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Alan Law, Paul Grainger, Scotty Adair.

Wed 21: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 21: FILM: Blue Moon @ Washington Arts Centre. 1:00pm. £4.50 (inc. bf). Biopic of lyricist Lorenz Hart.
Wed 21: De'Sean Jones’ Urban Art Orchestra @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £10.00.; £5.00. student, unwaged; free to Mercury Awards ticket holders. De'Sean Jones (tenor sax, EWI); Tjoe Man Cheung (guitar); Mikele Montolli (double bass) + others TBA.
Wed 21: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 21: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 21: Roby Glod-Steve Sewell Quartet @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 8:00pm.

Thu 22: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Millstone, Mill Rise, South Gosforth, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 22: Mercury Prize @ Utility Arena Newcastle. 8:00pm. £60.25.; £48.75. Line-up inc. Knats.
Thu 22: Dean Stockdale Trio @ Bandstand!, Exhibition Park, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Tickets: £10.20 (inc. bf) via Instagram. Dean Stockdale (piano); Mick Shoulder (double bass); John Bradford (drums).
Thu 22: Olly Styles Trio @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £7.75.

Fri 23: Sara Oschlag w. Arnie Somogyi Trio @ The Lit & Phil. 1:00pm. Sara Oschlag (vocals); Ben Lawrence (piano); Arnie Somogyi (double bass); John Hirst (drums). SOLD OUT!
Fri 23: Emma Fisk’s Hot Club du Nord @ Gala Theatre, Durham. 1:00pm. Durham Jazz Festival. SOLD OUT!
Fri 23: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 23: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 23: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 23: Maja Bugge & Dave Evans @ Claypath Deli, Durham. 7:00pm. Durham Jazz Festival.
Fri 23: Knats @ King Street Social Club, North Shields. 7:00pm. £17.00., £14.70., £11.30., £5.50. SOLD OUT!
Fri 23: King Bees @ Billy Bootleggers, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. Superb Chicago blues band.
Fri 23: Sara Oschlag & Arnie Somogyi w. Ben Lawrence @ Ship Isis, Sunderland. 7:30pm. Sara Oschlag (vocals); Ben Lawrence (keyboards); Arnie Somogyi (double bass).
Fri 23: Ronnie Scott’s Soho Songbook @ Redhills, Durham. 8:00pm. James Pearson (piano); Sam Burgess (double bass); Chris Higginbottom (drums); Alex Garnett (sax); Polly Gibbons (vocals). Durham Jazz Festival. SOLD OUT!
Fri 23: SwanNek + Jacob Egglestone @ Fabio’s Bar, Durham. 9:00pm. Durham Jazz Festival.

Wednesday, September 18, 2024

An autumnal Black Swan jam session - Sept. 17

Joe Steels (guitar); Paul Grainger (double bass); Abbie Finn (drums, trumpet) + Harry Keeble (tenor sax, piano); Bailey Rudd (drums); Theo Nolan (piano); Paul Ruddick (alto sax); Shivan Ruddick (trumpet); Liam Oliver (guitar); Dan Potter (drums); John Weaver (trumpet); Steve Summers (tenor sax); Esther Coombes (tenor sax, alto sax, clarinet); Hugh ? (drums); Carrie McCullock (vocals); ? (vocals); Owen Jones (double bass); Jamie Watkins (double bass); Shayo (vocals); Kath Butcher (vocals); Haaroun Miller (alto sax, tenor sax); Joe ? (drums); Oscar Nolan (vocals); Edgar Bell (trumpet) 

The house trio playing Cole Porter's Everything I Love opened the show followed by Bird's My Little Suede Shoes, things were going well. The Black Swan was busy, noticeably so. An unusually early change of personnel saw drummer Abbie Finn stepping down, Bailey Rudd a more than able dep. Hmm...

Harry Keeble called Naima. Now, this was the business! Finn returned with trumpet in hand. What's going on? Sure enough, award-winning drummer-turned-trumpeter, Abbie Finn plucked up the courage to play The Lady is a Tramp. Well, what do you know?! Session leader Joe Steels took five and, with Theo Nolan sitting-in on piano, Keeble (tenor sax) and Finn (trumpet) played Vernon Duke's Autumn in New York. Well, well, well...

In between Strictly Smokin' Big Band engagements, Steve Summers (tenor sax) popped in for a blow.* The Ruddicks were in the house. Manhã de Carnaval the selection. Ruddick Snr the established name, Ruddick Jr (that's trumpeter Shivan) fast coming up on the rails. Impressive. And another trumpeter...John Weaver. A regular at the Tannery jam session, it was good to see John making the trip from Hexham. Dan Potter was around, he would soon be behind the traps, Jamie Watkins, known primarily as an electric bass player, got to grips with MC Paul Grainger's double bass, and alongside Esther Coombes (reeds) they blazed a trail on Mr PC. 

Owen Jones (double bass) joined the party, a prowling Haaroun Miller (alto sax, tenor sax) grabbed a piece of the action, ditto Edgar Bell (trumpet). Vocalists Carrie McCullock, Oscar Nolan and others punctuated the instrumental flow, in other words, a typical night at the Black Swan jam session. As is the tradition, all horns left standing assembled for the grand finale. Directed by P. Grainger, the horns blew and blew and blew...

* The Strictly Smokin' Big Band with special guest Emma Smith will be at the Common Room (next door to the Lit & Phil) on Sunday 29 September (5:00pm). Book now: www.strictly-smokin.co.uk. Tickets are going fast! Russell
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1 comment :

Anonymous said...

Hugh Whitby, drums

Wednesday, September 18, 2024 11:34:00 am

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