Bebop Spoken There

Dominick "Domo" Branch: ''Most people say drummers can't write, they're just time-keepers only beating on things. But I have a very musical brain.'' (DownBeat February, 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

18288 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 142 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Feb. 14), 42

From This Moment On ...

February

Fri 20: Alex Clarke w. Dean Stockdale Trio @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT! Clarke w. Dean Stockdale, Mick Shoulder, Abbie Finn.
Fri 20: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 20: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 20: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 20: Squabble @ Warkworth Memorial Hall. 7:00pm. Steve Chambers (organ); Jude Murphy (double bass, vocals); Sid White (drums).
Fri 20: Jive Aces @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 7:00pm (6:30pm doors).
Fri 20: Alex Clarke w. Dean Stockdale Trio @ Sunderland Minster. 7:30pm. Clarke w. Dean Stockdale, Mick Shoulder, Abbie Finn.

Sat 21: ???

Sun 22: Musicians Unlimited: Big Band Blast @ West Hartlepool RFC. 1:00-3:00pm . Free.
Sun 22: Joe Steels Group @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm. A Blue Patch album tour.
Sun 22: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 22: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 22: Harben Kay Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 23: Joe Steels Group @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 1:00pm. A Blue Patch album tour.
Mon 23: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 24: Finn-Keeble Group @ Newcastle House Hotel, Rothbury. 7:30pm. £11.00.
Tue 24: Liam Oliver & Shayo Oshodi @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Wed 25: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 25: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 25: Geordie Jazz Jam @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. Newcastle University jam session. All welcome.
Wed 25: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 26: Castillo Nuevo Orquesta @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £6.50.
Thu 26: Shalala @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £7.00 adv.
Thu 26: Mick Cantwell Band @ The Harbour View, Roker, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Blues.

Fri 27: Joe Steels Group @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. £8.00. SOLD OUT! A Blue Patch album tour.
Fri 27: Alan Barnes w. Mick Shoulder Trio @ Bishop Auckland Methodist Church. 1:00pm. £9.00. Trio: Rick Laughlin (piano); Mick Shoulder (double bass); Tim Johnston (drums).
Fri 27: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 27: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 27: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 27: Radio Hito + Eddie Prévost, Silvain Schmid & Tom Wheatley @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). £12.22., £10.10., £8.00.
Fri 27: Giacomo Smith w Strictly Smokin’ Big Band @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm.
Fri 27: Alan Barnes w. Mick Shoulder Trio @ The Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. £15.00. Trio: Rick Laughlin (piano); Mick Shoulder (double bass); Tim Johnston (drums).

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

Tuesday, October 01, 2024

October highlights...

October is a month of non-stop goodies. The Newcastle Festival of Jazz and Improvised Music continues across the first week of the month, running up against two unmissable gigs, the first of them on Saturday evening, the second on Sunday afternoon. On Saturday, doors at 7:00pm (Oct. 5), tenor saxophonist Lewis Watson pops up in Wylam with his acclaimed quartet and at two o'clock on Sunday (Oct. 6) alto saxophonist Luis Verde appears at Gateshead's Central Bar (see the BSH listings). What a start to the month!

Dulcie May Moreno makes a quick return to the region to play two gigs, the first of them at Auckland Castle (1:00pm, Fri. 11), the second at Newcastle's award-winning Globe (8pm, Sun.13). In between, Saturday sees the debut of the Lapwing Jazz TrioThe Ship in Low Newton, Northumberland is the place to hear the trio - Paula WhittyJude Murphy and Richard Herdman

Mid-month, Newcastle University's weekly Thursday lunchtime concert series presents the Olivia Cuttill Quintet. The date for your diary - Oct. 17 for a 1:15pm start (free admission). The Chet Set (that's Pete Tanton tip-of-the-hat to Mr. C. Baker) can be heard at Sunderland's excellent 1719 venue and on the same night (Oct. 18) down at Opus 4 Jazz Club in Darlington, it's the Ben Crosland Quartet

Gideon Tazelaar 
is on tour! Catch the Dutch tenor saxophonist with an ace quartet (Joe Steels, guitar, Arnie Somogyi, double bass, John Hirst, drums) at Blyth's Yamaha Music School (1:00pm) and Blaydon Jazz Club (8:00pm), both Monday 21st. Fresh from touring Australia, the violin virtuoso Daniel John Martin will be playing five concerts in five days with his good friends Swing Manouche. Here are the dates...Wed 23 (Auckland Castle), Thurs. 24 (Holy GrAle, Durham), Fri. 25 (Newcastle's Lit & Phil, SOLD OUT!), Sun 25 (Queen's Hall, Hexham, afternoon, and the Globe, Newcastle, evening). And last, but by no means least, North Shield's 1856 Exchange has pulled off something of a coup. On Saturday 26th, all the way from the States with his all-American quartet, believe it or not, it's none other than saxophonist Donny McCaslin! Russell 

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