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.

Wednesday, November 27, 2024

Alexia Gardner Quintet @ the Black Swan - Nov. 26

© Mike Tilley
Alexia Gardner (vocal); Harry Keeble (tenor sax); Alan Law (keys); Jude Murphy (bass, vocal); Abbie Finn (drums)

I just  had to check this one out. There had been a lot of Chinese whispers circulating about this singer who'd been sighted, on YouTube, in Switzerland, New York, Asia and other points east and west as well as recording for Alex Webb's Copasetic Foundation.

More recently she'd been making waves at local jams and low key venues...

...Alexia Gardner.

I wasn't disappointed!

© Mike Tilley
The Black Swan was crowded. I wasn't the only one who was curious to see if Alexia Gardner delivered the goods. After an impressive, if earsplitting, opener by top tenor Keeble on Moment's Notice the delightful diva hit the deck running with Cheek to Cheek and it was game on!

The gambler's lucky streak hadn't vanished with It Might as Well be Spring. This was like hitting the Tote Double with a couple of longshots up the road at Gosforth Park!

Moon River had  Jude  providing vocal harmonies behind Alexia's vocal to great effect and One Note Samba saw Harry blowing a lot of notes. Bass too played quite a few.

© Mike Tilley
The Nearness of You was everything that most romantic of ballads should be whilst The Lady is a Tramp swung with super solos all round. It also demonstrated Alexia's prediliction for rolling her 'r's: e.g. the lady is a trrrrramp. A big clue in a blindfold test.

The set closed with It's Gonna be a Great Day and a spirited Milestones.

Interval conversations agreed that it most certainly had been a geat day (night) and there was more to come.

Harry blew St. Thomas with able support from Abbie, Alan and Jude before  Alexia returned for Don't Get Around Much Anymore followed by Seven Steps to Heaven.

Mo Better Blues was another killer with Harry even besting his best. Black Coffee was as bluesy as they come with its saga of a  lonely woman although our vocalist managed to inject (jokingly?) a reference to her own marriage!

The evening drew to a close with Turn Your Lights Down Low, Stand by me and What a Wonderful World.

The applause raised the roof with a volume that wouldn't have been out of place at the Gallowgate End of St. James' Park. 

Gardner, Keeble, Law, Murphy and Finn - carve their names with pride then catch them again at the Globe on Dec. 29. Lance
at

3 comments :

Anonymous said...

The years she performed in Switzerland, I was at almost every show! Looking forward to be in the audience on December 18th when she will perform here again. (Janice.🇨🇭 )

Wednesday, November 27, 2024 5:45:00 pm
Lance said...

December 18? Tell me more...

Wednesday, November 27, 2024 11:32:00 pm
Anonymous said...

Lance, that December 18 was a Swiss concert at Guggenheim Liestal.
A well known music venue and Center for Live Music in Switzerland's
Basel Land. It was a great success. Alexia Gardner on vocals and Beat
Baumli on guitar. This line up is a salute to Alexia's A Little Closer album
Recorded in Basel Switzerland in 2011.

Saturday, January 18, 2025 3:17:00 pm

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