Bebop Spoken There

Donovan Haffner ('Best Newcomer' 2025 Parliamentary Jazz Awards): ''I got into jazz the first time I picked up a saxophone!" - Jazzwise Dec 25/Jan 26

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

18146 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 24 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Jan. 7), 24

From This Moment On ...

JANUARY 2026

Sat 10: Mark Toomey Quintet @ St Peter’s Church, Stockton-on-Tees. 7:30pm. £12.00. (inc. pie & peas). Tickets from: 07749 255038.

Sun 11: New ’58 Jazz Collective @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 11: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 11: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 11: Eva Fox & the Sound Hounds @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 12: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 12: Saltburn Big Band @ Saltburn House Hotel. 7:00-9:00pm. Free.

Tue 13: Milne Glendinning Band @ Newcastle House Hotel, Rothbury. 7:30pm. £11.00. Coquetdale Jazz.
Tue 13: Jazz Jam Sandwich @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Wed 14: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 14: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 14: Jam Session @ The Tannery, Hexham. 7:00pm. Free.
Wed 14: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 15: Mark Toomey Quartet @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm. Free. Quartet + guest Paul Donnelly (guitar).

Fri 16: Giles Strong Quartet @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. £8.00. SOLD OUT!
Fri 16: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 16: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 16: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 16: Darlington Big Band @ The Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. Opus 4 Jazz Club.
Fri 16: Leeds City Stompers @ Billy Bootleggers, Newcastle. 9:00pm. Free.

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

Saturday, March 29, 2025

Giles Strong Quartet @ The Gala, Durham - March 28

© Malcolm Sinclair
Giles Strong (guitar); Pete Tanton (trumpet, flugelhorn); Ian Paterson (double bass); John Bradford (drums)

The Gala's monthly Friday lunchtime jazz concerts continue to attract capacity audiences and this afternoon's concert wasn't about to buck the trend. The Giles Strong Quartet is one of the region's banker bets. Four experienced musicians, restraint and sensitivity at the heart of their musicianship, the audience hanging on every note, for want of a better term, this was 'chamber jazz' at its finest. 

Billy's Blues, composed by bandleader Giles Strong, set the tone. These guys don't do 'flash', far from it, Strong's measured and informative introductions engaging the audience from the off. Coco in Paris (something to do with a cat) purred, John Lewis' Django paid homage to Django, Lewis and the MJQ and Two Add Two was an elegant contrafact of a classic number. If your maths is up to speed you'll know the tune. 

© Malcolm Sinclair
Alone Together featured Strong and trumpeter Pete Tanton dancing deftly around one another's flowing lines, bassist Ian Paterson and drummer John Bradford the epitome of taste. To close the one hour set, guitarist Strong attempted the Swedish pronunciation of the title of Per Texas Johansson's Miljarder Stjärnor. It would take a Swedish speaker to comment on Strong's effort, what wasn't in doubt was the music. It had been an excellent hour of first rate jazz.

Next month (Friday 25 April) Jazz at the Gala presents the Andrea Vicari Trio. Book now at: www.galadurham.co.uk. Russell               

Set list: Billy's Blues*; Days of Wine and Roses; Sakura; Coco in Paris*; Django; Two Add Two*; Alone Together; June Joy*; Miljarder Stjärnor.

* Composed by G. Strong.      
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