Bebop Spoken There

Joe Alterman: ''All I wanted to do growing up was to sound like Erroll Garner playing "Poor Butterfly." I thought that was the coolest sound I'd ever heard.'' (DownBeat November, 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

19,061 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 925 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Oct. 30) 104.

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 31: Saltburn Big Band + Durham Alumni Big Band @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm.
Sat 31: East Coast Swing Band @ Cramlington Village Club, Park View, Cramlington NE23 6QJ. 7:30pm. £10.00. (from venue).

November

Sun 01: Smokin’ Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm. £10.00.
Sun 01: Ian Bosworth Quintet @ Chapel, Middlesbrough. 1:00pm. Free. Quintet w. special guest Donna Hewitt (tenor sax, clarinet)
Sun 01: Sax Choir @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 01: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 01: Sarah Heneghan Trio @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 02: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 02: Saltburn Big Band @ Saltburn House Hotel. 7:00-9:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).

Tue 03: Alan Law @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 2:00pm. Free. Alan Law (piano) w. guest tba
Tue 03: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Stu Collingwood, Paul Grainger, Abbie Finn.
Tue 03: Customs House Big Band @ The Masonic Hall, Ferryhill. 7:30pm. Free.

Wed 04: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 04: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 04: An Evening of Erykah Badu @ Holy GrAle, Durham. 7:30pm. £3.00.; £2.50. A Durham University Jazz Society event.
Wed 04: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 05: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Millstone, Mill Rise, South Gosforth, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 05: Hejira - Celebrating Joni Mitchell @ Alnwick Playhouse. 7:30pm.
Thu 05: Cut Capers @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors).
Thu 05: Northern Reaches @ Newcastle Arts Centre. 7:30pm. Free (donations). Pete Tanton, Joe Steels, Laurence Blackadder, John Hirst.
Thu 05: Fergus McCreadie @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm.

Fri 06: Mike Durham’s International Classic Jazz Party @ Village Hotel, West Allotment. 12 noon. Day 1/3.
Fri 06: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 06: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 06: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 06: Jazz Night: Bridget Metcalfe @ Saltburn House Hotel. From 6:00pm. Tickets: £40.00 (inc. a two-course meal & glass of Prosecco). Tel: 01287 658977.

Thursday, March 13, 2025

Press release: Alison Rayner Quintet (ARQ) @ the Globe this Sunday (March 16)

© Ken Drew
Led by bassist and composer Alison Rayner, multi award-winning quintet ARQ are widely celebrated from 10 years of extensive UK and European touring across a complete range of jazz clubs, concert halls and international festivals as well as being critically acclaimed for their three album releases August (2014) , A Magic Life (2016) and Short Stories (2019). All have garnered extensive press acclaim and international radio play, with Rayner also winning a coveted Ivor Novello Composer Award for There is a Crack in Everything from Short Stories.

This year, ARQ celebrates 10 years of contributing to the cultural jazz landscape with their fourth album of collaborative, newly composed and original music SEMA4*, recorded live in summer 2024.

 

Richly nuanced compositions, rhythmic interplay and folk-infused melodies, ARQ play ‘songs without words’ carrying a strong sense of narrative and cinematic quality. The group are lauded for their vibrant, communicative performances and the newly-recorded material on SEMA4 is as engaging, imaginative and groovy as ever.

 

ARQ are:

Alison Rayner (bass); Buster Birch (drums); Deirdre Cartwright (guitar); Diane McLoughlin (tenor/soprano sax); Steve Lodder (piano).

 

PRESS
“Bright, open jazz music that rejoices in human experience without sentimentalising it” ★★★★ BBC Music Magazine.


“Memories brought to life” ★★★★ The Observer.


“Tells its tales through strong melodies, sinewy rhythms and luminous solos, by turns tender and exuberant” ★★★★ All About Jazz.


“ARQ have come up with another impeccable album” ★★★★½ thejazzmann.com.


“Vibrant and melodic originals from this closely integrated outfit” Jazz Journal – review of 2024 Scarborough Jazz Festival.


“Rayner’s a traveller, on land and in the mind, and her distinctive, quirky but always groovy compositions somehow lend themselves to live-performance enhancement without the band’s concentrated energy ever dissipating” Nigel Jarrett – Abergavenny Jazz Festival.


*ARQ’s latest album: SEMA4 was also reviewed on BSH (just mentioning…)

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