Bebop Spoken There

David Bailey (photographer): ''When I was 16 I wanted to look like Chet Baker. He was my idol - him and James Dean.'' (Talking Pictures documentary : Four beats to the bar and no cheating April, 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

18445 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 309 of them this year alone and, so far this month (April 20 ) 43,

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

April

Fri 24: Noel Dennis Trio @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. Dennis, Mark Willams, Andy Champion. SOLD OUT!
Fri 24: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 24: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 24: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 24: Trio Grand @ Land of Oak & Iron, Winlaton. 6:00-9:00pm. Free.
Fri 24: Ben Vince + The Exu @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). £14.33., £11.16, £8.00. A ‘jazz adjacent’ gig!
Fri 24: Daniel John Martin w. Swing Manouche @ The Ship Isis, Sunderland. 7:30pm. £13.20 (inc. bf).

Sat 25: Giles Strong Quartet @ Hindmarsh Hall, Alnmouth. 7:30pm. CANCELLED!
Sat 25: Daniel John Martin w. Swing Manouche @ The Old Cinema Launderette, Durham. 7:30pm (7:00pm doors). £13.20 (inc. bf).
Sat 25: ‘Portrait in Evans’: Noa Levy & Alan Barnes w. Paul Edis Trio @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm. £24.00. Sage Two. ‘Portrait in Evans’. Levy, Barnes, Edis, Andy Champion & Steve Hanley.

Sun 26: Musicians Unlimited: Big Band Blast @ West Hartlepool RFC. 1:00-3:00pm . Free.
Sun 26: Daniel John Martin w. Swing Manouche @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £10.00.
Sun 26: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: Ruth Lambert Trio @ Juke Shed, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: Ni Maxine + Nauta @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £17.51., £14.33., £11.16.
Sun 26: Joe Steels @ The Pele, Corbridge. 7:00pm. Free (donations direct to the musicians). Joe Steels & Friends.
Sun 26: C.A.L.I.E @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £16.00., £14.00., £7.00.

Mon 27: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 27: House of Blues @ the Globe, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £7.00., £5.00. advance. A student-led jazz session. ‘House of Blues’ is, perhaps, a misnomer.
Mon 27: Littlewood Trio @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £10.00 + bf, £7.00. + bf.

Tue 28: Long/Remon/Zilker @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. Tom Remon plays Irish folk!

Wed 29: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 29: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 29: Long/Remon/Zilker @ The Ship Isis, Sunderland. 7:00pm. £10.00. + £1.00. bf. Tom Remon plays Irish folk!
Wed 29: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 29: Hackney Colliery Band @ Alnwick Playhouse. 7:30pm. £25.00.

Thu 30: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £5.00. Subject: International Jazz Day & JANE AGM.
Thu 30: Duke Junction @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £14.00., £12.00., £7.00. Nadim Teimoori (tenor sax); Jeff Hewer (guitar); Martin Longhawn (organ); Steve Hanley (drums). An International Jazz Day event & the 12th anniversary of Newcastle Jazz Co-op acquiring the Globe!

Monday, April 28, 2025

Feels Like Home: Vasilis Xenopoulos & Paul Edis in Newcastle & Durham - April 25 & 26

© Patti
Vasilis Xenopoulos (tenor sax, flute); Paul Edis (piano)

BSH Editor-in-Chief LL reviewed the fifth of five north east of England concerts featuring the London-exiled duo Vasilis Xenopoulos (Greece) and Paul Edis (exotic Chester-le-Street). The review captured the essence of the duo's outstanding Sunday evening quartet gig at Newcastle Jazz Co-op's Railway Street HQ. Earlier (Friday), Vasilis and Paul appeared at Newcastle's Lit & Phil (lunchtime) and Blyth's Yamaha Music School (evening) and on Saturday evening, our globetrotting duo made a first visit to Elvet Methodist Church in Durham.

© Patti
Feels Like Home is an exploration of place: what/where is home? What feels like home? Going Home (Dvořák or the Hovis ad, depending on your cultural preference and/or age) opened the regional tour at a sold out Lit & Phil. The Yard (comp. V. Xenopoulos), a rip-roaring Collywood (comp. P. Edis), Vasilis' sublime coda to Lockdown London (com p. P. Edis), the boys were on form! Later in the day they would venture north to Blyth to do it all again (this Yamaha Music School appearance was the one concert BSH couldn't get to thanks to a prior engagement at Gateshead's Glasshouse).

© Russell
Saturday evening: Vasilis and Paul made a first visit to Elvet Methodist Church. Standing in the lee of Durham Cathedral or HMP Durham, depending on your point of view/location (if you were in the vicinity of the former you would be welcome to attend, on the other hand, if you were behind the barbed wire walls of the latter establishment, you wouldn't be going anywhere) our Methodist hosts made us feel welcome. Sitting in a comfortable front row pew - something of an oxymoron, nevertheless, it was a comfortable seat - the acoustics proved to be excellent. The church's organ as a backdrop, neither Vasilis nor Paul required a mic. 

© Russell
Just as up the road in Newcastle, this Durham performance opened with Going Home. Paul's The Coast (riding Tyne and Wear's supposed rapid transit system), at least in the mind's eye, evoked Monkseaton, Cullercoats, Tynemouth and other coastal destinations, Awaiting Boarding (comp. P. Edis) tore it up, Vasilis' flute soared on Mikey's Samba, Paul's A Rainy Day in Manhattan stirred memories of the Big Apple, and then our duo's rollercoaster contrafact of Cole Porter,  Get Off My Lawn (comp. V. Xenopoulos). Quickfire quotes, bouncing off one another, we had been listening to two masters of their craft. 

Sunday promised to be a treat with two performances - afternoon and evening - featuring the Xenopoulos-Edis Quartet. Russell                                   
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