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

18482 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 346 of them this year alone and, so far this month (April 30 ) 80

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

May

Sun 03: Chilcott Jazz Mass @ St George’s Church, Jesmond, Newcastle. 9:30am. Free. Sung communion with Parish Choir (featuring Bob Chilcott’s music). A Jesmond Community Festival event.
Sun 03: Smokin’ Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm. £10.00.
Sun 03: Ian Bosworth Quintet @ Chapel, Middlesbrough. 1:00pm. Free. Feat. guest Mark Toomey (alto sax).
Sun 03: Sax Choir @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 03: Tom Waits for No Man @ Oxygenic, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm (2:30pm doors). Neckties and Boxing Gloves album launch. £14.00 (gig & a CD); £8.00 (gig only). SOLD OUT!
Sun 03: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 03: NUJO Jazz Jam @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). £3.76.
Sun 03: John Pope & John Garner @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.00., £10.00.

Mon 04: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 04: Pete Tanton’s Cuban Heels @ The Library, South Parade, Whitley Bay. 4:00-6:00pm. Free.
Mon 04: Saltburn Big Band @ Saltburn House Hotel. 7:00-9:00pm. Free.

Tue 05: Leah Kirk (voice): Final Year Music Recital @ The Band Room, Music Studios, Assembly Lane, Newcastle University. 2:30pm. Free, open to the public.
Tue 05: Jenny Baker (voice): Final Year Music Recital @ The Band Room, Music Studios, Assembly Lane, Newcastle University. 4:20pm. Free, open to the public.
Tue 05: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Stu Collingwood (piano); Paul Grainger (double bass); Tim Johnston (drums).
Tue 05: Customs House Big Band @ The Masonic Hall, Ferryhill. 7:30pm. Free.

Wed 06: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 06: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 06: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 07: Robert Finley @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £17.50. Excellent US falsetto soul/blues voice.
Thu 07: ALT @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. Alan Law, Paul Grainger, Rob Walker. Thu 07: Liam & Shayo @ The Globe , Newcastle. 8:00pm. £5.00. Liam Oliver (guitar), Shayo Oshodi (vocals).
Thu 07: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm.

Fri 08: Alan Law Trio @ Bishop Auckland Methodist Church. 1:00pm. £9.00. Law, Mick Shoulder, John Bradford.
Fri 08: Giles Strong & Richard Herdman @ Jesmond Library, Newcastle. 1:00pm. £5.00. Guitar duo.
Fri 08: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 08: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 08: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 08: Milne Glendinning Band @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 6:00pm . Free. A Late Shows event.
Fri 08: Nigel Kennedy @ The Hippodrome, Darlington. 7:30pm. Line-up inc. Alec Dankworth.

Sat 09: SH#RP Collective w. Lindsay Hannon @ Church of Holy Name, Jesmond, Newcastle. 7:30pm (7:00pm doors). £15.00 (inc. a welcome drink). Advance booking essential. Bring own snacks, drinks to be purchased at ‘donations’ bar. All proceeds to charity. A Jesmond Community Festival event.
Sat 09: East Coast Swing Band @ Jubilee Hall, Rothbury. 7:30pm. £10.00.

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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