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

Fri 26: Finn-Keeble Group @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. £9:00.
Fri 26: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 26: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 26: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 26: Clark Tracey @ Live Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Newcastle Jazz Festival. £26.00. Day 1/2.
Fri 26: Panharmonia @ Flash House Brewing Co., Northumberland St., North Shields. 8:00pm. Free.

Sat 27: OUTRI @ Live Theatre, Newcastle. 1:00pm. £13.01. 1:00-1:45pm. Newcastle Jazz Festival. Day 2/2.
Sat 27: Tees Bay Swing Band @ Richardson & Westgarth Sport & Social Club, Hartlepool. 1:30pm. Free. Open rehearsal. Note change of venue.
Sat 27: House of the Black Gardenia + Magpies of Swing @ The Cumberland Arms, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sat 27: Mark Toomey Quartet @ Live Theatre, Newcastle. 2:15-3:15pm. £13.01. Newcastle Jazz Festival. Day 2/2.
Sat 27: Alexia Gardner Quintet @ Live Theatre, Newcastle. 3:45-4:45pm. £13.01. Newcastle Jazz Festival. Day 2/2.
Sat 27: Rory Ingham @ Live Theatre, Newcastle. 5:30-6:30pm. £19.51. Newcastle Jazz Festival. Day 2/2. Ingham w. Dean Stockdale, Ian Paterson, Dave McKeague.
Sat 27: Castillo Nuevo Trio @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 5:30pm. Free.
Sat 27: Laura Jurd @ Live Theatre, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £26.00. Newcastle Jazz Festival. Day 2/2.
Sat 27: Brass Fiesta @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 10:30pm. Free.

Sun 28: Musicians Unlimited: Big Band Blast @ West Hartlepool RFC. 1:00-3:00pm . Free.
Sun 28: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 28: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Table reservations (0191 261 8000). Skerritt w. backing tapes.
Sun 28: Tim Kliphuis Trio @ St Mary’s Church, Wooler. 3:00pm. £18.00., £6.00. A Wooler Arts Summer Concerts event. Tim Kliphuis (violin); Nigel Clark (guitar); Roy Percy (double bass).
Sun 28: Ruth Lambert Trio @ Juke Shed, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 28: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 28: An Evening of Jazz @ St James’ Church, Copper Chare, Morpeth. 7:30pm. Tickets: £10.00 from 01670 788869 or 01670 519923. Mid Northumberland Chorus (MD Robin Forbes, Emma Straughan, piano) w. jazz trio featuring Edgar Ho, Oscar Ho & Dave McKeague & special guest Emily Masser. Performance inc. Bob Chilcott’s A Little Jazz Mass + George Shearing’s Songs & Sonnets.
Sun 28: Led Bib @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £15.00., £12.00. JNE.

Mon 29: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 30: Alan Law Trio @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 2:00pm. Free.
Tue 30: Eva Fox & the Sound Hounds @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

July

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

Tuesday, April 08, 2025

Press release: Fini Bearman - Last Night of the World (Pastiche Recordings)

Singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and composer Fini Bearman will release her fifth studio album Last Night Of The World in April 2025, via UK record label Pastiche Recordings. Having built an impressive profile as an imaginative and expressive soloist and collaborator, gaining nominations for London Jazz Singer of the Year from the Global Music Foundation and a Deutsche Jazz Preis for vocal album of the year to name just two of many accolades, Fini Bearman presents her very best work to date, which is a culmination of the vast experience and burgeoning talent that she has gained and cultivated throughout her career so far.

On Last Night Of The World, Fini Bearman brings together an ensemble of musicians at the forefront of the jazz scene, featuring Tom Cawley, Robin Mullarkey, James Maddren, Matt Calvert and Al Cherry, together with guests Alice Zawadzki, Zosia Jagodzinska, Gareth Lockrane, George Crowley and Gwilym Simcock. The recording is a veritable feast of musical brilliance, projecting strong jazz and folk influences steeped in lyricism, with a depth that is bound to attract discerning music lovers with distinguished tastes.

 

Currently a professor of Jazz Voice and Songwriting at London’s prestigious Guildhall School and recent committee member of the Ivor Novello Awards, Fini’s 2020 album ‘La Loba’ received glowing reviews and praise from peers and critics alike, with Jazzwise Magazine describing her as “one of contemporary music’s most imaginative song stylists” and the album itself as “A thing of unsurpassed beauty. One of the most memorable collections of self-penned songs you’ll hear this year.” Though Last Night Of The World charts a different course, it is no less magical, signifying an advancement and development unique to the artist herself.

 

With a series of tour dates* lined up for Summer 2025, Fini will also run free songwriting workshops alongside each performance, aimed at equipping aspiring musicians/songwriters and non-performing creatives with the skills to develop their unique artistic voices. as Fini states: “As a new mother and as someone who has experienced grief and loss, I can testify to the power of songwriting both as a means of processing emotional trauma and as a valid form of self-expression & empowerment.” Unlike other disciplines, songwriting is something that everyone has the potential to do, given the right guidance and opportunity.

 

Fini Bearman’s musical excellence and raw emotion manifest themselves perfectly on Last Night Of The World, providing listeners with something truly special to experience. The proof in in the listening!


*15th May  @ Hot Numbers                          Cambridge

4th June  @ The Flute & Tankard                  Cardiff

5th June @ The Bebop Club                          Bristol

9th June @ The Traverse Theatre                   Edinburgh

10th June, Venue TBC                                    Glasgow

12th June @ SoundCellar                               Poole

15th June @ The Blue Rooms                        Lincoln

4th July  @ 1000 Trades                                 Birmingham

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