Bebop Spoken There

Ludovic Beier (Django Festival Allstars): ''Manouche means 'free man,' and gypsies have been travelers since they migrated west from India to Europe.'' (DownBeat March, 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

18402 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 266 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Mar. 31 ), 76

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 03: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 03: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 03: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 03: Castillo Nuevo Trio @ Hotel Gotham, Newcastle. 5:30pm. Free.
Fri 03: King Bees @ Billy Bootleggers, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). Free. Chicago blues.

Sat 04: Jake Leg Jug Band @ St Augustine’s Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. £10.00. Darlington New Orleans Jazz Club.
Sat 04: Tees Bay Swing Band @ The Blacksmith’s Arms, Hartlepool. 1:30-3:30pm. Free. Open rehearsal.
Sat 04: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. £27.50. Tutor: Steve Glendinning. Anthropology. Enrol at: learning@jazz.coop.
Sat 04: Wild Women of Wylam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). £10.00.
Sat 04: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.

Sun 05: Smokin’ Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm. £10.00.
Sun 05: Ian Bosworth Quintet @ Chapel, Middlesbrough. 1:00pm. Free Quintet + guest Neil Brodie (trumpet).
Sun 05: Mark Williams & Tom Remon @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £10.00.
Sun 05: Sax Choir @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 05: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 05: Jazzmain @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £14.00., £12.00., £7.00.

Mon 06: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 06: Saltburn Big Band @ Saltburn House Hotel. 7:00-9:00pm. Free.

Tue 07: Customs House Big Band @ The Masonic Hall, Ferryhill. 7:30pm. Free.
Tue 07: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Ben Lawrence (piano); Paul Grainger (double bass); Abbie Finn (drums).

Wed 08: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 08: Jam session @ The Tannery, Hexham. 7:00pm. Free.
Wed 08: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 08: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 08: Zoë Gilby & Johnny Hunter @ Elder Beer, Heaton, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.00. JNE.

Thu 09: Tom Remon + A.N. Other @ Newcastle Arts Centre. 7:30pm. Free.
Thu 09: Indigo Jazz Voices @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:45pm. £5.00.
Thu 09: Jeremy McMurray’s Pocket Jazz Orchestra w. Dan Johnson @ Arc, Stockton. 8:00pm. £15.00. inc. bf.

Wednesday, May 28, 2025

Catriona Bourne @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth - May 26

© Ken Drew
Catriona Bourne (harp, flute); Francis Tulip (guitar); Sam Quintana (double bass, bass guitar); Steve Hanley (drums) 

Yamaha Music School is thriving. Classes galore, weekly concerts, Blyth town centre is on the up. This week's lunchtime concert featured Catriona Bourne. A little over 24 hours earlier, harpist Bourne was entertaining an attentive audience at the Northumberland Jazz Festival. Two gigs in two days with what could be described as her new 'up north' quartet, Bourne clearly relished working with responsive, attentive musicians, namely Leeds based Sam Quintana (bass) and Steve Hanley (drums).

© Ken Drew
Bourne and guitarist Francis Tulip would soon be heading south to their respective London homes, but first, to the final performance of the tour. Bourne informed the Blyth audience that the set list would follow the order of the tracks on her Triquetra album, bookended by two numbers from the standard repertoire for jazz harp.

Alice Coltrane's Blue Nile, performed in Blyth, who'd have thought it?! The audience loved it! And then to the album tracks - Triquetra for starters. As at Queen's Hall, Hexham, Bourne used several pedals, both conventional (as utilised on the classical concert stage) and effects (fx) for jazz performance. Francis Tulip used his pedalboard sparingly, his facility on his chosen instrument scarcely believable. And to think he's a local (County Durham) lad! 

© Ken Drew
Quintana and Hanley proved to be the 'go to' guys, their empathetic playing a delight, not least to Catriona Bourne. Forty five minutes on a Monday lunchtime makes for a tight, focused performance. Bourne suggested they might play one more, slightly exceeding the allotted time. No one was complaining , we weren't going anywhere. It came as no surprise to your reviewer that Dorothy Ashby's Games would conclude a most enjoyable programme. Marvellous. Russell 
                  
Set list: Blue Nile; Triquetra; Coronach; Sligachan Bridge; Rowan; Lannigan; Games.
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