Bebop Spoken There

Christian McBride: ''We knew back in the day that Emmet [Cohen] had it.'' (DownBeat July, 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

18699 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 573 of them this year alone and, so far this month (July 11) 27

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

July

Wed 15: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 15: Willington Big Brass Bash @ Town Park, Willington. 6:00-9:00pm. Free. Durham Brass Festival. Multi-bill of street brass bands.
Wed 15: Nomade Swing: Dos Guitars Trio @ Café Needle’s Eye, Promenade, Newbiggin-by-the-Sea NE64 6XE. 6:00pm. Free. Luco Allievi, Alessandro Brizio, Mariano Gallizio. ‘A Journey Through Swing, Gypsy Jazz, Soul & Pop’.
Wed 15: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public). CANCELLED!
Wed 15: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 15: Side Café Orkestar @ The Cumberland Arms, Byker, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £15.00 (£11.00. adv.); £12.00 concs (£8.00. concs adv.).

Thu 16: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Millstone, Mill Rise, South Gosforth, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 16: Spennymoor Big Brash Bash @ Jubilee Park, Spennymoor. 6:00-9:00pm. Free. Durham Brass Festival. Multi-bill of street brass bands.
Thu 16: Coxhoe Little Brass Bash @ Village Green (Pit Wheel). 6:00-8:00pm. Free. Durham Brass Festival. Multi-bill of street brass bands.
Thu 16: Nomade Swing: Dos Guitars Trio @ Lollo Rosso, Morpeth. 7:30pm. Free. Luco Allievi, Alessandro Brizio, Mariano Gallizio. ‘A Journey Through Swing, Gypsy Jazz, Soul & Pop’.
Thu 16: Stevie Jay Duo @ Newcastle Arts Centre. 7:30pm. Free. Julija Jacenaite & Steve Glendinning.
Thu 16: DK Harrell @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £20.00 + bf. USA blues.
Thu 16: Paul Skerritt @ Angels' Share, St George's Terrace, Jesmond, Newcastle NE2 2SX. 8:00pm. Free. Booking advised (0191 200 1975). Skerritt w. backing tapes.

Fri 17: Mejedi Owusu w. Francis Tulip Trio @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 17: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 17: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 17: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 17: Seaham Big Brass Bash @ Terrace Green, Seaham. 6:00-9:00pm. Free. Durham Brass Festival. Multi-bill of street brass bands.
Fri 17: Newton Aycliffe Big Brass Bash @ Town Park, Newton Aycliffe. 6:00-9:00pm. Free. Durham Brass Festival. Multi-bill of street brass bands.
Fri 17: Ray Stubbs R&B Allstars @ Billy Bootleggers, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free.
Fri 17: Mejedi Owusu w. Francis Tulip Trio @ Sunderland Minster. 7:30pm. Old Black Cat Jazz Club.
Fri 17: Zoë Gilby Quartet @ St Cuthbert’s Centre, Crook. 7:30pm.
Fri 17: Nomade Swing: Dos Guitars Trio @ Repas 7 by Night, Berwick. 8:00pm. Free. Lollo Rosso, Morpeth. 8:00pm. Luco Allievi, Alessandro Brizio, Mariano Gallizio. ‘A Journey Through Swing, Gypsy Jazz, Soul & Pop’.

Sat 18: Streets of Brass @ Market Place, Durham City. 10:00am-4:00pm. Free. Durham Brass Festival. Multi-bill of street brass bands.
Sat 18: Brass Boat Cruise @ Boathouse, Elvet Bridge Jetty, Durham City. Departures at 10:30am, 12 noon, 1:30pm, 3:00pm. £12.00., £10.00., £5.00 (all prices + bf). Durham Brass Festival. Various bands.
Sat 18: Party in the Park @ Wharton Park, Durham City. 5:00-9:00pm. Free. Durham Brass Festival. Multi-bill of street brass bands. Entrance o/s Durham Railway Station (Northbound platform).
Sat 18: Zoë Gilby & Dean Stockdale @ FIKA Art Gallery, Morpeth. 6:30pm.
Sat 18: Mejedi Owusu w. Francis Tulip Trio @ Claypath Deli, Durham. 7:00-9:00pm. £10.00.
Sat 18: Tyne Valley Big Band + Revolutionaires @ Pelton Community Centre. 7:00pm. A Durham Brass Festival event.
Sat 18: Dale Storr @ The Straw Yard, The Barracks, Berwick. 7:30pm. £15.38. Solo piano.
Sat 18: Nomade Swing: Dos Guitars Trio @ Red Lion Inn, Alnmouth. 8:30pm. Free. Lollo Rosso, Morpeth. 8:00pm. Luco Allievi, Alessandro Brizio, Mariano Gallizio. ‘A Journey Through Swing, Gypsy Jazz, Soul & Pop’.

Sun 19: Brass Boat Cruise @ Boathouse, Elvet Bridge Jetty, Durham City. Departures at 10:30am, 12 noon, 1:30pm, 3:00pm. £12.00., £10.00., £5.00 (all prices + bf). Durham Brass Festival. Various bands.
Sun 19: Jacob Egglestone Trio @ The Bandstand, The Sele, Hexham. 12 noon. Free.
Sun 19: Tyne Valley Big Band @ Bishop Auckland Town hall. 2:00pm. £7.00 (inc. bf). A Durham Brass Festival event.
Sun 19: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Table reservations (0191 261 8000). Skerritt w. backing tapes.
Sun 19: Michael Young Trio @ Engine Room, Sunderland. 2:30pm. Free.
Sun 19: Mejedi Owusu w. Francis Tulip Trio @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm.
Sun 19: SwanNek @ The Bandstand, The Sele, Hexham. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 19: Nomade Swing: Dos Guitars Trio @ Twelve 06, High St., Newbiggin-by-the-Sea NE64 6DR. 3:00pm. Free. Luco Allievi, Alessandro Brizio, Mariano Gallizio. ‘A Journey Through Swing, Gypsy Jazz, Soul & Pop’.
Sun 19: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 19: Castillo Nuevo Trio @ Hotel Gotham, Newcastle. 5:30pm. Free.
Sun 19: Dale Storr: The Sounds of New Orleans @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Solo piano. POSTPONED!

Mon 20: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 20: Mejedi Owusu w. Francis Tulip Trio @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00.

Tue 21: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Michael Young, Paul Grainger, Joe Deans.

Friday, June 06, 2025

Album review: Steve Knight - For Years Gone (self-released)

Steve Knight (guitar); Justin Peterson (bass); Linard Stroud (drums)

Yet another name to add to the ever growing list of living guitar greats. Steve Knight has assimilated the past and merged it with the present which augurs well for the future.

Kicking off with his own composition Lure I knew at once that we were on the same side of his Chicago street. A catchy blues theme that, appropriately lured me in.

I've long considered Pure Imagination to be a class above its origins - Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory - in the right hands the Bricusse and Newley song is on a par with some of the works of their American counterparts.

Cracklin' pays tribute to Roy Haynes whose nickname it would seem was Snap Crackle. Here the sound of the exploding cereal was effectively provided by Stroud,

Knight sets a fast tempo on Pat Martino's Colossus. It's a finger-busting exercise for both guitar and bass. Stroud drops a few bombs as if to say"hang about guys we've got another six tracks to go!" 

For Years Gone. Knight's late mother provided the inspiration for the title track. Slow and ponderous, the feeling of loss is conveyed but not in a maudlin way.

Kothbiro, composed by Kenyan singer and instrumentalist Ayub Ogada, the title translates to rain is coming. At times Knight's guitar sounds like a Kalimba, the African thumb piano. Peterson goes arco.

George Harrison's Something is taken in a wholly different direction to what I'm used to veering from 7/4 to 4/4 and back again. An unlikely number for a drum solo but at least it's not a 'cover'! 

Joni Mitchell was responsible for Urge for Going, a song from a 1966 album that the trio reshape to suit.

Charlie Christian recorded Seven Come Eleven with the Goodman Sextet. Knight takes it down a different, funkier route. A route he and every other jazz guitarist couldn't have taken if Christian hadn't shown them the way. 

Duke's In a Sentimental Mood played at speed may seem like sacrilege and, in a sense, it is. However, when a song has been performed as a ballad as many times as this one has an alternative approach is called for else why bother? So, Knight put his foot on the gas and I'm pleased to say it didn't end up as a 'car crash' - quite the opposite in fact.

Well worth checking out via BANDCAMP. Lance

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