Bebop Spoken There

Emma Rawicz: "In a couple of years I've gone from being a normal university student to suddenly being on international stages." DownBeat January 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

18219 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 73 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Jan. 24), 73

From This Moment On ...

JANUARY 2026

Fri 30: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 30: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 30: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 30: Castillo Nuevo Trio @ Hotel Gotham, Newcastle. 5:30pm. Free.
Fri 30: Pete Roth Trio @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). Feat. Bill Bruford.
Fri 30: Jive Aces @ Alnwick Playhouse. 7:30pm.
Fri 30: Tweed River Jazz Band @ Northern Edge Coffee, Silver St., Berwick. 7:00pm.
Fri 30: Dan Coulthurst Quintet @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 7:30pm (7:00pm doors). £10.00 + £1.00. bf (www.wegottickets.com). Coulthurst (trumpet); Joel Steadman (bass clarinet, flute); Nico Widdowson (piano); Fergus Quill (double bass); Theo Goss (drums).

Sat 31: Darling Dollies @ St George’s Church, Jesmond, Newcastle. 3:00pm. £10.00. Vocal trio.
Sat 31: Brass Fiesta @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 10:30pm. Free.

FEBRUARY 2026

Sun 01: Smokin’ Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm. £10.00.
Sun 01: Ian Bosworth Quintet @ Chapel, Middlesbrough. 1:00pm. Free. Quintet + guest Bill Watson (trumpet, flugelhorn).
Sun 01: Sax Choir @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 01: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 01: Annie & the Caldwells @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £25.00. adv. Gospel/soul.
Sun 01: Jive Aces @ Alnwick Playhouse. 7:30pm.
Sun 01: Olly Styles Experience + Jenny Baker @ the Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 02: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 02: Saltburn Big Band @ Saltburn House Hotel. 7:00-9:00pm. Free.

Tue 03: Customs House Big Band @ The Masonic Hall, Ferryhill. 7:30pm. Free.
Tue 03: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Joe Steels, Paul Grainger, Abbie Finn.

Wed 04: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 04: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 04: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 05: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £5.00. Subject:Times of the Day & Trios.
Thu 05: Jeremy McMurray’s Pocket Jazz Orchestra @ Arc, Stockton. 8:00pm. Special guest Emma Wilson.
Thu 05: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm.

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

Saturday, June 21, 2025

Alexia Gardner Quintet @ Sunderland Minster - June 20

© Russell
Alexia Gardner (vocals); Harry Keeble (tenor sax); Alan Law (piano); Jude Murphy (double bass, backing vocals); Abbie Finn (drums) + Paula Gardner (vocals)

The Old Black Cat Jazz Club lives on. As its days at 1719 in Hendon came to an end, promoter John Knox looked for an alternative venue. And, how about this, the OBCJC has relocated to Sunderland Minster! At the heart of Sunderland's 'Cultural Quarter' (Empire Theatre, Fire Station, Peacock, Ship Isis) with its 'old school' (rosewood?) Lipp & Sohn baby grand piano, the Minster is Sunderland's newest old school jazz venue!

This evening's inaugural jazz concert featured the Alexia Gardner Quintet. Since relocating to Northumberland, vocalist Alexia has made a big impression on the regional jazz scene. An engaging stage presence, working with a top flight band, Ms Gardner knows how to put on a show. Ms Gardner standing to one side, the band - Harry Keeble, Alan Law (hotfoot from a marvellous gig at Newcastle's Lit & Phil), Jude Murphy and Abbie Finn - opened with Softly as in a Morning Sunrise. The revived OBCJC was up and running!

© Russell
Cheek to Cheek, It Might as Well be Spring, verse and piano accompaniment to The Lady is a Tramp, Gardner was enjoying herself, high notes to low notes. Impressive. I Got Rhythm, tenor saxophonist Keeble fleet of finger, things were going well. Mo' Better Blues, Seven Steps to Heaven, yes, all good stuff. Ms Gardner's sister, Paula, was in the house. The Gardner sisters sang Chain Gang. Great! 

The Minster's high, vaulted ceiling didn't present much of a problem to the AG5, drummer Abbie Finn, for the most part, using brushes. Second set, AF picked up her sticks for Bob Marley's Jamming, Ms Gardner encouraged audience participation on Stand by Me (some of us opted out), Kris Kristofferson's Help Me Make it Through the Night worked well, One Note Samba had its usual quota of notes (a few more than one) and What a Wonderful World somehow seemed apposite on this balmy summer's evening. 

July's Sunderland Minster OBCJC concert (Friday 18) features the Zoë Gilby Quartet. Russell
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