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

18621 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 485 of them this year alone and, so far this month (June 14) 37

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

Sat 20: Tyne Valley Big Band @ Tynedale Beer Festival, Corbridge. 5:00-6:00pm.
Sat 20: Castillo Nuevo Trio @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 5:30pm. Free.
Sat 20: Red Kites Jazz @ Staithes Café, Dunston. 7:00-9:00pm. Free.
Sat 20: New Century Ragtime Orchestra @ Trinity Church, Gosforth, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £20.00. NCRO w. guests Dean Stockdale & Nick Ward.

Sun 21: From Lagos to Longbenton: Unity in the Community @ Sunderland Minster. From 1:30pm. Free. A multi-bill Unity in the Community event, inc. From Lagos to Longbenton.
Sun 21: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Table reservations (0191 261 8000). Skerritt w. backing tapes.
Sun 21: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 2:30pm. Free. Trio w. Graham Hardy.
Sun 21: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 21: Tweed River Jazz Band @ Barrels Ale House, Berwick. 7:00pm. Free.
Sun 21: Magpies of Swing @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 22: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 23: Alan Law Trio @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 2:00pm. Free.
Tue 23: Jude Murphy & Dan Stanley @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Wed 24: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 24: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 24: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 25: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Millstone, Mill Rise, South Gosforth, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 25: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £5.00. Subject: Forgotten Ones & Any Quintets.
Thu 25: Edgar Ho Trio @ Newcastle Arts Centre. 7:30pm. Free. Brilliant alto sax, piano & double bass trio. Unmissable!
Thu 25: 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 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.

Monday, June 30, 2025

Out and About

Anticipating the heatwave the 'experts' had forecast I headed for the seaside and the market held every weekend at Tynemouth Metro Station. Unfortunately I was somewhat premature as the hot weather didn't arrive until a day later - a bit like the, and I use the phrase loosely, Rapid Transit System whose comings and goings, when they did condescend to come and go, were running to a somewhat syncopated timetable. 

Nevertheless, when I did eventually get to join the bargain hunters who were searching for the legendary Maltese Falcon, the black statuette whose value Joel Cairo once told Sam Spade was beyond the dreams of avarice, I hit pay dirt in the form of the two pieces of vinyl pictured above. At £5 in total they were well within the spending power of any avaricious dreamer.

An even bigger incentive for me, nostalgia-wise, was the fact that the Ferguson sleeve had one of J.G. Windows Ltd.'s price sticker in the top right hand corner - £5.29 in 1989!

It's a belter with Maynard at the top of his game, and when I say 'top' I mean the notes couldn't get much higher! There are also 'knock 'em dead' solos by Slide Hampton, Willie Maiden, Carmen Leggio and Jay Cameron on trombone, alto, tenor and baritone respectively. Bill Chase blows lead trumpet - one of the very few trumpet players who could lead a section with Maynard in it. The whole caboodle's driven along by Jake Hanna.

The Claude Williamson album is a less frantic affair and none the worse for that. Tasteful, swinging trio jazz by one of the west coast's finest in the company of either Max Bennett or Buddy Clarke on bass and either Stan Levy or Larry Bunker on drums. Jazz piano at its finest. Jazz celeste less so.

Yesterday the sun did come out in force so I took the X21 to Durham where eggs were, figuratively speaking, like myself being fried on the pavement. I dined on fish and chips. I couldn't manage the whole plateful (which was priced accordingly) and I left some for (the original) JC to dish out to the other 4,999 should he be passing.

I took the train back to Newcastle, the ticket for the journey was about half the price of the taxi fare to the station. Lance

1 comment :

Russell said...

The bus from the Market Place up to the station wouldn't have cost you so much as a dime!

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