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

18246 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 100 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Jan. 31), 100

From This Moment On ...

JANUARY 2026

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.

Fri 06: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 06: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 06: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 06: Durham Alumni Big Band & Saltburn Big Band @ Saltburn Theatre. 7:30pm. £12.00. Two big bands on stage together!
Fri 06: Nauta + Littlewood Trio @ Little Buildings, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Double bill + jam session.
Fri 06: FILM: Made in America @ Star & Shadow Cinema, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Ornette Coleman.
Fri 06: Deep Six Blues @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 7:30pm.

Sat 07: The Big Easy @ St Augustine’s Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. £10.00. Darlington New Orleans Jazz Club.
Sat 07: Tees Bay Swing Band @ The Blacksmith’s Arms, Hartlepool. 1:30-3:30pm. Free. Open rehearsal.
Sat 07: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.

Sun 08: Swing Tyne @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12 noon (doors). Donations. Swing dance taster class (12:30pm) + Hot Club de Heaton (live performance). Non dancers welcome.
Sun 08: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 08: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 08: Gerry Richardson’s Big Idea @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 09: Mark Williams Trio @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 1:00pm.
Mon 09: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 10: Jazz Jam Sandwich @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

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, July 19, 2025

Greg Abate w. Dean Stockdale Trio @ Opus 4 Jazz Club, Darlington - July 18

Greg Abate (alto sax, flute); Dean Stockdale (piano); Mick Shoulder (double bass); Abbie Finn (drums)

The second of two gigs in a day for visiting American alto saxophonist Greg Abate. Earlier, the man from Woonsocket, Rhode Island played to an encore-demanding full house up the road in Newcastle, this evening the setting was somewhat different. The Traveller's Rest is the sort of hostelry which allows the resident jazz club to get on with it. The upstairs room on West Auckland Road attracted considerably more punters than of late - clearly word had got around!

Greg Abate tours the UK twice a year (July and November) and in visiting these shores for the best part of a quarter of a century, Darlington was new territory. Looking at the portraits on the walls around the room (see photo of Abate playing flute), Abate concluded he was the special guest of a 'modern jazz' club. Opening with On Green Dolphin Street he hit the spot with the regulars, his hard bop alto sax was just what Darlington's Dr Jazz ordered. Whoops and hollers told Abate all he needed to know.

Bird's Barbados, Joe Henderson's Recorda Me (flute and alto), Bird's Red Cross, Abate couldn't, and didn't, put a foot wrong. This evening's concert wasn't entirely the Greg Abate show, it would have been a waste of the talent sharing the stand with him: pianist Dean Stockdale, just as he had done earlier in the day, played a blinder, bassist Mick Shoulder likewise, and drummer Abbie Finn responded in a nanosecond to each and every twist and turn - of which there were many!

In a Sentimental Mood, Kenny Barron's contrasting Voyage, a trip to Surrey (the one with the fringe), tiptoeing Softly, as in, the double-barrelled blowout on Bird's K.C. Blues and My Little Suede Shoes, the Opus 4 Jazz Club crowd loved what they were hearing. It's no secret Greg Abate is a Bird disciple, similarly many of the Opus 4 crowd, playing Confirmation merely confirmed a new relationship - G. Abate likes Darlington and Darlington likes G. Abate. As someone whispered: He [Abate] will be back!  Russell
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