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

18395 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 259 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Mar. 30 ), 69

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

March

Tue 31: Bede Trio @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. Albert Hills Wright (alto sax); Finn Carter (piano); Michael Dunlop (double bass).

April

Wed 01: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 01: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 01: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 02: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £5.00. Subject: Musicians playing classical & orchestral music.
Thu 02: The Noel Dennis Band @ Prohibition Bar, Albert Road, Middlesbrough TS1 2RU. 7:00pm (doors). £10.84. Quartet plus special guest Zoë Gilby. Over 21s only.
Thu 02: Renegade Brass Band @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors).
Thu 02: Shalala @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £7.00. adv..
Thu 02: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm.

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: King Bees @ Billy Bootleggers, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). Free. Chicago blues.

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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