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

Tuesday, July 22, 2025

New Century Syncopated Seven @ Blaydon Jazz Club - July 21

© Roly Veitch
Jim McBriarty (alto sax, clarinet, vocals); Gavin Lee (tenor sax, clarinet); Dave Hignett (trumpet, cornet); Neville Hartley (trombone); Keith Stephen (banjo); Phil Rutherford (tuba); Nick Ward (drums)

A little over a year ago it was the Syncopated Six. Now we have the New Century Syncopated Seven - a first gig at Darlington New Orleans Jazz Club drew a large crowd, then this evening in Blaydon, there was a good turn out for more of the same Prohibition era sounds. Charts painstakingly arranged by Dave 'Svengali' Kerr, band manager Phil Rutherford (tuba) herding the cats (make that 'jazz cats'), we were ready to go.

Stomp Your Stuff. They (the band) did, we, the audience, were tempted. South hit home (it's a number favoured by cross border raiders the Tenement Jazz Band), Candy Lips found favour with the Black Bull regulars, Jim McBriarty sang Angry (he wasn't, really) and Man from the South prompted one wag in the Seven to say to his fellow bandmates: Right, good luck! And off they went. Great stuff!

San, Blue Again, Rumba Negro - sparkling solos from Neville Hartley (trombone), Keith Stephen (banjo) and the Seven's guest star, drummer Nick Ward - proved to be a highlight, the Blaydon Jazz Club  audience liked what it was hearing. Dave Hignett made a telling contribution (both trumpet and cornet), Gavin Lee never fails to impress, whether blowing tenor sax or wielding the old licorice stick, and the rhythm section - Phil Rutherford (tuba), Keith Stephen (banjo), Brummie Nick Ward (period percussion) - kept the Seven on the straight and narrow. 

Keep an ear cocked for news of the New Century Syncopated Seven's next gig, it's a band well worth catching. 

Blaydon Jazz Club's August concert (Monday 18) features Mick Shoulder's excellent Swing Manouche. See you there. Russell 
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