Bebop Spoken There

Ron Carter quoting Sonny Rollins: ''What we call jazz - that's keeping the world in equilibrium. I don't care what kind of music you like out here today. It all comes from jazz.'' (DownBeat August, 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

18844 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 708 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Aug. 27) 77.

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

August

Sun 30: Musicians Unlimited @ West Hartlepool RFC. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 30: Tango Jazz Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 31: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

September.

Tue 01: Customs House Big Band @ Masonic Hall, Ferryhill. 7:30pm. Free.
Tue 01: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Stu Collingwood, Paul Grainger, John Hirst.

Wed 02: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 02: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 02: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 03: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Millstone, Mill Rise, South Gosforth, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 03: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £5.00.
Thu 03: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm. Free. Feat. Ian Bosworth (guitar); Ron Hampton (guitar); Riche Emmerson (tenor sax); Dan Johnson (tenor sax, alto sax); Garry Hadfield (keyboards); Adrian Beadnell (bass); Mark Hawkins (drums).

Fri 04: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 04: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 04: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 04: FUNK: new musicians collective @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £6.00. Line-up inc. Chris Caygill & Daniel Chandler.
Fri 04: The Upside + Lagos to Longbenton @ Cumberland Arms, Byker, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £8.00. Ska, funk, Afro-fusion & more.

Sat 05: Alligator Gumbo @ St Augustine’s Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. £10.00. Darlington New Orleans Jazz Club.
Sat 05: Tees Bay Swing Band @ Hartlepool Art Gallery. 4:00-6:15pm. £6.00. Concert performance. Tickets available from the venue - tel: 01429 869706.
Sat 05: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.

Friday, July 18, 2025

NONUNONU @ Elder Beer, Newcastle - July 17

Tim Williams (guitar); Andy Patterson (bass guitar); Ruben Sheridan (drums)

Elder Beer on Chillingham Road was doing good business, inside and out. The micro pub's backyard functions as an open air (part covered) performance space and on this balmy July evening NONUNONU were back in town. Since the trio's formation in 2019 the Manchester based musicians have clocked up no fewer than four appearances here in Heaton, Newcastle. This evening's gig, the trio's fifth, would play to a full house (backyard). 

In a throw back to the days when jazz clubs were (mythically or not) to be found in dingy, smoke-filled basements, here in Elder Beer's backyard it seemed it was all but compulsory to drink, smoke and/or vape. NONUNONU - that's Tim Williams, guitar, Andy Patterson, bass, Ruben Sheridan, drums - opened with a jazz-funk take on Paul Dupont's La Rosita

Summer Rain
Popemobile Blues, a Latin-infused Baby TreeClones (perhaps the tune of the first set),  the trio's compositions embraced intricate rhythms, groove-to-swing-to-groove sections, scintillating guitar solos, funk-heavy bass lines, fractured beats, all of it hugely impressive. 

The interval: drinking, smoking, vaping, gorging on the biggest pizzas on the planet, healthy living.

Second set: seemingly drawing on influences from every conceivable source, NONUNONU hit on a Sketches of Spain-like groove. As the punters drank, smoked, vaped and gorged, our trio immersed themselves in the music, some of it from their latest recording nunununu. From one composition to the next, Williams would lead, then pass the baton to Patterson or Sheridan. Sheridan would pass it on to Patterson or Williams, all of it done with admirable nonchalance. If Clones was the tune of the first set, Waiting certainly took the honours in the second set. Russell

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