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

Thu 18: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Millstone, Mill Rise, South Gosforth, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 18: Castillo Nuevo Orquesta @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. £6.50. 7:30pm (doors).
Thu 18: Lindsay Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ Harbour View, Roker, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 18: 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 19: Joe Steels Group @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 19: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 19: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 19: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 19: Castillo Nuevo Trio @ Hotel Gotham, Newcastle. 5:30pm. Free.
Fri 19: Ferg’s Imaginary Big Band @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £14.33., £11.16., £8.00.
Fri 19: Martin Litton @ Sunderland Minster. 7:30pm. £13.01 (inc. bf); £6.50 (inc. bf); £15.00 on the door. Solo piano. CANCELLED!
Fri 19: Jools Holland’s R&B Orchestra @ Hippodrome, Darlington. 7:30pm. Joe Webb support set.
Fri 19: Hot Club du Nord @ Warkworth Memorial Hall. 7:30pm.
Fri 19: Jive Aces: The Roots of Rock & Roll @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £20.00 + bf.

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.

Friday, October 24, 2025

Joe Webb Trio @ Le Duc des Lombards, Paris - Oct 22

© Patti
Joe Webb (piano); Will Sach (double bass); Kai MacRae (drums) + Adrian Cox (clarinet)

EasyJet, NCL to Charles de Gaulle, convenient flight times, affordable. Let's go! Landing more or less on time, navigating the CDG metropolis - terminal to terminal to train station - proved to be straightforward. 

Arriving Gare du Nord, l'hôtel (When in France!), ideally situated across the road, reeked of 2* luxury. No time to waste, Métro to Chatelet, our final destination one of the French capital's finest jazz clubs. 

Le Duc des Lombards took some finding! Chet Baker singing Let's Get Lost the soundtrack to our wanderings. Stumbling upon Sunset Sunside (another renowned jazz spot) it was time to ask someone the way. Merci! And off we went, wandering around in circles - again. 

Sometime later...There it is! As we walked through the door, three others followed, a voice from behind saying: Long time, no see.* Once inside, the first face we saw was the man himself - Mr Joe Webb. Hugs, our man was surprised to see us! Taking our seats to the side of the venue's Yamaha piano, the lights would soon be dimmed, but not before your correspondent ordered 'deux bière'. 

Le Duc des Lombard's MC, situated somewhere (unseen) in the room, made the introductions: Á la batterie...Kai MacRae (cue applause). Contrabass...Will Sach (more applause), au piano, Joe Webb (a crescendo of applause). A week ago Joe was in Newcastle doing his thing as a Mercury Award nominee (home town favourite Sam Fender taking the spoils), this evening Paris and, next week...Newcastle**

In a set of some 75 minutes, the Joe Webb Trio would knock 'em dead. From an extended, explorative Cheek to Cheek to cuts from Hamstrings & Hurricanes (including 100 Years of Bill & Lil and Newcastle Full Feel), to James P (comp. J. Webb) to Myfanwy (Joe acknowledging his Welsh roots), the musicianship was of the highest order - that's Webb, long time friend Will Sach (double bass) and young, hot shot drummer Kai MacRae.

© Patti
And if that wasn't enough, Joe Webb's special guest for the evening was none other than clarinet virtuoso Adrian Cox. How lucky were we?! Webb and Cox took Just You Just Me to the cleaners and back again. Those who heard Cox on his recent tour of the BSH region will have a good idea of the 'eyeballs out' intensity of their performance. Très bon! 

Webb's Oscar, and frequently dazzling Tatumesque piano playing throughout the set, left his Parisian audience in no doubt whatsoever they were listening to one of the foremost pianists of his generation.

* Less than 48 hours earlier at Blaydon Jazz Club (the final date of their tour of the north east of England), we said goodbye to Adrian Cox, Honey Boulton and Alex Gilson. And here they were here in Paris to catch the Joe Webb Trio in concert. Small world. 

** Joe Webb will be appearing at a sold out event at Bonners (Kingston Park, Newcastle) on Thursday 30 October. Russell
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