For the past seventeen years we've been updating the world about jazz in the north east of England and updating the north east of England about jazz in the world. WINNER of the Jazz Media Category in the 2018 All Party Parliamentary Jazz Awards. Contact lanceliddle@gmail.com
DECEMBER 2025
Sat 06: Sarah Spencer’s Transatlantic Band @ St Augustine’s Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. £10.00.
Sat 06: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. £27.50. Tutor: Steve Glendinning. Minor Swing. Enrol at: learning@jazz.coop.
Sat 06: Jeff Hewer Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 06: NUJO Jazz Jam @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). £3.76 (inc. bf).
Sat 06: Kaberry Big Band @ The Seahorse, Whitley Bay. 7:30pm (7:00pm doors). £15.00. (inc. hot buffet). ‘Christmas 1945’. Kaberry Big Band, formerly Vermont Big Band.
Sat 06: Smokin’ Spitfires @ Platform 1, Bedlington. 7:30pm. £6.00. Rhythm & blues.
Sat 06: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00. Xmas Party with buffet.
Sat 06: The Jive Aces @ The Witham, Barnard Castle. 8:00pm. £22.00., £20.00.
Sat 06: Brass Fiesta @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 10:30pm. Free.
Mon 08: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Tue 09: Jazz Jam Sandwich @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm
Wed 10: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 10: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 10: Jam Session @ The Tannery, Hexham. 7:00pm. Free.
Wed 10: Mike Lindup Jazz Trio @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £26.50 (inc. bf). Lindup, Yolanda Charles (bass), John Sam (drums).
Wed 10: Bold Big Band @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £12.00.
Thu 11: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: West Coast (cool ) / Wordsearch (cool) Cool Jazz or ‘Cold’, ‘Cool’, ‘Hot’, ‘Warm’ in the title or lyrics.
Thu 11: George Robinson @ Prohibition Bar, Albert Road, Middlesbrough TS1 2RU. 7:00pm (doors). £5.42 (inc. bf). Vienna’s Voice charity evening featuring ’15 year old singing sensation the ‘Redcar Crooner’ George Robinson’. Over 35s only.
Thu 11: Paul Skerritt @ Chakh Dhoom, Jesmond, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Indian restaurant. Skerritt w. back tapes.
Thu 11: Ransom Van @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm.
Thu 11: Down for the Count Swing Orchestra @ Middlesbrough Town Hall. 7:30pm. £37.70 (inc. bf). ‘Swing into Xmas’.
Fri 12: Pete Tanton’s Chet Set @ Bishop Auckland Methodist Church. 1:00pm. £8.00.
Fri 12: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 12: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 12: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 12: Milne Glendinning Band @ Northumberland Club, Jesmond, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £15.00. ‘Xmas Soiree’.
Fri 12: A Jazzy Xmas @ St Cuthbert’s Centre, Crook. 7:30pm. £15.00. Paul Edis (MD, piano); Jo Harrop (vocals); Vasilis Xenopoulos (tenor sax, soprano sax); Matthew Forster (alto sax, clarinet); Sue Ferris (flute, piccolo); Graham Hardy (trumpet, flugelhorn); Jason Holcomb (trombone);Emma Fisk (violin); Andy Champion (double bass); Matt MacKellar (drums). SOLD OUT!
Fri 12: Tony Hadley: Xmas Big Band Tour 2025 @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 7:30pm.
Fri 12: Alexia Gardner @ The New Ship Inn, Newbiggin-by-the-Sea. 8:00pm. Gardner, Alan Law, Jude Murphy, Abbie Finn.
Fri 12: Jive Aces: Swingin’ Xmas Show @ The Witham, Barnard Castle. 8:00pm.
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| © Ken Drew |
I could sum up this gig in one word - Awesome! or in four words - Gig of the Year, it was that good. However, for those pernickety readers who want more then I'll give you three good reasons for the superlatives.
1. Joel Barford. He could make a lead balloon swing. Amazing technique. A young dog with new tricks.
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| © Ken Drew |
3. Gilad Atzmon. Gilad ensured there was plenty going on in front. Apart from his incredible technique the thing that grabbed me was his sound. he blows the air down one end and it comes out the other which is what all brass and woodwind players do. In Gilad's case however, the column of air resonates off the body of the instrument resulting in that big fat sound. Bird had it, Konitz dIdn't, Gilad has.
The sad news has been announced of the passing of guitar legend Steve Cropper.
Best known for his work with Booker T and the MGs, Cropper also recorde and co-wrote Otis Reddings' Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay and Wilson Pickett's In the Midnight Hour.
He appeared with Booker T at Newcastle City Hall in an all-star guitar extravaganza probably in the 1980s/'90s.
Rest In Peace.
Lance
With the dynamic Gilad Atzmon blowing alto sax like Bird, Cannonball and Ornette all rolled into one, Ross Stanley pushing the B3 to its limits and new kid on the block Joel Barford showing the drum legends a thing or two you have the ingredients for an unforgetable evening of jazz, funk, soul and who knows what else?
This promises to be an 'I was there' moment don't miss out - your grandkids will never forgive you!
Anthropology, Ornithology, Organology - you can't go wrong when you've got an 'ology'. Lance
P.S.: Check out Organology on F/b for a taste of what's in store.
There is a magic that happens when the music, the mood and the moment are just right. So, sit back - with your dreams and someone special - and let these songs unlock a special connection. Join in for some LateNights.
Sunday 7th December 2025
8-10pm, doors open at 7.30pm
£5 entry on the door, all welcome
The Moor Club, 35 Heaton Moor Road, Stockport SK4 4PB (next to the Elizabethan PH)
The blurb refers to Rager as a distinguished Canadian jazz pianist which may bring to your mind another musician who also fits that description. Like the late Oscar, Rager is indeed a distinguished Canadium pianist and composer.
Eight tracks - six originals and a couple of standards - are sublimely played with outstanding solos by both Rager and Bernstein. The latter's cool, laid back solo flights are the epitome of taste and gentle swing. The way piano and guitar intuitively pick up from where the other left off without loss of continuity is the mark of genius.
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| © Jeff Pritchard |
The band, which featured a frontline of Sam Lightwing on alto and tenor sax and Will Bird on trumpet and flugelhorn, played a mix of older material by Rollins and Clifford Brown alongside more recent tunes from Roy Hargrove's 2008 album Earfood which gave both horns a chance to show off their blossoming talent. Will Bird on trumpet was very impressive on what was his debut performance at The Moor Club.
