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

18383 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 247 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Mar. 17 ), 57

From This Moment On ...

March

Wed 18: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 18: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 18: The ’58 Jazz Collective @ Hartlepool Cricket Club, West Park, 7:30pm. £7.00.
Wed 18: Brand New Heavies @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 7:30pm.
Wed 18: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 19: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £5.00. Subject: Stephen Joshua Sondheim.
Thu 19: FILM: Köln 75 @ Forum Cinema, Hexham. 7:30pm. £10.00., £7.00., £3.00. Dir. Ido Fluk. Fictional account of Keith Jarrett’s 1975 Köln concert. A Tyne Valley Film Festival preview screening.
Thu 19: Ransom Van @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Fri 20: Gerry Richardson Quartet @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 20: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 20: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 20: Theon Cross + support @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). £17.51., £13.31., £11.16., £9.04. Support set feat. members of balletLORENT’s Creative Studio in association with NYJO.
Fri 20: Groove Crusade @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £15.00. CANCELLED!
Fri 20: Jason Isaacs Big Band @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £32.00.
Fri 20: Joe Steels Group @ Sunderland Minster. 7:30pm. £12.00. +bf, £15.00. on the door. A Blue Patch album tour. Old Black Cat Jazz Club.
Fri 20: Middlesbrough Jazz & Blues Orchestra @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 20: Rendezvous Jazz @ Riverdale Hall Hotel, Bellingham NE48 2JT. Tel: 01434 220254. 8:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 20: Mark Toomey Quintet @ The Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm.

Sat 21: Freetime Old Dixie Jass Band @ St Augustine’s Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. £10.00. Darlington New Orleans Jazz Club. FODJB (Holland).
Sat 21: NUJO Jazz Jam @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). £3.76.
Sat 21: Ray Stubbs R&B Allstars @ Billy Bootleggers, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free.

Sun 22: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Sun 22: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 22:Jack Pearce Quintet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 23: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 24: Jude Murphy & Dan Stanley @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

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

Friday, December 05, 2025

Organology @ The Exchange 1856, North Shields - Dec. 4

© Ken Drew
Gilad Atzmon (alto sax); Ross Stanley (Hammond); Joel Barford  (drums)

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.

© Ken Drew
2. Ross Stanley. The undisputed master of the Hammond and Leslie  the perfect foil for what's going on in front.

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 material, apart from a couple of originals, were familiar standards albeit somewhat less familiar once Gilad had upped the ante.

© Ken Drew
After workouts on Mack the Knife and Secret Love came the first original, Facing the Waves. Beginning with an exotic Middle Eastern theme, a mesmerising exploration of what seemed to be a double harmonic scale before evolving into some Trane-like sheets of sound - breathtaking.

Alone Together had Gilad and Joel trading in a fantastic round of fours before Darn That Dream, and a bossa(ish) based original, La Holly Cove, brought us to the break. There was a beautiful aura about the building and I felt privileged to be there whilst, at the same time, sorry for those who didn't make the effort.

© Ken Drew
You Don't Know What Love is segued into White Christmas which was nothing like the ones we used to
know and had Barford going to town.  By this time I was so engrossed I stopped taking notes. It was around about now that Gilad and Ross indulged in a Bachian fugue-like passage that was quite amazing.

There is no Greater Love and My One and Only Love were followed by Scarborough Fair - Simon and Garfunkel it wasn't!.

What a Wonderful World brought the Show to a close and I left floating on a cloud. Lance

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