Bebop Spoken There

Joe Alterman: ''All I wanted to do growing up was to sound like Erroll Garner playing "Poor Butterfly." I thought that was the coolest sound I'd ever heard.'' (DownBeat November, 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

19,061 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 925 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Oct. 30) 104.

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

October.

Sat 31: Saltburn Big Band + Durham Alumni Big Band @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm.
Sat 31: East Coast Swing Band @ Cramlington Village Club, Park View, Cramlington NE23 6QJ. 7:30pm. £10.00. (from venue).

November

Sun 01: Smokin’ Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm. £10.00.
Sun 01: Ian Bosworth Quintet @ Chapel, Middlesbrough. 1:00pm. Free. Quintet w. special guest Donna Hewitt (tenor sax, clarinet)
Sun 01: Sax Choir @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 01: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 01: Sarah Heneghan Trio @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 02: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 02: Saltburn Big Band @ Saltburn House Hotel. 7:00-9:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).

Tue 03: Alan Law @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 2:00pm. Free. Alan Law (piano) w. guest tba
Tue 03: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Stu Collingwood, Paul Grainger, Abbie Finn.
Tue 03: Customs House Big Band @ The Masonic Hall, Ferryhill. 7:30pm. Free.

Wed 04: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ 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: An Evening of Erykah Badu @ Holy GrAle, Durham. 7:30pm. £3.00.; £2.50. A Durham University Jazz Society event.
Wed 04: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 05: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Millstone, Mill Rise, South Gosforth, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 05: Hejira - Celebrating Joni Mitchell @ Alnwick Playhouse. 7:30pm.
Thu 05: Cut Capers @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors).
Thu 05: Northern Reaches @ Newcastle Arts Centre. 7:30pm. Free (donations). Pete Tanton, Joe Steels, Laurence Blackadder, John Hirst.
Thu 05: Fergus McCreadie @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm.

Fri 06: Mike Durham’s International Classic Jazz Party @ Village Hotel, West Allotment. 12 noon. Day 1/3.
Fri 06: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 06: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 06: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 06: Jazz Night: Bridget Metcalfe @ Saltburn House Hotel. From 6:00pm. Tickets: £40.00 (inc. a two-course meal & glass of Prosecco). Tel: 01287 658977.

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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