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.

Thursday, January 08, 2026

Windy City Weatherbirds @ Jamboree, London - Jan. 7

Magnus Pickering (trumpet); Gustavo Clayton Marucci (clarinet, vocals); Ed Parr (trombone); Cornelius Corkery (guitar); Chris Hyde-Harrison (double bass)

From Soho to King's Cross. Exiting Ronnie Scott's (Gilad Atzmon's amazing Organology), racing down to Leicester Square Underground station (negotiating the traffic and dodging kamikaze cyclists), down onto the platform, then four stops on the Piccadilly line to King's Cross. 

Out of King's Cross, taking a left turn, crossing at the lights (dodging kamikaze cyclists), over to Gray's Inn Road, then down St Chad's Place to Jamboree. From A to B in thirteen minutes! What's the hurry? The Windy City Weatherbirds were about to take to the stage! 

From 2026 Gilad Atzmon to circa 1926 Chicago. The Pickering brothers - Magnus, Daniel and Joe - are proud purveyors of the Windy City's amazing jazz scene of a century ago. This evening it would be Pickering brother, singular. In the absence of Daniel and Joe, trumpeter Magnus would lead the line as usual. Trombonist Daniel is working in Orkney and Joe is in far off Shanghai. This evening, the Windy City would play two sets as a drummer-less five piece instead of the usual sextet line-up. 

Opening with Back Home in Indiana, it was good to hear the Weatherbirds again. Embraceable You featured Gustavo Clayton Marucci's clarinet and vocals. Excellent clarinet and an excellent voice!* The ever-genial Magnus P lead from the front with consistently good trumpet playing. To his left, a new face - trombonist Ed Parr. A Guildhall graduate, Parr impressed!

I Found a New Baby, Eubie Blake's Memories of You, a tremendous Limehouse Blues with the frontline going for it and the rhythm boys - Cornelius Corkery, guitar, and Chris Hyde-Harrison, string bass - as impressive as they were on the Weatherbirds' 2024 tour of the BSH heartland. 

To open the second set, Gustavo sang another one - My Blue Heaven. Yep, the man can sing! Some of These Days stoked the fires with the front three soloing as if there were no tomorrows, the engine room not letting up for so much as a nanosecond. A Hot Club-style original composition (written by Gustavo) received its world premiere here at Jamboree. And So I Fall, the tune, the only tune of the night requiring sheet music! On first hearing it's a winner.

The Weatherbirds never fail to radiate their enjoyment in playing the music and Oh, Lady be Good! (and many others) illustrated the point. If I Had You featured fine solos from all five musicians. The Weatherbirds and the audience were enjoying themselves and no one objected when the set overran. Rose Room closed a most enjoyable evening. Thanks to the Windy City Weatherbirds.           

* At the 2025 Scarborough Jazz Festival, BSH heard Gustavo playing clarinet and bass clarinet in Billy Marrows' Grande Família. The music of Billy Marrows is at the opposite end of the spectrum to that of the Windy City Weatherbirds! Russell                
Set list included: Back Home in Indiana; Embraceable You; I Found a New Baby; Memories of You; Limehouse Blues; Deed O Do; I Want a Big Butter and Egg Man; My Blue Heaven; Some of These Days; And So I Fall; Oh, Lady be Good!; Misty; Just You, Just Me; If I Had You; Rose Room.
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