Bebop Spoken There

John Donegan: ''What you take in through your ears can come out through your fingers.'' (Notes to Which Direction October, 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

19,041 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 905 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Oct. 26) 84.

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.

Tue 27: Alan Law @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 2:00pm. Free. Alan Law (piano) w. guest Julija Jacenaite.
Tue 27: Eva Fox & the Sound Hounds @ Newcastle Arts Centre. 7:30pm. Free (donations).

Wed 28: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 28: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 28: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 29: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Millstone, Mill Rise, South Gosforth, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 29: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £5.00.
Thu 29: Castillo Nuevo Orquesta @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. £6.50. 7:30pm (doors).
Thu 29: Radio Pensacola Band @ The Blacksmith’s Arms, Hartlepool. 8:00pm. Featuring guest Jan Spencelayh.
Thu 29: Simon Taylor Band @ Newcastle Arts Centre. 7:30pm. £8.00.
Thu 29: King Bees @ The Harbour View, Roker, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Superb Chicago blues band.

Fri 30: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 30: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 30: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.

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).

Thursday, February 12, 2026

RADIOPHONICX: Words, words, words - the sound of language

21st of February 2-4pm at Cobalt Studios, 10-16 Boyd Street, Newcastle NE2 1AP

Words and silence, 2021 by Liverpool based artist Paul Rooney is part of his album Surface Industries I. The vocals taken from interviews with service industry workers sourced from the early 2000s, form tracks that continue the artist’s exploration into unpredictable narratives in mundane objects and situations. A call centre worker, cold-calling to sell insurances, has one of her calls go to the answer machine. Instead of hanging up, she leaves a message: telling stories about silence, distance and time.

Rooney’s installations, videos, writings and records focus on the instabilities and deceptions of narrative, particularly in relation to representing place: it’s everyday life; it’s history and folklore; it’s familiar strangeness. His work was shown at Tate Britain; Tate Liverpool; BALTIC; The Arnolfini; and Whitechapel Gallery; and he has exhibited at a wide range of international museums. https://www.paulrooney.info/

babblesnatch, 2023 by Wales audio artist Leona Jones is an immersive sonic ‘snowglobe’ in which voices dart and fly. The sound installation it’s created entirely from recordings of two voices performing an original script, cracking open conventional language to weave together sonic colour, texture and non/sense. The work emerged from Covid lockdown when Leona Jones and Caroline Wilkins had long-distance conversations about the overwhelming digital info storm and debated implications of this online rush for a world of supposedly increased freedom, power and overload. It invites the listeners to intuitively tune into the work exploring the sound and the space around them.

Leona Jones is a multi-modal practitioner creating experimental performance installations centred on language, voice and sound. Cross-disciplinary collaboration is central to her practice and she has worked with performers, musicians, visual artists, the public and academics. Leona has an MA in Performance Writing and her work explores how language interacts with other art forms. She has twice won the highly prestigious Karl-Sczuker-Prize awarded every year in Germany in the field of sound art. https://www.leonajones.co.uk/

RADIOPHONICX is a free communal listening event curated by Gabriele Heller.

More information about the event:

https://cobaltstudios.co.uk/events/radiophonicx-presents-words-words-words/

The event is free but if you are able to support independent venues and promoters like Cobalt you can book a £5 donation ticket in advance here:

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/radiophonicx-presents-words-words-words-tickets-1981704906722?aff=oddtdtcreator

 

Next month Radiophonicx will be on the 14th of March featuring:

The Political Music Show by award winning Belgium audio maker Cristian Fierbinteanu and Empty words and Roaratorio, extracts of John Cage’s audio work commissioned by the German State Broadcast WDR and SWR in 1979.

 

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