Bebop Spoken There

John McLaughlin: ''It was then that Coltrane came along and single-handedly brought this dimension of spirituality into jazz. It was a pivotal experience to me.'' (DownBeat September, 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

18994 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 858 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Oct. 12) 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

October.

Tue 13: Alan Law @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 2:00pm. Free. Alan Law (piano) w. Julija Jacenaite (vocals).

Wed 14: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 14: A Night of Stevie Wonder @ Holy GrAle, Durham. 4:45pm. £3.00.; £2.50. A Durham University Jazz Society event.
Wed 14: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 14: Jam session @ The Tannery, Hexham. 7:00pm. Free.
Wed 14: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 14: A Night of Stevie Wonder @ Holy GrAle, Durham. 7:30pm. £3.00.; £2.50. A Durham University Jazz Society event.
Wed 14: NW FRQNC @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £15.00. Selina Albright, Gianni Vancini.
Wed 14: Jacob Egglestone Trio @ Elder Beer, Heaton, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.00. JNE.

Thu 15: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Millstone, Mill Rise, South Gosforth, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 15: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £5.00.
Thu 15: Leah Kirk: A Strange Affair @ Newcastle Arts Centre. 7:30pm. Free (donations). Leah Kirk (vocals); Alan Law (keyboards); Paul Grainger (double bass).
Thu 15: Jeremy McMurray’s Pocket Jazz Orchestra @ Arc, Stockton. 8:00pm. PJO w. guest Graham Hardy (trumpet).

Fri 16: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 16: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 16: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 16: Ancient Infinity Orchestra @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Fri 16: Lindsay Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ Sunderland Minster. 7:30pm. £13.01. adv.; £15.00. on the door. Old Black Cat Jazz Club.
Fri 16: Milne Glendinning Band @ Repas 7 by Night, West St., Berwick. 8:00pm. Free.

Sat 17: SunOrbitUs @ Culture House, Sunderland. 11:00am - 5:00pm. Closing event in a year-long piece of music. 11:00am-1:00pm Improvisation workshop w. Faye MacCalman; 2:00-5:00pm Collective Improvised Performance by Sunderland residents. SOLD OUT!
Sat 17: Tees Bay Swing Band @ Blacksmith’s Arms, Hartlepool. 1:30pm. Free. Open rehearsal.
Sat 17: Martin Taylor @ Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle. 7:30pm. £48.72; £43.37. Solo guitar. SOLD OUT!

Sun 18: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 18: Creakin’ Bones & the Sunday Dinners @ Tyne Bar, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. Jump jive.
Sun 18: Guisborough Big Band @ Redcar Rugby Club. 5:00-8:00pm. ‘Charity Big Band Birthday Bash’ in aid of Parkinson’s UK & Young Sounds UK. Free (donations on the door).
Sun 18: Martin Taylor @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm. £23.30. Solo guitar.
Sun 18: Ben Crosland Quartet with Steve Waterman @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 19: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 19: Sue Ferris Quintet @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00.

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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