Grammy Awards (jazz)

Best jazz vocal album

• Winner: Samara Joy – Portrait
• Dee Dee Bridgewater & Bill Charlap – Elemental
• Terri Lyne Carrington & Christie Dashiell – We Insist 2025!
• Michael Mayo – Fly
• Nicole Zuraitis, Dan Pugach, Tom Scott, Idan Morim, Keyon Harrold & Rachel Eckroth - Live at Vic's Las Vegas

Best jazz instrumental album

• Winner: Sullivan Fortner feat Peter Washington & Marcus Gilmore – Southern Nights
• Chick Corea, Christian McBride & Brian Blade – Trilogy 3 (Live)
• Branford Marsalis Quartet – Belonging
• John Patitucci feat Chris Potter & Brian Blade – Spirit Fall
• Yellowjackets – Fasten Up

Annie & the Caldwells @ The Cluny, Newcastle - Feb. 1

Annie Brown Caldwell (vocals); Deborah Caldwell (vocals); Anjessica Caldwell (vocals); Willie Joe Caldwell Sr. (guitar); Willie Caldwell Jr. (bass); Abel Aquirius Caldwell (drums)

The Globe on a Sunday evening usually wins out. However, occasionally there is an unfortunate clash with a gig elsewhere. This evening was one such occasion. The Cluny, down in the Ouseburn, opened its doors to a gospel/soul musical family all the way from West Point, Mississippi. Touring the UK, Annie & the Caldwells were on a mission.

Annie Caldwell sat for the duration, her daughter Deborah Caldwell standing to her right, to her left, daughter Anjessica Caldwell. The daughters were more, much more than backing singers. The three women shared the vocals, their sheer power shaking the foundations here on Lime Street. Sitting behind Annie, Deborah and Anjessica were Mr Caldwell and sons. Father Willie Joe Caldwell playing guitar (Mississippi swamp, hill country, soul-blues and more), sons Willie Caldwell Jr., bass guitar, and Abel Aquirius Caldwell, a powerhouse among powerhouse drummers. 

R.I.P. Andy Cooper (1942 - Feb. 1, 2026)

Sad to hear of the passing of Andy Cooper at the age of 83. I only heard him live once - at Newcastle City Hall with Kenny Ball. This would probably be mid to late '60s. I was impressed, he seemed to be a better clarinetist than most of the trad men around at the time.

I later heard him many times with Ball on record. 

He will be sadly missed.

Rest In Peace.

Lance

Sunday Night @ the Globe: The Ollie Styles Experience + Jenny Baker and guests - Feb. 1

© John Lyons

Olly Styles (tenor/soprano sax); Emma Tomlinson (keys); George GriVith (bass guitar); Jack Littlewood (drums) + Jacob Egglestone (guitar); Jennny Baker (voice, guitar)

The room was crowded, there was a feeling of youthful pizzazz in the air. An air of eager anticipation from the younger element and curiosity from those of a more mature persuasion. Come the end of the evening both factions were happy with what they'd heard.

© John Lyons

Not that I personally was in any doubt. Styles, a student of tenor ace Lewis Watson, has absorbed the great man's teachings to the extent that Lewis will soon be looking over his shoulder...

Leading from the front he led his troops through a mix of well crafted originals and a few contemporary standards that were after my time but which I loved anyway. Several numbers had unaccompanied tenor passages in which his rich tone shone through whilst others displayed his formidable technique only rarely travelling too far in to the harmonic extremes of the instrument. The same agility was applied equally effectively to soprano. Olly Styles is the real deal.

Album review: Tina Carr - Moon Over Mildmay

Tina Carr (vocals); Matt Robinson (piano, M.D.); Aanu Sodipe (violin); Miguel Gorodi (trumpet); Kieran McLeod (trombone); Sam Newbould (alto sax); Tom Ollendorf (guitar); Oli Hayhurst (bass); Rob Oughton (drums)

Every so often, an album arrives that feels less like a release and more like a quiet revelation. Moon Over Mildmay is exactly that - a record that sidles into your life with the intimacy of a late-night conversation and leaves you wondering how this voice has been hiding in plain sight.

Preview: Sunday Night @ the Globe: Olly Styles Experience + Jenny Baker

Olly Styles (tenor sax); Emma Tomlinson (keys); George GriVith (bass); Jack Littlewood (drums) + SPECIAL GUESTS!?

Emerging from the vibrant jazz scene of Newcastle upon Tyne, tenor saxophonist Olly Styles is bringing his unique sound and energy to the Globe for his debut headline show.

Inspired by the both the modern and old school tenor sax titans Olly’s music draws inspiration from the likes of Joshua Redman, Chad LB, Bob Reynolds and Hank Mobley. His sound fuses the old and new, blending bop with groove based music and the great songwriting storytellers, to create his own unique voice.

Album review: Five-Way Split - Modus Operandi (self)

Quentin Collins (trumpet, flugelhorn); Vasilis Xenopoulos (tenor/soprano sax); Rob Barron (piano, Rhodes); Matyas Hofecker (bass); Matt Home (drums)

The second album by Five-Way Split maintains the high standard set by their 2023 debut album All the Way. The hard bop quintet still relates to the founding fathers of the idiom such as the Jazz Messengers or the Clifford Brown/Max Roach Quintet only this time re-imagining them in terms of today. It's not as raw as the originals, maybe a little softer around the edges which is no bad thing.

Jazz Time Aycliffe Radio - Sundays 6.30-8.00pm (repeated Tuesdays 8.00-9.30pm).

Playlist 01/02/26 (repeated Tuesday 03/02/26)

RIP: Brian Carrick. 

Birthday Memories: Ray Anthony. 

Requests from the Sue Ferris gig: Mulgrew Miller/Roy Hargrove, Buddy Rich/Art Tatum/Lionel Hampton, Eddie 'Lockjaw' Davis, Bob Mintzer, Carmen McRae/Dave Brubeck, Mary Halvorson, Buddy Rich.    

Requests: Ella & Louis, Frank Sinatra/Red Norvo.

Memories: James P. Johnson, Stan Getz w. Bob Brookmeyer Quintet, Sonny Stitt.    

Remaster: Tommy Smith, Edwin Morgan (poetry).

What’s on in the NE: The Big Easy, Gerry Richardson's Big Idea.

Aycliffe Radio is now available on DAB in County Durham & the Darlington Area or via your smart speaker. 

https://www.ayclifferadio.co.uk/listen.

Dan Coulthurst Quintet @ Central Bar, Gateshead - Jan. 30

Dan Coulthurst (trumpet, poetry); Joel Stedman (bass clarinet, flute); Nico Widdowson (piano); Fergus Quill (double bass); Theo Goss (drums)

Dan Coulthurst arrived at Gateshead's Central Bar twenty four hours after a successful gig (100 plus audience) at Cobalt Studios in Newcastle. This evening, on Half Moon Lane, the affable Coulthurst would play to a somewhat smaller audience. 

The Dan Coulthurst Quintet opened with What is to be Done? In possession of a formidable technique, trumpeter Coulthurst touched base with NYC's loft scene of some sixty years ago, similarly Chicago's AACM, through to twenty first century developments, jazz and, fleetingly, improv. Studious, if not earnest, in demeanour, Coulthurst and his bandmates were fully immersed in the music. 

Second Hand Bargain of The Year Already? Mike Westbrook - Glad Days (Enja Records)

Mike Westbrook (piano); Kate Westbrook (voice, tenor horn, piccolo); Phil Minton (voice); Peter Whyman, Alan Wakeman, Chris Biscoe (saxes); Steve Berry (bass); Dave Berry (drums) + Senior Girls Choir of Blackheath Conservatoire of Music and the Arts

Rummaging amongst the shelves of the Cancer Research shop in Morpeth can sometimes reveal hidden gems. A large tranche of CDs by the BBC Concert Orchestra (Plays Bach, Plays Debussy, and, I wouldn’t wonder, Plays Dominoes and Darts), was neighboured by Glad Day: Settings of William Blake by Mike Westbrook.