Simon Spillett Quartet @ the Moor Club, Stockport - Feb. 1

© Jeff Pritchard

Simon Spillett (tenor sax); Andrzej Baranek (keyboards); Ken Marley (bass); Eryl Roberts (drums)

Sorry for the delay with my review but this was due to illness and other medical factors which made travelling very difficult.

However, it was well worth the effort as this turned out to be a fantastic gig with outstanding performances from all the band and in particular Eryl Roberts who excelled on Oleo. 

Spillett played quite a few standards including a very fast tempo Just In Time and I Thought About You. The opener was You'd be so Nice to Come Home To. Ken Marley also sounded great on this number.

All in all this could be a hard gig to beat in 2026. Mike Farmer

The Old Duke, Bristol - Feb. 15

The Old Duke has been part of the Bristol jazz scene for many a year. Live music seven nights a week, many of the nights jazz and blues gigs, it's always free admission. 

Contrary to the local weather forecast it was a surprisingly sunny day, and with an hour to kill before catching a train to Newcastle, it was time to pay a first visit to the famed jazz joint. Turning into King Street the sounds of a Sunday lunchtime session filtering out onto the street were enough to tempt the passerby to pop in to check out who was playing Jeepers Creepers. 

Adrian Cox Trio @ The Tobacco Factory, Bristol - Feb. 14

Adrian Cox (clarinet, vocals); Honey Boulton (guitar, vocals); Alex Gilson (double bass, vocals)

W.D. & H.O. Wills. A couple of names to conjure with. Now seen for what they were, beneficiaries of the Transatlantic Slave Trade, one of their former premises in Bristol is now a thriving arts centre. 

The Tobacco Factory on Raleigh Road occupies three floors - cafe/bar, meeting rooms, performance spaces and more. The Loft on the top floor is a bright, airy, flexible space offering theatre-style or cabaret table seating. This evening's sold out concert would be a fundraiser for the Bristol Jazz Festival.

The Buck Clayton Jam Sessions

Back in the early days of the vinyl age the floodgates were opened for jazz musicians and symphony orchestras. The latter could play Beethoven's Ninth without the listener having to flip the disc over several times. Likewise jazz musicians no longer had to formulate their solos to fit into the constraints of a 10" piece of shellac. Instead they could stretch out indefinitely or until Miles suggested the player takes the mouthpiece out of his mouth.

The LP was the ideal format for recording jam sessions and none were carved in vinyl better than those led by Buck Clayton in 1953 and 1954.

Album review: Django Festival Allstars - Evolution (Motéma)

Samson Schmitt (lead guitar); Ludovic Beier (accordion, accordina); Pierre Blanchard (violin); Antonio Licusati (bass); Francko Mehrstein (rhythm guitar)

The Django Reinhardt NY Festival was founded at Birdland in 2000 and the Festival Allstars made their debut two years later. Both the band and the festival are still going strong.

Although both organisations were inspired by the recordings of Stéphane and Django in 1930s Paris, they are not caught in a time-warp. Playing compositions by Schmitt, Beier and Blanchard that whilst respecting tradition swaps the horse drawn caravan for a supercharged Renault resulting in gypsy jazz with an urban edge.

The Jazz Cavern latest

My next show will be broadcast starting Monday,16 February. It will be a memorial tribute to the late, clarinettist/saxophonist Ken Peplowski, who sadly died on  2 February 2026.

Tracks of Ken's will  include recordings that he did with Charlie Byrd,  Loren Schoenberg Big Band, Alan Barnes Octet and his own groups.

On www.purejazzradio.com (from NYC) on Tuesdays at 04.00am, Fridays at 06.00am and Saturdays at 07.00am- NYC time. (5 hours later in the UK)

None of the above shows are available on a catchup option. Frank Griffith

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

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

Playlist 15/02/26 (repeated Tuesday 17/02/26)

Valentine: JJ Johnson/Stan Getz, Frank Sinatra/Count Basie.

The Big Easy requests: Lester Young Trio, Oscar Peterson, Oscar Pettiford, Joe Pass.

Black History Month (USA): Big Bill Broonzy, Dexter Gordon. 

Valentine (cont.): Thomas 'Fats' Waller, Ella Fitzgerald, Clifford Brown, Dave Brubeck, Red Allen's All Stars.

What’s on in the NE: Alex Clarke.

Jazz Messengers, Wynton Marsalis.

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

Album review: Ben 'Doc' Bowling and his Blues Professors - Sing The American Songbag Volume 1

Ben 'Doc' Bowling (lead vocals, acoustic guitar, resonator, harmonica); Donnie Burke (lead guitar, resonator, backing vocals); Simon Minney (acoustic bass, backing vocals); Roger Chapman (drums, cajon, percussion, backing vocals); Mlle Chat Noir* (violin); Johannes Bowling (alto sax); Jens Skwirblies (piano accordion); Kenny Bruno (piano); Eamonn McKeever (six string banjo)

Back in 1925 one Dorothy Scarborough published On the Trail of Negro Folk Songs Two years later a poet, Carl Sandburg, compiled The American Songbag the title of which inspired this CD/LP. These two books - and others - provided a fertile seam of  info on early American folk music or, to be more precise, country blues eleven of which are performed here by the augmented Blues Professors**.

Tom Remon & John Moriarty @ The Ship Isis, Sunderland - Feb. 13

Tom Remon (guitar); John Moriarty (guitar)

The Ship Isis on Silksworth Row is an old school, wood-pannelled pub over two floors with a terrace. The handpulls were doing good business on this cold winter's evening. The first floor Vaux Room would play host to Tom Remon and John Moriarty, our guitar duo there to entertain an attentive full house.

Londoner Tom Remon, a regular visitor to the region, invited Dubliner John Moriarty to cross the Irish Sea to play a short run of dates, and Sunderland was on the itinerary. Without fanfare, our duo opened with Vincent Youmans' Without a Song. Melody stated, Remon took a first solo, Moriarty most impressive in chordal accompaniment. Our Dubliner's solo told us all we needed to know, he could play! 

Noel Dennis Quartet @ Bishop Auckland Methodist Church - Feb. 13

Noel Dennis (trumpet, flugelhorn); Dean Stockdale (piano); Mick Shoulder (double bass); Tim Johnston (drums)

Bishop Auckland Jazz is on the up. This afternoon's concert drew a record attendance and little wonder with trumpeter Noel Dennis the main attraction. Working alongside Dean Stockdale (piano), Mick Shoulder (bass) and drummer Tim Johnston, the quartet opened with The Good Life. 

A longtime admirer of fellow trumpeter Tom Harrell, it wasn't surprising Teesside's trumpet ace, switching to flugelhorn, chose to revisit Moon Alley. Warm-toned, measured, it's a staple in Dennis' set. Military medium swing brought in Nostalgia in Times Square. Foot-stomping Mingus!