Sunday night @ the Globe/NFOJAiM: Alex Hitchcock Quartet - Sept. 27

Photos © John Lyons

Alex Hitchcock (tenor sax): Bruno Heinen (piano) Freddie Jensen (double bass); Ananda Brandão (drums)

The Newcastle Festival of Jazz and Improvised Music - NFOJAiM to its many followers, several of whom were present last night - offers a broad church of contemporary jazz as typified by the Alex Hitchcock Quartet. Four super-talented musicians playing a programme of extended original compositions.

Two pieces each from the fertile musical brains of Hitchcock and Heinen that weren't quite straight ahead jazz nor were they totally on the outside but somewhere to the right of centre which isn't a bad place to be.

I didn't catch the titles of Heinen's originals - maybe they weren't given or have yet to be named. However, Heinen's many albums have been reviewed on BSH over the years so I was attuned to his sometimes percussive approach.

Zach Sewell Quintet @ Queen's Hall, Hexham - Sept. 27

Zach Sewell (alto sax); Lara Hopper (trumpet); Tom Shooter (keyboards); Jesse Penny (double bass); Finlay Mackenzie (drums)

September's Sunday Jazz concert at Queen's Hall, Hexham afforded an opportunity to check out some of Trinity Laban's many talented undergraduates. One of bandleader Zach Sewell's bandmates we knew, trumpeter Lara Hopper. The others, Sewell included, were an unknown quantity. 

Two sets would showcase Sewell's original compositions. An adherent of the 'cool school' rather than a firebrand soloist, alto saxophonist Sewell unveiled a series of lyrical numbers. Bandmates Hopper, depping pianist Tom Shooter, bassist Jesse Penny and drummer Finlay Mackenzie interpreted Sewell's charts with the utmost sensitivity. 

Late Night Chicago Radio with Denny Farrell (Sept. 24-30)

Bennie Green/Jimmy Forrest: Hornful of Blues? 

Phineas Newborn: Sometimes I'm Happy.

Carmen McRae: Take 5.

Wes Montgomery:  ?  .

Scott Hamilton: Sweet Georgia Brown.

Jimmy Giuffre/Pee Wee Russell: Blues.

Billie Holiday: Billie's Blues.

John Coltrane: After the Rain.

Benny Carter: 'Round Midnight.

Billy Eckstine: Tenderly.

LISTEN 24/7.

NFOJAiM: Adam Fairhall & Johnny Hunter play Mary Lou Williams @ The Cumberland Arms, Newcastle - Sept. 26

Adam Fairhall (piano); Johnny Hunter (snare drum)

An hour or so before the John Pope Quintet's Newcastle Festival of Jazz and Improvised Music Festival (NFOJAiM) headline concert, Adam Fairhall and Johnny Hunter popped up in the Cumberland Arms' lounge (aka back bar) to 'play Mary Lou Williams'. 

As Johnny Hunter was upstairs sound checking with the JP5, pianist Adam Fairhall sat at the house upright to play some stride piano. Pronouncing himself content with the instrument*, Fairhall was happy to chew the fat: Mary Lou Williams, Sedalia (that's the Scott Joplin International Ragtime Festival), Jeff Barnhart (the art of improvising to silent movies), Joe Webb and more. 

Nick Mondello interviews pianist, composer, arranger, educator, author, Jeff Colella for "88 Keys"

Album launch: Ben Crosland Quintet 'North York Skies' @ 606 Club - Sept. 26

© Roy Woodcock

Ben Crosland (electric bass); Steve Waterman (trumpet, flugelhorn, EWI); Steve Lodder (keyboards); Chris Allard (guitar); Nic France (drums).

With Chelsea’s 606 Club gearing up for a two-week celebration of its 50th anniversary, Ben Crosland brought his Quintet to London Town for a little reverse devolution. For one night only we were enveloped in the beauty that is the North York Moors - a soundscape as broad as its far-reaching skies.

Crosland, who anchored things superbly throughout, describes the album as “a love letter to the North York Moors” and like the Moors there’s much to be discovered in the music and, in his typically-relaxed style, Crosland also relays some of the stories behind it.

But from first to last note the Quintet’s playing is peerless; gentle and relaxing one minute before soaring to propulsive heights the next.

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

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

Playlist 27/09/26 (repeated Tuesday 29/09/26)

Seasonal: Alan Barnes & Dave Newton.

Requests: Sue Ferris, Musicians Unlimited, Al Cohn & Zoot Sims, Stan Kenton, Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers.

New Releases: Eddie Parker, Paula Jeanine Bennett, Richard X Bennett.

 Memories: George Gershwin, Ella Fitzgerald, Nat King Cole Trio.

What’s on in the NE: Olie Brice Quartet.

Seasonal: Chet Baker, Paul Desmond, Gene Ammons, Sonny Stitt, Stan Kenton.

John Coltrane Centenary.

Press release: Kings Place Announces 2027 Season With Major Jazz Programme and New Series Origins Unwrapped

Artist-in-Residence Alice Zawadzki presents three projects, including the acclaimed Bag of Bones and the world premiere of Replace Your Gods

Kings Place Jazz Orchestra named Jazz Ensemble in Residence and will present a series of projects, including a 70th anniversary celebration of West Side Story

Additional performances from Tony Kofi & Denys Baptiste, Joe Webb, Alexandra Ridout, Snowpoet, Olivia Murphy, Marlon the Pannist and more

Tickets on sale on Friday 25 September from www.kingsplace.co.uk

Album review: Janis Siegel - The Art of Vocalese (Origin Records)

Janis Siegel (vocals); John Di Martino (piano, arranger); Lonnie Plaxico (bass); Ed Cherry/Frank Vignola (guitar); Wayne Escoffery (tenor sax); Bobby Sanabria (drums); Raul Midón, Lea DeLario (vocal); JaLaLa vocal trio (Siegel, Laurel Massé, Lauren Kinhan)

An enjoyable romp by former Manhattan Transfer vocalist Janis Siegel that shows off her vocalese ability over nine familiar and not so familiar tracks.

Kicking off with  Bird's Barbados, Siegel cuts loose over Sanabria's Caribbean rhythm performing at speed yet making space for piano and bass solos. As part of her JalaLa vocal trio It's Sandman brings back shades of Man Tran or LHR - Lambert and Hendricks were part composers of the tune.

Bye, Bye, Blackbird has Midón sharing the vocal with Siegel. One of them produces some cornetish sounds. Michael Brecker had a hand in the intriguingly titled In the Presence of Absence of Each Other Escoffery puts his head above the parapet for a fine solo.

Newcastle Festival of Jazz and Improvised Music 2026

This year's Newcastle Festival of Jazz and Improvised Music begins today (Sept. 24) at Gosforth Civic Centre with the Arun Ghosh Sextet at Gosforth Civic Theatre.

See the graphic for full listing.

Also: Gosforth Civic Theatre. Lit & Phil. The Globe. The Glasshouse.