Bebop Spoken There

Melissa Aldana: ''Having to play a ballads album, which is something very revealing for a saxophone player, would help me to question some new aspects of how to go deeper into sound." (DownBeat May, 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

18602 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 466 of them this year alone and, so far this month (June 8) 17

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

June

Sat 13: Ladies of Midnight Blue + Northern Monkey Brass Band @ Northumberland Miners’ Picnic, Woodhorn Museum, Ashington NE63 9YF. Free. From 10:00am. Ladies of Midnight Blue (3:00-3:45pm); Northern Monkey Brass Band (4:00-4:45pm).
Sat 13: Sarah Spencer’s Transatlantic Jazz Band @ St Augustine’s Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. £10.00. Darlington New Orleans Jazz Club.
Sat 13: Tees Bay Swing Band @ Saltburn Bandstand. 2:30-4:30pm. Free.
Sat 13: Courtney Pine @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm. £35.80. Pine (saxophones); Robert Mitchell (piano); Rio Kai (double bass); Romarna Campbell (drums). ‘A Modern-Day Jazz Story 1986 - 2026’.

Sun 14: Front Porch Band: Swing Tyne’s Swing Social @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12 noon (doors). Donations (£5.00. - £10.00. suggested). Swing dance event w. taster class (12:30pm).
Sun 14: 58 Jazz Collective @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00-3:00pm. Free.
Sun 14: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 14: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Table reservations (0191 261 8000). Skerritt w. backing tapes.
Sun 14: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 14: Doctor Jazz @ The Old Church, Sacriston, Durham. 3:00-5:00pm . Free (donations welcome). New Orleans, blues & classic 20th century songs. Food & soft drinks available, BYOB.
Sun 14: Eddie Gripper Trio @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Gripper (piano); Clem Saynor (double bass); Patrick Barrett-Donlon (drums). Americana album tour.

Mon 15: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 15: Dan Johnson w. Dean Stockdale Trio @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00.

Tue 16: Alan Law Trio @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 2:00pm. Free.
Tue 16: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Stu Collingwood, Paul Grainger, Abbie Finn.

Wed 17: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 17: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 17: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 18: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Millstone, Mill Rise, South Gosforth, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 18: Castillo Nuevo Orquesta @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. £6.50. 7:30pm (doors).
Thu 18: Lindsay Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ Harbour View, Roker, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 18: Paul Skerritt @ Angels' Share, St George's Terrace, Jesmond, Newcastle NE2 2SX. 8:00pm. Free. Booking advised (0191 200 1975). Skerritt w. backing tapes.

Fri 19: Joe Steels Group @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 19: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 19: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 19: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 19: Ferg’s Imaginary Big Band @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £14.33., £11.16., £8.00.
Fri 19: Martin Litton @ Sunderland Minster. 7:30pm. £13.01 (inc. bf); £6.50 (inc. bf); £15.00 on the door. Solo piano. CANCELLED!
Fri 19: Jools Holland’s R&B Orchestra @ Hippodrome, Darlington. 7:30pm. Joe Webb support set.
Fri 19: Hot Club du Nord @ Warkworth Memorial Hall. 7:30pm.
Fri 19: Jive Aces: The Roots of Rock & Roll @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £20.00 + bf.

Sunday, July 11, 2010

Whitley Bay International Jazz Festival Day 3 - Evening

La Retaguardia Jazz Band (Chile) - pictured above.
Matthias Seuffert Sextet and Cecile McLorin Salvant (International) - pictured left.
Matthias Seuffert (ten), Jean-Francoise Bonnel (tpt/ten), Martin Litton (pno), Martin Wheatley (gtr), Malcolm Sked (bs), Nick Ward (dms), AND Cecile McLorin Salvant.
For me, if there has to be one defining moment of this happy festival (happy yet sad that there will be no more) it was the set I caught by Matthias and that wonderful singer Cecile McLoen Salvant.
I missed her previous sessions which were tributes to Billie and Bessie but I praised the Lord for passing me the ammunition to catch this one.
Okay so I only heard three numbers by her but I loved every one. Everything I Have Is Yours, Anything Goes (including the verse) I even forgave her for taking a breath in the middle eight! (it's not easy - try it) and a gorgeous rendition of Born To Be Blue.
This was superb songstering - sheer poetry. Needless to say I hurried back for the second set but the word was out and Kelly's Stables was full.
In the photo above the audience appear to be looking elsewhere, - this was due to the fact I had to take the picture via a mirror.
I'll repeat the name Cécile McLorin Salvant - YouTube her here. On this particlular clip Jean-Francoise Bonnell plays piano. Tonight he played tenor and cornet truly an amazing player!
Matthias blew good tenor on what was ostensibly a tribute to Don Byas. I wondered if this was the first time a Tadd Dameron tune - Good Bait - had been played at Whitley Bay?
This was good middle of the road stuff. Matthias said, and I quote, "We're usually considered too modern for the classic jazz festivals and not modern enough for the modern jazz festivals."
He'll do for me!
The other band I caught tonight was La Retaguardia Jazz Band from Chile.
Hard to believe that, only a few miles away, another Chilean, saxist Claude Werner, was playing at The Trojan Rooms, Whitley Bay, as part of a fringe festival.
La Retaguardia opened up with spirited versions of Wang Wang Blues and Stevedore Stomp delighting the large audience and proving that this really was an international festival. Excellent interpreters of classic jazz, they are based in Santiago and appear regularly on Chilean TV - take note BBC and ITV. I wanted to stay longer but the appeal of Cecile was too strong and I left to return to Kelly's Stables but, alas, there was no room at the inn.
Nevertheless, this effected me the opportunity to chat with Colin Aitchison, Our Man In Hong Kong, over here on a flying visit. No doubt Colin will be dropping in somewhere for a jam. With him was his nephew who is also a BSH visitor.
That's the beauty of Festivals and concerts - you always meet someone unexpected - and vice versa!
There was more Jazzfall this past weekend in and around the Coast than you get in the average month.
Lance.
PS:All may not be lost for the future. Organiser Mike Durham, providing he gets enough interest, has outlined plans for a JAZZ PARTY at the same venue on the 4-6 of November 2011. I'll be posting more details shortly.
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1 comment :

noushka said...

A Sailboat in the moonlight and you, Tribute to Billie Holiday
http://www.facebook.com/#!/video/video.php?v=416233326459&oid=91069268131

Monday, July 19, 2010 6:45:00 am

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