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.

Saturday, October 27, 2012

2012 Whitley Bay Classic Jazz Party - Day One Friday October 26.

As I wasn't at the Classic Jazz Party yesterday I can but give you a run-down on the concerts that took place.
In fact if you look at the line-ups you'll realise it speaks for itself! Better still - go to Jazz Lives.
Lance.
12 noon – 1.00pm: From Rags to Raggin’ The Scale                         
Keith Nichols is joined by Martin Wheatley (banjo/guitar), Emma Fisk (violin), Norman Field (reeds) and Frans Sjöström (bass sax) in a programme of piano ragtime and early “chamber jazz” to open the Party
1.00-2.00pm: Really The Blues                                   
Switzerland’s Thomas Winteler recalls the great reed duets made with various frontline partners by the titanic Sidney Bechet. With Stéphane Gillot and Matthias Seuffert (reeds), Martin Seck (piano), Henry Lemaire (banjo & guitar), Manu Hagmann (bass) and Richard Pite (drums)           
2.00-2.30pm: Blue Guitars          
Spats Langham and Martin Wheatley recreate the phenomenal duet recordings of Lonnie Johnson and Eddie Lang, the latter playing under the pseudonym “Blind Willie Dunn” as a sop to the prejudice against “mixed” sessions prevalent at that time
2.30-3.00pm: Too Sweet For Words                        
Pianist Lovie Austin was queen of the Chicago South Side jazz scene in the twenties. Her recordings with her Blues Serenaders are recalled by René Hagmann (cornet), Thomas Winteler (clarinet & soprano), Jens Lindgren (trombone), Martin Litton (piano), Roly Veitch (banjo) and Josh Duffee (drums & washboard)
3.00-4.00pm: Whoopee Stomp 
The Whoopee Makers recorded many sides in 1928/29. Andy Schumm leads this set in memory of Jimmy McPartland, with Alistair Allan (trombone), Michael McQuaid & Norman Field (reeds), Keith Nichols (piano), Spats Langham (banjo/ guitar), Frans Sjöström (bass sax), Phil Rutherford (sousa) and Richard Pite (drums)
4.00-5.00pm: Oh! Mister Jelly!  
Martin Litton leads his Red Hot Peppers in a programme of the music of the legendary Jelly Roll Morton: with Martin are Enrico Tomasso (trumpet), Kristoffer Kompen (trombone), Matthias Seuffert and Michael McQuaid (reeds), Martin Wheatley (banjo & guitar), Malcolm Sked bass & sousa) and Nick Ward (drums)
DINNER INTERVAL
7.30-8.30pm: Fifty Hot Choruses              
In 1927, Louis Armstrong recorded 50 Hot Choruses for trumpet. Bent Persson puts these gems into  complete tunes, with Jens Lindgren (trombone), Thomas Winteler, René Hagmann & Jean-François Bonnel (reeds), Martin Seck (piano), Jean-Pierre Dubois (banjo), Frans Sjöström (bass sax) and Josh Duffee (drums)
8.30-9.00pm: The Hottest Man In Town                
Spats Langham, ukulele and vocal, pays homage to one of his heroes, the eccentric singer Cliff Edwards (also known as Ukulele Ike). With Norman Field (reeds), Keith Nichols (piano) and Frans Sjöström (bass sax)
9.00pm-9.30pm  Come On Over To My Place, Baby                         
Cécile McLorin Salvant sings songs by Julia Lee, a fine blues singer/pianist/songwriter from the 1940s; backing by  Rico Tomasso (trumpet), Kristoffer Kompen (trombone), Matthias Seuffert & Jean-François  Bonnel (reeds), Martin Litton (piano), Roly Veitch (guitar), Manu Hagmann (bass), Richard Pite (drums)
9.30-10.00pm: Goin’ Hunting                    
South Side pianist/composer Jimmy Bertrand’s sidesmen included Louis, Johnny Dodds and Punch Miller. Bent Persson (trumpet), Thomas Winteler (clarinet), Keith Nichols (piano) and Nick Ward (washboard) play a selection  of his recordings for you
10.00-10.30pm: Sing Me A Torch Song
Cecile McLorin Salvant and Spats Langham sing songs of lost love, unrequited love and general wistfulness, with sentimental accompaniment from Duke Heitger (trumpet), Alstair Allan (trombone), Norman Field (reeds), Emma Fisk (violin), Martin Litton (piano),  Henry Lemaire (bass) and Richard Pite (drums)
10.30-11.30pm: That Syncopated Melody Man                 
A tribute to singer Red McKenzie, with Andy Schumm (blue-blowing), Mike Durham (trumpet), Jens Lindgren (trombone), Norman Field &  Jean-François Bonnel (reeds) Martin Seck (piano), Spats Langham (banjo & guitar), Frans Sjöström (bass sax), Malcolm Sked (bass), Emma Fisk (violin), Josh Duffee (drums)
11.30pm-12.30am (in the Victory Pub):  The Blue Rhythmakers 
A rare reunion session by a band that first saw light of day on a Stomp Off recording in 2001: Bent Persson, Matthias Seuffert, Kristoffer Kompen, Keith Nichols, Martin Wheatley, Frans Sjöström and Nick Ward star in our first late-night session (followed by open Jam Session from 12.30am to whenever they close the bar…..)

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