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, October 21, 2012

CD Review: The Knoxville Jazz Orchestra - Christmas Time is Here.

Mark Tucker or Tim Green, David King (alt); Greg Tardy, William Boyd (ten/clt); Tom Johnson (bar/ bs. clt); Michael Wyatt, Stewart Cox, Michael Spirko, Tom Cox, Vance Thompson (tpts); Tom Lunberg, Don Hough, Chris Mac Tavish, Brad McDougall (tmbs); Robert Owen, Jeffrey Whaley, Mark Harrell, Mitzi Hall (fr. horn); Sande MacMorran (tub); Bill Swann (pno); Dan Trudell (org); Rusty Holloway (bs); Keith Brown (dms); Bob Adamcik (perc); Jill Andrews, Kelle Jolle,  + choirs.
(Review by Lance)
Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat, so please put a CD in the old man's hat.
When this disc arrived it reminded me that there were but 65 bopping days to Christmas and I hadn't even picked out a turkey!

Well, I can say from the outset that this disc is no turkey and it is most likely to be on the player on Christmas Day as I dismember the unfortunate bird and share it amongst the cannibals sitting around the table - hopefully with their ears as well as their mouths open.
The Knoxville Jazz Orchestra are based in East Tennessee and boast 17 of the area's top pro musicians. With a cushion of 12 original arrangements by leader Vance Thompson to work on the ensemble produces a sound comparable with almost any equivalent big band past or present.
Dan Trudell has several blasts on the good old faithful Hammond B3 blending nicely with the horns. Greg Tardy on tenor and Tim Green, alto, are also well featured. Both saxes have that delightful west coast feel about their playing - Bud Shank, Art Pepper, Bob Cooper, Bill Perkins - Thompson handles the trumpet solos equally well in the same idiom.
Jingle Bells, over a samba rhythm, has Green and Tardy having fun riding high on a one horse open sleigh.
Green continues blowing on A Not So Silent Night with the B3 keeping the neighbours awake - and I bet they're not complaining!
Jill Andrews treats Oh Little Town of Bethlehem as a ballad and she does it effectively. Leader Thompson says, "She has a gorgeous voice and really knows how to capture a mood. She also sounds like she's from East Tennessee, and I felt that was an important statement to make. We're not a New York band, after all."
To add to this wonderful Christmas stocking we have the Church Street United Methodist Choir and the choir of the Community Evangelistic Presbyterian Church giving a gospel feel to the final track - Children Go Where I send Thee.
Thank you Santa for making Hebburn your first stop!
Knoxville Jazz Orchestra - Christmas Time is Here is released on November 1. More on the KJO @ www.knoxjazz.org.
Lance.
PS: This CD is dedicated to the memory of Bill Scarlett - a legendary figure in East Tennessee music circles.

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