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Bebop Spoken There

Béla Fleck: “ And that's the great thing about live performances, you take people on a journey. It doesn't have to be like something else they've heard. It's not supposed to be". DownBeat, April, 2024.

The Things They Say!

Hudson Music: Lance's "Bebop Spoken Here" is one of the heaviest and most influential jazz blogs in the UK.

Rupert Burley (Dynamic Agency): "BSH just goes from strength to strength".

'606' Club: "A toast to Lance Liddle of the terrific jazz blog 'Bebop Spoken Here'"

The Strictly Smokin' Big Band included Be Bop Spoken Here (sic) in their 5 Favourite Jazz Blogs.

Ann Braithwaite (Braithwaite & Katz Communications) You’re the BEST!

Holly Cooper, Mouthpiece Music: "Lance writes pull quotes like no one else!"

Simon Spillett: A lovely review from the dean of jazz bloggers, Lance Liddle...

Josh Weir: I love the writing on bebop spoken here... I think the work you are doing is amazing.

Postage

16287 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 16 years ago. 169 of them this year alone and, so far, 41 this month (Mar 18).

From This Moment On ...

March

Thu 28: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 28: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Gateshead Central Library, Gateshead. 2:30pm.
Thu 28: Richard Herdman Quartet @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 28: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm. Guests: Josh Bentham (alto sax); Alan Marshall (tenor sax); Neil Brodie (trumpet); Adrian Beadnell (bass); Graham Thompson (keys); Steve Hunter (drums).

Fri 29: FILM: Soul @ The Forum Cinema, Hexham. 12:30pm. Jazz-themed film animation.
Fri 29: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 29: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 29: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 29: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 6:00pm. Free. POSTPONED!
Fri 29: Thundercat @ Newcastle City Hall.
Fri 29: John Logan @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sat 30: Papa G’s Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sat 30: Pete Tanton’s Cuba Libre @ Whitley Bay Library, York Road, Whitley Bay. 8:00pm.

Sun 31: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay Metro Station. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 31: Ruth Lambert Trio @ Juke Shed, Union Quay, North Shields NE30 1HJ. 3:00pm. Free. Lambert, Alan Law & Paul Grainger.
Sun 31: Sid Jacobs & Tom Remon @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. USA/London jazz guitar duo.
Sun 31: Bellavana @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

April
Mon 01: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 01: Ray Stubbs R&B All Stars @ Billy Bootlegger’s, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 3:00pm. Free.

Tue 02: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Dean Stockdale, Paul Grainger, Abbie Finn.

Wed 03: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 03: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 03: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Sunday, September 16, 2012

Zoe Gilby Quartet @ The Bridge

Zoe Gilby (vcl); Mark Williams (gtr); Andy Champion (bs); Richard Brown (dms).
(Review by Lance)
"I said, 'This is one of my own tunes' and I actually saw a man in the audience put his head in his hands!" - Ben Castle. (Jazz UK November 2006.)
The above quote from "Bebop Spoken There" immediately ran through my mind as Zoe announced that 45% of the songs that she would sing tonight would be originals! 
I fought, and won, the battle to keep my hands as far away from my head as possible!
It wasn't exactly that difficult as I'd heard several of Zoe's originals prior to tonight and knew the quality they represented even though Rodger's and Harts' It Never Entered My Mind, with the unaccompanied verse, reigned supreme. Zoe can interpret a classic lyric that compares with the best.
I'd heard Z do The Midnight Bell, based on Patrick Hamilton's Twenty Thousand Streets Under The Sky trilogy, once or twice but tonight I thought she really cracked it. When our girl sang another original, Guilty Man - based on Ralph Gorse - the anti-hero of Hamilton's Gorse Trilogy - I bonded. This latter work, as we surely all remember, provided the basis for the award winning TV series The Charmer with Nigel Havers portraying the smooth tongued conman. Worth mentioning when introducing it I think.
This led me to ponder....
Jazz funding these days seems to be all about Projects - not gigs for the boys but Projects. So, why not, a Project based around the works of Patrick Hamilton? Zoe's got a couple under her belt already I'm sure the others could follow. For those unfamiliar with Hamilton's status Graham Greene (author of Brighton Rock) said that Hamilton wrote the best ever Brighton novel - West Pier. If you want to follow it up Zoe - I've got the books.
Back to the gig!
Zoe sang, to my ears, the best I've ever heard her. Perhaps the Festival frolics have added that extra dimension but tonight everything was spot on.
On guitar, Mark looked so suave that when he came into the bar I didn't recognise him - when he started playing I did!
Andy on bass - I no longer think of him in relation to other British bassists - Mingus, Brown and Chambers are the yardsticks I use - even Nils!.
Richard Brown. Perfect - he just chills out and does the business.
Great start to the season.
Lance.

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