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Bebop Spoken There

Ambrose Akinmusire: “ I am certainly always aware of what the masses are doing. And when I see too many people going one way, I'm going another way - even when I don't know what's over that way". DownBeat, March, 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

Tue 19: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Michael Young, Paul Grainger, Tim Johnston.

Wed 20: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 20: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 20: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 21: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 21: Castillo Neuvo Trio + Conor Emery & His ‘Bones Band @ The Grove, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 7:30pm (7:00pm doors). £10.00. (£7.00. student).
Thu 21: Remi Banklyn + Chris Corcoran Trio @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.50. Chicago blues. An International Guitar Foundation promotion.
Thu 21: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Ragtime piano.
Thu 21: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm.

Fri 22: Vasilis Xenopoulos & Paul Edis @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. £8.00. SOLD OUT!
Fri 22: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 22: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 22: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 22: Nauta + Remy CB + Last Orders @ Hoochie Coochie, Newcastle. 8:30pm (7:30pm doors). Free.
Fri 22: Vasilis Xenopoulos-Paul Edis Quartet @ Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. £15.00. Opus 4 Jazz Club.
Fri 22: Redwell @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sat 23: Jambone @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 6:30pm. Free (ticketed). End of term performance in the Northern Rock Foundation Hall.
Sat 23: Milne-Glendinning Band @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 23: Red Kites Jazz @ Rowlands Gill Community Centre NE39 1JB. 7:00pm. Tickets: £12.00. (gibsidecommunityfarm@gmail.com). A ‘Build a Barn’ fundraiser. BYOB, tea/coffee available.
Sat 23: New Century Ragtime Orchestra @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £20.00. + bf (book in person at venue - no booking fee!). Featuring pianist Martin Litton.
Sat 23: Pete Tanton’s Cuba Libre @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 24: Musicians Unlimited @ Park Inn, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 24: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:30pm. Free.
Sun 24: Luis Verde @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm. Verde (alto sax); Joe Steels (guitar); John Pope (double bass); John Hirst (drums). Alto sax brilliance!
Sun 24: Elsie Franklin @ The Globe, Newcastle. 3:00pm. £10.00. Country blues. An International Guitar Foundation promotion.
Sun 24: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay Metro Station. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 24: Las Vegas Live with the Rat Pack @ The Forum, Billingham.
Sun 24: Ian Millar & Dominic Spencer @ Otterburn Memorial Hall. 7:30pm. £12.00.
Sun 24: Lindsay Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Note start time - 7:00pm.
Sun 24: Bold Big Band @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 25: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 25: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 6:30pm. Free.

Monday, March 21, 2016

Strictly Smokin’ Big Band @ Blaydon Jazz Club. March 20

(Review by Russell/photos courtesy of Roly Veitch.)
Almost exactly a year to the day since the Strictly Smokin’ Big Band’s first visit to the Black Bull, Michael Lamb’s powerhouse outfit returned to play another gig at Blaydon Jazz Club. The established line-up, with just the one dep in (Dave Kerridge up from the Tees Delta on tenor), roared through an ambitious, wide-ranging concert programme.  
On the first day of spring (the meteorologists will tell you it was) F’reez opened with On a Clear Day. MC Guy Swinton admitted to shamelessly nicking the arrangement from a friend of the band, Mr Anthony Strong! Our man F’reez sang it in his Nu soul-jazz style. Standard material, the band sounded good. There was little indication of things to come.
Bandleader Michael Lamb has filed hundreds of numbers in the pad. Classic charts take their place, of course, but trumpeter Lamb looks to America’s contemporary composers and arrangers for inspiration. Tim Davies, working out of Hollywood, and Denver-based Adam Bartczak two such figures. Davies’ Blacknail made things clear; this was to be an exhilarating ride in the confines of the Black Bull’s compact lounge. Fantastic playing – ensemble and soloists. Direct, powerful, an ear-ringing experience! The reed section, assembled on the floor out front, pulled no punches. Excoriating solos - all given a chance to blow the roof off during the evening – altos, sopranos, tenors, baritone anchor Laurie Rangecroft, the doubling-up soloists on various reeds including clarinet and flute.
Lullaby of Bigfoot, dedicated to former band pianist Mark Jolliffe, heard a bona fide USA trumpet player – Pete Tanton – ‘kick ass’ as he, or his fellow Americans, might say. Wow! The audience got it, the applause suggested nothing else. Everyone gets Kenny Wheeler and a typically elegant composition – For PA – with Lamb conducting matters out front, saw a temporary lowering of the decibel count. F’reez returned once more to take us to Stevie Wonder’s Higher Ground (arr A Strong). Adam Bartczak’s Minor’s Holiday sent tremors up the Tyne valley thanks to Lamb’s killer solo and aftershocks were registered due to an equally brutal effort from altoist Keith Robinson. Guitarist Pawel ‘Pav’ Jedrzejewski, seated more or less in the audience, had his say too.
Lindsay Hannon, engrossed in a dime novel, stepped up to tell us about That Ole’ Devil Called Love sensitively backed by Guy Swinton’s big band drummer brush work. Film Noir – 1 (we didn’t get to hear parts 2 and 3) closed an exhilarating first set; Swinton set up a N’Awlins shuffle, Steve Summers strolled along on clarinet and trumpeter Tanton followed him.
Bob Mintzer’s TV Blues is a work in progress. The iPad-aided Hannon got her Blonde Bombshell head around the lyrics – something like I’m gonna give up my life and watch tv – and then we visited the Scandinavian big band scene with Not Just a Date; Laurie Rangecroft stood up and tamed his baritone beast, reedman Robinson switching to flute. Blakey alumnus Bobby Watson is a favourite of many a band. The Strictly Smokin’ boys like him. They played his Like It Was Before with Summers blowing soprano as if it was to be his last solo before departing this Earth! It Had to Be You – it had to be F’reez and before we knew it the Blaydon Jazz Club regulars were demanding an encore. Bartczak’s Greta’s Groove hit a groove. The band could have played ’til midnight and the audience would have demanded more. The Strictly Smokin’ Big Band has come a long way since Michael Lamb first hit on the idea of forming a big band. In an interview with this blog Lamb said: You can’t nail the Mintzer without knowing the Miller!  
Russell.                           
Strictly Smokin’ Big Band: MD Michael Lamb, Pete Tanton, Gordon Marshall, Dick Stacey (trumpets); Kieran Parnaby, Mark Ferris, Robert ‘Pez’ Perry, Dr John Flood (trombones); Laurie Rangecroft (baritone saxophone); Paul Gowland (tenor & soprano saxophones), Dave Kerridge  (tenor saxophone), Steve Summers (alto & soprano saxophones, clarinet, flute, Aztec breathing machine ), Keith Robinson (alto saxophone, flute); Graham Don (piano), Pawel Jedrzejewski (guitar), Michael Whent (bass), Guy Swinton (drums), Lindsay Hannon (vocals) & F’reez (vocals)

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