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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, April 18, 2016

GIJF: The Simon Spillett Quartet Play the Music of Tubby Hayes - Sage Gateshead. April 17

 Simon Spillett (ten); Steve Melling (pno); Alec Dankworth (bs); Miles Levin (dms).
(Review by Lance/Photos courtesy of Ken Drew).
We were still on a high from our trip back in time to the '30s and '40s with Café Society Swing when we entered the Tardis, a.k.a. The Northern Rock Foundation Hall or, for this weekend, The Jazz Lounge. This journey in time took us back to the '50s, '60s and early '70s and the life, times and music of Tubby Hayes.
This was done by showing the recently released documentary, A Man in a Hurry, followed by a live set from the Simon Spillett Quartet then a Q & A  with Spillett and the film's director, Lee Cogswell.
First things first.
The film - produced by Mark Baxter, a lifelong Hayes devotee, and Lee Cogswell I think had everyone enthralled. To me, it was further proof if such proof was needed, that Hayes was the all-time greatest British jazz musician and one of the few who could meet the Americans on a level playing field. The BBC footage of Tubby in full flight was tantalisingly short but surely served to send the believers to dig out the vinyl or the newly converted to head for the record store.
There were also many tributes paid to The Little Giant from, among others, Ronnie Scott, Spike Wells and, not surprisingly, tonight's saxophonist, Simon Spillett.
Spillett has long been an authority on jazz and his own biography of Tubby Hayes, The Long Shadow of the Little Giant, unquestionably the definitive work.
The fact that Spillett is himself a tenor player of formidable technique was proved in the set that followed  rubber-stamping his credentials.
The line-up was slightly different to that that was advertised in the programme with Steve Melling replacing John Critchenson and Miles Levin replacing Clark Tracey who in turn had replaced Spike Wells!
It didn't matter, from the opening bars of Royal Ascot we knew this was the real deal. Spillett soars through the changes at tempo de lick.  A Pint of Bitter (tune title not a demand) then a change of mood - Soria, a ballad to Tubby's second wife. Opus Ocean, The Serpent and then...Cherokee. If Spillett had been an astronaut he'd have been breakfasting on Mars by now and Slough is a fair distance from Gateshead!
Melling played brilliantly, Levin, son of a famous drummer, proved that talent can run in the family whilst Dankworth kept the Wavendon flag flying and, didn't blemish the family escutcheon - far from it - he excelled!
Next up, the Q & A session.
After the inevitable moment's silence, that usually seems like an hour when the audience are asked 'Any Questions? the questions came. A suitable end to an enjoyable evening.
But, overall, the night belonged to the late, great Tubby Hayes.
Lance.

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