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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.

Friday, July 13, 2018

Andy Lawrenson Trio @ GCT Jazz Club - July 12.

Andy Lawrenson (violin/vocals); Simon O'Byrne (guitar/vocals); Paul Grainger (double bass).
(Review by Lance).
Sadly, the English World Cup dream was over and we didn't face a confrontation with France on Sunday which made the Andy Lawrenson Trio's presentation Le Café Parisien less controversial although, such was the strength of performance by the trio that I may have almost been persuaded to change allegiances - almost!
This was one of those mini gems that spring up on you unexpectedly. On the face of it, it looked likely to be yet another Hot Club outing - I think there are now more hot-clubbers around than there are traddies - and a large part of the ALT repertoire does stem from Django & Stephane. However, it doesn't end there, if anything it starts there before weaving its way around the arrondissements of Paris.
The most unusual aspect of this vignette was the complete lack of amplification - even the vocals were sung acoustically - yet it didn't detract, if anything, because of the intimate setting of Gosforth Civic Theatre (the musicians played at ground level enabling them to interact with the audience), it enhanced the music. A Maccaferri in full flight is a force to be reckoned with and O'Byrne is a commendable exponent of the genre. He also sings quite uniquely. I'm unsure as to whether its great drama or dark comedy but, whatever, he does it well.
By contrast, Lawrenson's voice is lighter, perhaps even romantic in the late 'twenties/early 'thirties style that heralded the arrival of the crooners.
His violin playing ticks all the Grappelli boxes just as O'Byrne's does the Reinhardt ones. But there's more to it than that. Celtic reels and jigs turn up in the most unexpected places - not least in the most swinging version of Paganini's Caprice XX1V since Benny Goodman's 1942 recording.
The classics were well and truly jazzed. Apart from Pag's Caprice, we had Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor and Mozart's Rondo Alla Turka once recorded by Red Ingle and his Natural 7 as Moe Zart's Turkey Trot! On top of that, we had a couple of Klezmer pieces, a few bars of Cream and a lot of repartee twixt Andy and Simon with the occasional intervention by the exquisitely coiffured Grainger who, as ever, was a tower of strength.
So, apart from Mozart and co, what else did we hear?
Minor Swing; It Had to be You, sung by Andy complete with verse; After You've Gone, vocal by Simon; Greensleeves; J'attendrai; Honeysuckle Rose; A fast waltz, Under Paris Skies; Lady be Good, crooned by Andy; Coquette; Kashtanka (or something similar) sung in Polish by Simon; Django's Tiger; I Can't Give You Anything But Love, sung by Andy; an incredible Sweet Georgia Brown that sounded as if it was intended for the Dublin Globetrotters and, finally, All of Me with a Segovia type intro by Simon and vocal by Andy.
Needless to say, all of the above numbers had swingy violin solos. Our fiddler added a mute on J'attendrai that gave the violin an almost viola-like sonority and, throughout he displayed an enviable technique.
O'Byrne too can get around the guitar. At times it sounded as though all three Hot Club guitarists were riffing away.
Paul Grainger, as elegant as any Frenchman proved he can handle music and rhythm from any continent or genre as well as soloing more melodically than most bassists.
Overall, it was a delightful evening of gypsy jazz and its spinoffs handled by three of the finest and all done in an entertaining manner,
They're at the Prohibition Bar on July 28 don't miss it.
Lance.

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