Total Pageviews

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, July 02, 2018

King Bees @ The Tyne Bar - July 1

Michael Littlefield (guitar, vocals); Scott Taylor (harmonica, guitar, vocals); Dominic Hornsby (piano, guitar, vocals); Simon Hedley (double bass); Giles Holt (drums)
(Review by Russell).
Sunday afternoon, the Tyne Bar was busier than ever, the glorious sunshine tempting all and sundry to venture down to the Ouseburn for some beer and blues. On this first day of July, one of the finest blues bands around took to the stage to play a blistering set of rhythm and blues other bands can only dream about playing. The Ouseburn Delta has long since established itself on the rhythm and blues trail and a surprise visitor would soon be drawn to the sound of the King Bees.

I Don’t Know sang harmonica king Scott Taylor, this one alone was worth the trip down to the Ouseburn Delta. My Babe with Michael Littlefield’s spot on South Side sound, Hard Hearted Woman featuring the spine-tingling vocals of Littlefield’s frontman partner Taylor, the band was on top form, fuelled by a few pints of Wylam Brewery’s best. Yes, King Bees is a drinking band!
As the Tyne Bar’s barbie fired up Tyneside’s swing dance crowd stepped out under the blazing sun to show us a few moves. Otis Spann’s I’m in Love with You Baby, Freddie King’s ever-popular Hideaway driven along by drummer Giles Holt’s shuffle rhythm, this is the band you’ve been waiting to hear! The boys like a beer – see photo! Jimmy Rogers’ Walking by Myself featuring Littlefield’s vibrato-skewered vocals, the first set was about to draw to a close but not before Littlefield brought the house down with Caldonia!
A leisurely interval, beers being sunk at a rate of knots, the CO2 crisis not too much of a concern here at the CAMRA-recommended Tyne Bar.
Pee Wee Crayton – aka M Littlefield – opened the second set with some Blues After Hours with a rare sighting of Scott Taylor strapping on a guitar to play rhythm standing alongside the band’s pianist Dom Hornsby. The King Bees’ rhythm section – Simon Hedley, double bass, and Giles Holt, the epitome of taste on drums  – could easily go unnoticed such is the charismatic presence of frontmen M Littlefield and S Taylor, in much the same way Muddy Waters’ sidemen were known only to the aficionado. Otis Rush’ Sit Down Baby (Littlefield vocals), then a treat…Tommy Johnson’s Big Fat Mama Blues. When the time comes to record an album – the King Bees will surely do so – this cracking number should be on it! Pianist Hornsby does a good Kansas City and he knocked out another terrific version under the relentless sun. Littlefield pleaded If You Were Mine – was she listening, Michael? Finally, a deserved ovation won an encore. If you’re yet to hear King Bees, catch them somewhere soon, the boys most certainly had their Mojo Working.

Down in the Ouseburn Delta stands a boutique hotel. One of its guests heard the sound of Chicago blues, at first thinking it was a Chess Records’ recording coming from a nearby building. Realising it was a ‘real deal’ rhythm and blues band, Mr Steve Van Zandt (Bruce Springsteen) made his way to the Tyne Bar to hear up-close the incomparable King Bees. Our American visitor (scheduled to play at Whitley Bay Playhouse this evening – Monday July 2 –  with his Disciples of Soul) was impressed alright, later taking the time to chat with the King Bees’ boys – see photo!. You couldn’t make it up
Russell.                           

No comments :

Blog Archive