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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.

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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, March 29, 2019

The Pasadena Roof Orchestra @ The Customs House, South Shields - March 28

(Review by Lance).
I'm not in the Customs House, South Shields, I'm at the Cotton Club in New York or maybe it's The Monseigneur in Mayfair and Brexit is light years away. That's the aura that pervades when the Pasadena Roof Orchestra is in town.

The band has been going for 50 years but their repertoire dates back to an even earlier age. An age when Roy Fox, Lew Stone, Jack Hylton and Ambrose ruled the roost. In the cinema, Fred Astaire was box office, Puttin' on the Ritz and jigging about in his Top Hat, White Tie and Tails - a couple of numbers sung by frontman Duncan Galloway (pictured) who, on the latter tune displayed some fancy footwork himself. I wager there were a few in the audience who'd also have liked to roll back the carpet (and the years!)
The PRO is a fine band who do what they do do brilliantly. The soloists capture the era and yet do it without sounding dated. Many of them, such as Tom 'Spats' Langham, Adrian Fry and Robert Fowler, are familiar faces on the bandstand at Mike Durham's Classic Jazz Party held annually near Whitley Bay. A surprise dep was pianist Stu Collingwood, a regular on the northeast modern scene he, nevertheless, adapted perfectly and looked quite the dapper-dan in the process. 

Galloway's vocals were timeless, the diction precise, the phrasing worthy of Crosby or, if he'd had a megaphone, Rudy Vallée.

The programme was pretty much as printed (top left) although Lady of the Lavender Mist was replaced by Robert Fowler's sumptuous alto feature - A Flower is a Lovesome Thing - Spats came down front for Frosted Chocolate and the encore merged Side by Side with Pasadena.

A band for all seasons fully appreciated by the good turn out (main auditorium near full).
Come back soon.
Lance.

PS: The Customs House's own band - The Customs House Big Band - can be heard at The Globe Jazz Bar, Newcastle on Sunday night (March 31) and the following day the Red Hot Rhythm Makers - a six-piece all-female band from Edinburgh are at the Prohibition Bar also in Newcastle. That's on April 1 - no foolin'. Both gigs highly recommended.

1 comment :

NeilC said...

Sadly I missed this, I have been a fan for years , have a double album and DVD of one of their performances which are treasured possessions and regularly get an outing . The song Nagasaki is my all time favourite been performed by lots of people but their version is head and shoulders above everyone else . I hope you had a wonderful night Lance.

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