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Bebop Spoken There

Branford Marsalis: "As ignorance often forces us to do, you make a generalisation about a musician based on one specific record or one moment in time." - (Jazzwise June 2023).

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!"

Postage

15491 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 512 of them this year alone and, so far, 133 this month (May 31).

From This Moment On ...

Wed 07: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 07: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 07: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 7:00pm.
Wed 07: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 08: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free. CANCELLED! BACK ON JUNE 15.
Thu 08: Easington Colliery Brass Band @ The Lubetkin Theatre, Peterlee. 7:00pm. £10.00.
Thu 08: Faye MacCalman + Blue Dust Archive @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 08: Dilutey Juice + Ceramic @ The Ampitheatre, Sea Road, South Shields. 7:00pm. Free. A South Tyneside Festival event.
Thu 08: Lara Jones w. Vigilance State @ Lubber Fiend, Blandford Square, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 08: Michael Littlefield @ the Harbour View, Roker, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Country blues.
Thu 08: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 09: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 09: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 09: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 09: Castillo Nuevo @ Revolución de Cuba, Newcastle. 5:30-8:30pm.
Fri 09: Emma Rawicz @ Sage Gateshead. 8:00pm.

Sat 10: Miners' Picnic @ Woodhorn, Ashington. Music inc. Northern Monkey Brass Band (3:00-3:50pm); New York Brass Band (4:00-4:55pm).
Sat 10: Front Porch Three @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. Americana, blues, jazz etc.
Sat 10: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

Sun 11: WORKSHOP: Tim Richards' Jazz Piano Workshop @ JG Windows, Newcastle. Time TBC. Further details tel. 0191 232 1356.
Sun 11: Jeremy McMurray's Pocket Jazz Orchestra @ Ropner Park, Stockton TS18 4EF. 2:00-4:00pm. Free.
Sun 11: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:30pm. Free.
Sun 11: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 3:00pm.
Sun 11: Groovetrain @ Innisfree Sports & Social Club, Longbenton NE12 8TY. Doors 6:30pm. £15.00 (£7.00. under 16).
Sun 11: Jeffrey Hewer Collective @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 12: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

Tue 13: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 13: Infusion Trio @ Forum Music Centre, Darlington. 7:30pm.
Tue 13: Alice Grace & Pawel Jedrzejewski @ Black Swan, Newcastle Arts Centre. 8:00pm. £12.00 (£10.00. adv.).

Sunday, December 06, 2009

SPLINTER @ THE BRIDGE - NEWCASTLE

This was a JAZZATHON!
Nonstop from Noon till late evening it was standing room only as the cream of the local crop were heard to their best advantage.
I missed most of the opening set from Splinter but what I heard sounded good.
Splinter were followed by HCW and AVC. Look to Russell for review of the three openers.
By the time the Mark Williams Trio - that's Mark on guitar, David Carnegie (dms) and Paul Susans (bs) - took to the stage I'd settled in ready to face the music if you'll pardon the pun. I should explain I was coming off the back of a cold and still felt a bit groggy.
Mark was simply superb playing original compo's that soon took my mind away from the fever. So smooth and mellow, or so I thought before he went into, according to Russell, a John Schofield blast. With David Carnegie punching things along and Paul Susans big fat bass sound adding to the overall this raised the bar by about ten metres and it was a 'follow that' situation.
Ruth Lambert took up the challenge and did indeed 'follow that' - in a duo set with Mark remaining on stage.
Not that it was easy for Ruth - a few mic./speaker problems caused some uncertainty but she kept her cool and the audience were behind her so that by the time she laid out "This is Always" it was okay.
Zoe and Andy Champion followed with their duo set which included "Take it Easy - But Take It" - words and music by Bebop Spoken Here correspondent George Milburn.
Nice one George.
Then came the surprize - a duet by Zoe and Ruth! No less a number than Peggy Lee's "I'm a Woman - w-o-m-a-n."
Brought the house down. Well done girls.
The Claude Werner Quartet with Claude on tenor, Mark Williams on guitar, Laurence Blackadder (bs) and David Carnegie (dms) played some interesting pieces. In particular, "Sweet Stories" caught my ear with it's delicate 3/4 rhythm that suddenly burst into flames with Claude's gladiatorial entry.
It was all very enjoyable then suddenly, in the final number, it exploded into a metallic like thrash that had guitar and tenor screaming into orbit like two comets soaring through an inter gallactic explosion.
Whew!
This was it - nobody could follow that! Not least the Safe Sextet.
Who?
This is the resident band from the Jazz Café and with Paul Gowland and John Rowland on tenors and Don Forbes, tumpet, they went for it! Steve Doyle (dms), Barrie Ascroft (bs) and Alan Laws (pno) kept it all moving with Alan playing some fine two-fisted piano and the horns 'blowing for gold'.
An excellent hard bop set that lost nothing by comparision.
Saxophonics and Alter Ego were yet to come - Extreme Measures having pulled out - but by this time I was ready to join the walking dead so I opted out.
All in all a successful day that I hope carries on in the coming Sunday evening gigs - next week it is HCW and Legoland.
Well done Adrian Tilbrook who organised, played drums, took photos, handed out packets of crisps, compered and generally kept things running to schedule. If you read this, Adrian, you will know your hard work was appreciated.
Lance.
PS: If asked to award a 'Man of the match award" It would have go to Mark Williams for his sheer versatility in so many different settings.

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