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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.).

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Leah Gough-Cooper's HUMAN EQUIVALENT Schmazz @ the Cluny

Leah Gough-Cooper (alt), David Preston (gtr), Alan Benzie (keys), Kevin Glasgow (6 string bs gtr), John Lowrie (dms).
I have been known to leave Cluny gigs before the end, often just relieved to be breathing-in the delightful silence of the night.
Tonight was different - tonight I wanted to stay till the end of time and I don't mean time as in 'Gentlemen Please' but time as in a trillium years from now such was the kick I got from tonight. However, buses and Metros don't run till the end of time so, reluctantly, I left before the coda but on a high with what I'd heard.
I picked up on Leah when she appeared here with Patrick Kunka last year. With her newly formed Human Equivalent the girl proved that that was not just a one off.
Leah's alto playing is as contemporary as they come and she does it without squawks and duck calls. Leah plays saxophone as saxophone should be played whatever the idiom.
Admitedly it was, in the main, funk but it was funkin' good funk and her fellow travellers ensured that the groove was maintained.
Hey! about those travellers - John Lowrie proved there's more than one drum demon around in Scotland - he can hold his sticks up high alongside any of them (even though I'm told he's English). On piano, Alan Benzie is another phenomenon and guitarist David Preston is no slouch either. Benzie and Preston had a smash and grab blast at each other in the opening number of the second set that really burned.
Kevin Glasgow played six string electric bass which meant chords and de-muddied (clean) lines that added another dimension to the mix.
All pieces were by Leah and the band, and herself, did them proud.
Lance.

2 comments :

Leah said...

Fantastic review, Lance - thanks so much! There was a little mis-billing on the program for the evening. The drummer on the night was actually Laurie Lowe, who is indeed from London and London-based, doing some terrific work on the scene. However, keep an eye out for John Lowrie in the future - definitely a rising star in Scottish Jazz!

Lance said...

Sorry about the names - but, in my defence, Laurie/Lowrie/Lowe I claim understandable confusion!

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