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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.

Monday, February 07, 2011

NEJC & Friends Beerdorado Tour - Saturday 5th Feb

Andy Champion (twin-bell trumpet) ; Matty Bell (band leader) ; Graham 'Deano' Patrick (5-chord guitar) ; Pete Bradshaw (limitless chord guitar) ; Richard Brown (various finger glasses) ; Adrian Tilbrook (shutter percussion) ; Mark Williams (pyrotechnic schplinger) ; Scott - 'Geordie Dad' - Gilby (rusty lager can) ; Michael Gilby (vocals) ; Robert Laing (sting bass) ; Mick Champion (jumbo fret bass) ; David 'Met' Maroniuk (vocals) ; George Milburn (pre-tensioned bows) ; Noel Dennis (flugelhorn). Andy Champion's best man Matty Bell should be congratulated for putting together this fantastic tour at such short notice - Beerdorados waiting for a train! This Saturday, 14 of the region's top musicians and vocalists played to packed houses in:Leeds, Dewsbury, Huddersfield, Stalybridge and York.
With a completely unrehearsed playlist, pulled out of the hat only by the constant attention of prestidigitator and bandleader Matty, this was so-called free improv jazz at its best.
With his early doors solo on the train to Leeds, Mark was already in fine form with his own composition, Where's the Beer Trolley?! with bursts of breathy brilliance into an empty Strongbow can - Schpling!!!! (for chord anoraks, that's the famous James Bond theme chord.) Taking up the can theme, like the sympathetic improviser that he is, Scott Gilby took the lead as his track, Geordie Dad, swayed off down the carriage aisle with that poignant lyric, "Y'aalreet pet!" getting the most out of a six-pack of rusty McEwan's Export cans - nice! Then, with brother Michael's cool rendering of He ain't Heavy, but He's Not MY Brother Either! the audience was already getting suitably agitated! Bass (not draught) backing from Robert Laing left us all amazed as his Sting Intro burst away from any constrictive mention of dots or staves - completely fretless in the Oddfellows Arms.
As the band reformed in a Leeds bar, it was an opportunity for the North Yorks contingent to blow their vapours into the ethereal fug. Graham/Deano set off with such an imaginative cocktail of chordal brilliance based on his now famous '5-chord' Method soon joined by Pete Bradshaw with the best deconstructed version of Pinball Wizard ever heard, also thanks to his very own 7sus4 Insistence - brilliant! Adrian's percussive Shutter Release was so subtly executed that he's already planning his own imminent lighter CAM'RA tour! Richard Brown's distinctive fingering (see photo) on half-full straight glass was the finest cameo roll on any drums I ever heard before. After Andy's brother's inspired bass solo on his Jumbo Frets, nobody was in any doubt of that strong family music gene - although Mick did seem to cast doubt on common fatherhood - read into that what you like! Meanwhile Dave Maronuik startled us all with his cool rendering of Bless Their Cotton Socks - Little Tinkers! and got us in the mood for the next stage - "You should all be on it!" they cried, and cried, and cried!! Ending up in York for an improv banquet fit for a lop, Andy led the band with his Da Vinci's Last Supper like a true messiah, reaching for various pre-tensioned bows from yours truly's bottomless quiver - or was it quivering bottom - we'll never know! That reminds me however of a Samurai Sword Tail , which is not a fish! Sadly Noel Dennis couldn't make it to this gig - lucky bugger! There's a saying in free-improv circles that nobody dares utter, in fear of being called repetitious/pretentious/predictable* (delete as appropriate) - I'll whisper it to you later! An 11 hour performance that beggars description - a prenuptial so restrained and yet charged with that Van der Graaf generational static which could spark anytime! We all wish that Z-A will find their continually blooming way in North Shields on Thursday.
Photos. George M

1 comment :

Lance said...

Thanks for that succinct report George - Hello and OK will be livid that we scooped them!

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