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Bebop Spoken There

Billy Boy Arnold: “As long as you don't think old you're good.” - DownBeat, December, 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!"

Simon Spillett: A lovely review from the dean of jazz bloggers, Lance Liddle...

Postage

16034 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 1041 of them this year alone and, so far, 73 this month (Nov. 27).

From This Moment On ...

December

Mon 04: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Mon 04: Northern Monkey Brass Band @ People’s Kitchen, Bath Lane, Newcastle. From 5:30pm. On-street gig supporting the work of the People’s Kitchen charity. Wrap up warm! Donate!
Mon 04: Michael Young Trio w Lindsay Hannon @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 7:00pm. Free.
Mon 04: James Birkett Trio @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £8.00.
Mon 04: Durham University Jazz Orchestra + Durham University Big Band @ Durham Castle DH1 3RW. 8:30pm. £6.00.; £5.00. concs; £4.00. DSM. ‘Jazzy Christmas’.

Tue 05: Customs House Big Band @ All Saints Church, Cleadon. 7:00pm. Concert in the church hall. BYOB.
Tue 05: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Michael Young, Paul Grainger, Sid White. The best free show in town!

Wed 06: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 06: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 8:00pm. Free. Note later start time, concert performance (open to the public).
Wed 06: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 07: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free CANCELLED!
Thu 07: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Spanish City, Whitley Bay, Newcastle. 12 noon - 4:00pm. £26.00 (inc 3-course meal in in St Mary's Lighthouse Suite). SOLD OUT!
Thu 07: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Gateshead Central Library, Gateshead. 2:30pm. All welcome.
Thu 07: Thursday Night Prayer Meeting @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.Donations. Feat. Mark Sanders. CANCELLED!
Thu 07: Indigo Jazz Voices @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:45pm. £5.00. Downstairs.
Thu 07: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 08: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 08: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 08: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 08: Hayley's Little Big Band @ Woodland Village Hall, Bishop Auckland. 7:00pm. £12.00.
Fri 08: Sleep Suppressor + Redwell @ Head of Steam, Neville St., Newcastle. 8:00pm. £10.00. (£8.00. adv); £5.00. student.
Fri 08: Hot Club du Nord @ St Cuthbert's Church, Shadforth, Co. Durham.
Fri 08: Têtes de Pois + Nauta @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.00., £8.00.

Sat 09: Prudhoe Community Band @ Central Station, Newcastle. 10:00am - 12 noon. Charity fundraiser.
Sat 09: Castillo Nuevo Trio @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 5:30pm. Free.
Sat 09: Hayley's Little Big Band @ Middleton & Todridge Village Hall, Morpeth. 7:30pm. £12.00., £6.00.
Sat 09: Paul Skerritt @ Slaley Hall, Hexham NE47 0BX. 7:30pm. From £42.00.

Sun 10: Musicians Unlimited’s Xmas Party with Zoe Gilby Quartet @ Park Inn, Hartlepool. MU 1:00-3:00pm; Zoë Gilby Quartet 4:00-6:00pm. Tickets: £7.50.
Sun 10: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00-4:00pm. Free.
Sun 10: Funk Soul Sista @ Stack, Seaburn. 5:00-7:00pm. Free.
Sun 10: Beth Clarke @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 10: Hayley's Little Big Band @ Whittingham Memorial Institute, Alnwick. 7:30pm. £12.00., £10.00.
Sun 10: Tele-Port @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Line-up inc. Zhenya Strigalev.

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Wilbur's Fate @ The Head of Steam, Newcastle. August 17th

Jordi Cooke (guitar), Matthew Forster (tenor saxophone & bass clarinet), JohnPope (double bass) & David Francis (drums)'
The Head of Steam's basement performance space was the ideal setting for the debut of Wilbur's Fate. A good crowd of well-wishers turned out to hear the quartet. Bassist John Pope has been gigging for a numbers of years, so too the ubiquitous David Francis (an accomplished drummer in any idiom). Pope and Francis are of the younger generation of jazz players in the north east yet the other half of the quartet made them look like veterans. Guitarist Jordi Cooke and reedsman Matthew Forster first appeared on Bebop Spoken Here's radar at the short-lived Boiler Room sessions just down the road at the Bridge Hotel. Cooke, contributor of much of the material heard, has developed an on-stage presence and is at ease talking to the audience. He is a distinctive stylist in the making; contemporary yet ''retro Modern''.
The Downbeat and the New Orleans Jazz Club are legendary jazz haunts of Newcastle, sadly long gone. Modern jazz combos, were, I'm sure, playing just about every night of the week in those places. Listening to Wilbur's Fate had this listener imagining that these latter day Modernists would have found a niche back in the day. Tenor player Forster looked the part and he too has adopted the sound of the Modernists. The opening number - Twisted Tales - was a punchy, brief affair. A Cooke ballad - Poem - revealed a lyrical side before a return to up-tempo material - Praying Mantis and All Bets Are Off - defined an excellent first set.
A varied beer selection occupied the thoughts of the barflies during the interval and there was much chatter amongst a who's who of the local jazz scene in town to check out Wilbur's Fate.
The audience decided to hang around for the second set to hear Absolute Destination, the ballad After Everything featuring a tenor solo from Forster and other tunes. A tune with no name became The Man with No Name with Forster forging a powerful solo on bass clarinet!
The senior members of the band - Messrs. Pope and Francis - were on top form and contributed typically effective solos. The band certainly knew how to swing and from time to time did just that.
Wilbur's Fate should be heard live. It is a new project of course but on this first hearing there is much more to come. The band's next gig is but a stone's throw across the railway tracks at the Telegraph pub on Orchard Street, Friday 23rd September. Recommended.
Photos. Russell.

1 comment :

Lance said...

Agreed Russell, a tight band, I loved them. The material was original yet melodic - the two don't always go hand in hand!

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