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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.

Friday, March 09, 2012

SING, SING, SING: SWING, SWING, SWING! The Customs House Big Band with Ruth Lambert. Blaydon Jazz Club – Thursday March 8

Some  aspects  of  the  evening  might  sound  unpromising:  we  went   to   a   jazz-club  taking  two  friends   who   were  “not  into  jazz”;   the car-park   was   full;  the  bar had bottles of Abbot but I was  driving;   the   band  played  lots  of  numbers  I  didn't  know  and  we  got  lost  on  the way back and ended up in Scotswood! Actually, it was a great night out…….
            Blaydon got its 2012 programme off to a cracking start last night as Ruth and the Customs House Big Band wowed a full-house with 22 numbers and an encore (or was it 21 numbers and two encores?)! “Have you seen the time?” asked Peter Morgan (it was 10.50) – “Yes!” we said, as one, “Encore!!”
            The extensive set-list allowed the band to show what they can do on full-throttle (Georgia played by a trio is evocative, played by a big-band it is mind-blowing!) while giving everyone a chance to solo to good effect. Too many to list them all but On Green Dolphin Street included “nice drumming” (Peter Morgan’s words), the saxophones on Whisper Not drew generous applause and (borrowing again) the trumpets hit some “stratospheric notes”.
            And then there was Ruth, whose “spell was cast” with embraceable, irreplaceable lyrics, (‘s)wonderful melodies and a voice that ranges from sweet (Somewhere Over the Rainbow) to rasping and raunchy (Mack the Knife) with all the gradations in between. Great music: great vocals. A heady mix. It may not have been a bar in far Bombay, but the air was pretty rarefied in Blaydon by the end!
            My (self-confessed jazznoramus) musical education continued with some instrument-spotting (I don’t often see bass trombone or soprano sax), some technique-watching (just how many ways ARE there to mute a trombone?) and an introduction to some names and tunes I had not previously heard. Foremost among these was the alliterative Gordon Goodwin and his wacky Hunting Wabbits – a tune and a performance which I will not quickly forget! It is (and the band were) BRILLIANT! I am still smiling nearly 24 hours later!
            So, I enjoyed it all, as did our company including the two “not into jazz”! The scales fell from their eyes after about two numbers: “Is this jazz? But I know this!” and they had to be restrained from joining in, karaoke-style, when Ruth stepped up and started singing! To cap it all, one of them claimed to have “pulled” at the end of the evening! Personally, I’d have been wary of unexpected approaches late at night with the words of Mack the Knife still echoing round. She just said “Champion”!
…….which I would echo in describing the night as a whole. Thanks, Roly, thanks Blaydon – “Champion!”
Photos by Jerry.
Jerry.

5 comments :

Lance said...

Great review Jerry - wish I'd been able to arise from my sick bed to get there!
Question: How many ways to mute a trombone?
Answer: Not enough!

jerry said...

Hmmmm! There speaks a sax-man!!

Russell said...

Great review Jerry. I wish I'd been there but I was at a gig in the Bridge Hotel - too many clashes I reckon.

Russell

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the review and nice words Jerry.
The band sure was on great form.
Roly

Kev Eland said...

Yes definitely only 2 volumes on a bass trombone....

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