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Bebop Spoken There

Spasmo Brown: “Jazz is an ice cream sandwich! It's the Fourth of July! It's a girl with a waterbed!”. (Syncopated Times, July, 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

17328 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 16 years ago. 612 of them this year alone and, so far, 17 this month (Sept. 5).

From This Moment On ...

September

Tue 10: ???

Wed 11: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 11: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 11: The Tannery Jam Session @ The Tannery, Gilesgate, Hexham. 7:00-9:00pm. Free. A ‘second Wednesday in the month’ jam session.
Wed 11: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 12: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 12: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:30pm. £4.00. ‘A Great Day in Harlem’.
Thu 12: The Cuban Heels @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Pete Tanton & co.
Thu 12: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesborough. 8:30pm. Free. THC with guests Donna Hewitt, Bill Watson, Dave Archbold, Adrian Beadnell, Mark Hawkins.

Fri 13: Jeff Barnhart & Neville Dickie @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Two pianos, two pianists! SOLD OUT!
Fri 13: Noel Dennis Quartet @ The Old Library, Auckland Castle, Bishop Auckland. 1:00pm. £8.00.
Fri 13: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 13: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 13: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 13: Dilutey Juice @ Old Coal Yard, Byker, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £11.00. adv..
Fri 13: Ray Stubbs R & B All-stars @ The Forum, Darlington. 7:30pm. Classic blues.

Sat 14: Jeff Barnhart’s Silent Film Fest @ St Augustine's Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. Darlington New Orleans Jazz Club.
Sat 14: Customs House Big Band w. Ruth Lambert @ St Paul’s Centre, St Paul’s Gardens, Spennymoor DL16 7LR. 7:00pm (6:45pm doors). Tickets £10.00. from the venue or tel: 01388 813404. A ‘BYOB’ event.
Sat 14: Emma Wilson @ Claypath Deli, Durham. 7:00pm. £12.00. Acoustic blues.
Sat 14: Rat Pack - Swingin’ at the Sands @ Billingham Forum. 7:30pm.

Sun 15: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 15: Jude Murphy, Steve Chambers & Sid White @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 15: Tweed River Jazz Band @ Barrels Ale House, Berwick-upon-Tweed. 7:00pm. Free.
Sun 15: Panharmonia @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 16: Swing Manouche @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 1:00pm. £9.00.
Mon 16: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 16: John Hallam with the James Birkett Trio @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00. A Blaydon Jazz Club 40th anniversary concert!

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

We Free Kings - Schmazz @ The Cluny. April 24

Toby Greenwood (tenor saxophone), Mark Chandler (trumpet & flugelhorn), Jamil Sheriff (keyboards), Richard Hammond (double bass) & Dave Walsh (drums).

(Review by Russell).
I made a bee line for Cluny 2, the Head of Steam’s subterranean annexe. We Free Kings were about to offer up gifts. Arriving in the nick of time, descending the staircase it was eerily quiet. I opened the door into pitch dark silence. Now I know Schmazz is struggling for funds but surely the gig hadn’t been cancelled at the eleventh hour? Perhaps such huge numbers had turned up to bade farewell to Schmazz that there was a last minute switch to the main venue upstairs. I wandered up to the main place and sure enough there was the regular band of Schmazz diehards. It wasn’t heaving it was just the regulars. An ‘admin error’ had listed the gig as being in the other space. So, it was to be service as usual – young, new, original, innovative and ‘interesting’. Well, well, well. What do know?
This was a jazz gig! Jazz at the Cluny! Surely not? We Free Kings, led by tenor player Toby Greenwood, played it mid-sixties Miles with occasional excursions; Blue Note, a fleeting sketch of a Rollins’ calypso, a fragment of Township jazz and a large measure of Dolphy (Funny Looking Fish). The quintet didn’t need to show off, they were cool, no blistering full on assault from these guys. This was the Paul Edis Sextet with an edge to it, just a little bit of attitude. Jamil Sheriff plays electric piano as it should be played; tone, volume and style spot-on. Greenwood’s frontline partner Mark Chandler was a revelation. He played a lot of flugel. He played it beautifully. Think Noel Dennis, Graham Hardy, Steve Waterman and you get an idea of where he’s at. The pairing of bassist Richard Hammond (commendably restrained) and drummer Dave Walsh (he’s a class act having been around the block a few times) were first class and very much part of the group sound. Greenwood’s tunes held the attention, frequently hinting at the oh so familiar, but then in a trice it was gone. Tree Frog, the gospel feel of A Child’s Place, Ten Tins, the aforementioned Funny Looking Fish and PPP were just some of the numbers from the pen of the talented tenor man. The latter tune had a tale to tell and Greenwood did so engagingly with no little mirth. PPP was otherwise known by the band as Pissed People Eating Pizza but recently has become known as Posh People Eating Pasties (much hilarity on stage that it should be ‘Parsties’). Wye aye man, a canny gig.
Russell.

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