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Bebop Spoken There

Abbie Finn: "Even though there's a lot of great work being done to promote women in jazz, I still come up against some attitudes! I pulled up at a recording session with my drums in the car and the studio owner said, 'I'm sorry, this space is reserved for the drummer!'" - (Jazzwise April 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

15245 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 264 of them this year alone and, so far, 77 this month (March 25).

From This Moment On ...

March

Sun 26: Musicians Unlimited @ Park Inn, Hartlepool. 1:00pm.
Sun 26: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 3:00pm.
Mar 26: Pop Jazz @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. 'Jazzified' tunes by the likes of Sylvester, Bowie, the Monkees etc., feat. Alan Law, David Gray, Richard Herdman & Jude Murphy.
Sun 26: Outlines @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. JNE promotion (upstairs).

Mon 27: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

Tue 28: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 28: Sanaz Lavasani Trio @ Black Swan, Newcastle Arts Centre. 8:00pm. £12.00 (£10.00. adv).

Wed 29: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 29: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 29: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 7:00pm.
Wed 29: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 30: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Gateshead Central Library. 2:30-4:30pm. £2.00. All welcome.
Thu 30: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. Back to 1:00pm stomp off. Free.
Thu 30: '58 Jazz Collective @ Hops & Cheese, Hartlepool. 7:30pm. Free.
Thu 30: Lindsay Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ Harbour View, Sunderland. 8:00pm.
Thu 30: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 31: Lewis Watson Quartet @ Bishop Auckland Town Hall. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 31: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 31: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 31: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm. CANCELLED! Back next week (April 7).
Fri 31: Jasmine Myra + Waclaw Zimpel @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Fri 31: The Revolutionaires @ The Shack, Boldon Colliery. 7:30pm. £10.00. The Revolutionaires' big band (horn section) line-up.
Fri 31: Andrew McCormack @ Maltings, Berwick. 8:00pm. £20.00.

April
Sat 01: The Big Easy @ St Augustine's Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm.
Sat 01: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. Tutor: Steve Glendinning - In a Minor Key. £25.00. Enrol at: www.jazz.coop.
Sat 01: Hot Club du Nord @ Pleased to Meet You, Bridge St., Morpeth. 8:00pm. £79.00. A charity fundraising event.
Sat 01: Boys of Brass @ Stack, Seaburn. 7:00-9:00pm.
Sat 01: Rendezvous Jazz @ Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00. RESCHEDULED to next week (Sat 08).

Friday, May 11, 2012

Howard Alden Quintet @ Bois(terous)dale. May 10.

Howard Alden (7 string gtr); Karen Sharp (ten); Simon Woolf (bs); Sebastian de Krom (dms); Jeanne Gies (vcl).
(Review by Lance).
One may be forgiven for thinking that the presence of one of the world's great jazz guitarists - a living legend - would have the audience sitting in hushed silence in awe of greatness. Fat chance! This is Boisdale where the volume of noise from the crowd makes the mob at Hoochie Coochie seem like a meeting of Whisperers' Anonymous!
Nevertheless, for those prepared to listen, and this includes  a charming couple - Leanne and Drew - whose acquaintance I was delighted to make (our views on jazz, the venue and the gig ran parallel), there was some great jazz played.
Opening up with I Hear a Rhapsody Karen Sharp took the first solo. Her rich full sound proved you don't have to be a man to blow masculine tenor! Karen ably carried on the tradition begun by Kathy Stobart and Barbara Thompson. Enter Alden with a solo that really should have been appreciated by more than the select few paying attention. This was George Van Eps, George Barnes, Bucky Pizzarelli  and, most of all Howard Alden.
Embraceable You once again showed off the wonderful Sharp sound - I think I'm in love! Alden of course was brilliant but Simon Woolf's bowed bass solo was, I think, the most melodic bass solo I've ever heard!
A swinging I'll Remember April culminated in an exciting round of fours.
So far so good.
Enter Jeanne Gies. Jeanne, an American singer of great originality put her stamp on Little White Lies, My Foolish Heart and On the Street Where You Live bringing the set to a close.
It was during the break I met the aforementioned Leanne and Drew and eventually joined their table prior to which I'd been kept amply supplied with Bombadier Bitter by barman Ernest. Thank you kind sir.
The second set began with a duo take on I Wanna Be Around by Alden and Ms. Gies which was superbly effective. Gies stayed on stage until the end of the set. Now with all due respect to the lady - she is an interesting singer - it meant less of Howard Alden and I'd made the trip out to Canary Wharf specially to hear him.
Perhaps it was, as suggested by my table companions, because he'd sensed the general indifference and decided to go down the cabaret road. Who knows? So, like the well known egg of the Curate, this gig was very good in parts but, as an audience, they (the audience) could have done better!
Lance.

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