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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.

Sunday, July 15, 2012

Of Mice and Jazzmen. July 14, 2012

(Review by Russell - Photo by Oliver Soden).
Plan A. Monument Metro station mid-morning. Take the leisurely route through South Tyneside, explore South Shields market, catch the Shields’ ferry to the north side, jump on a train to Tynemouth and stroll along to the jazz stage to hear the first of two days of  classic-era jazz. 
Plan B. Take the leisurely route then minutes into the journey hear the train driver announce that due to a truck hitting a road bridge further on up the line the train would terminate at Hebburn. Take the bus or walk? Walk. Half a mile along the road it rained. Connect with another train down the line at Jarrow. Arrive South Shields. King Street

The unmistakable sound of a bagpiper. No, make that four bagpipers. What’s the definition of a gentlemen? Answers to Bebop Spoken Here. The market place, the sound of four gentlemen distant. A stall holder cranked-up the ghetto-blaster to assail one and all with country and western ‘classics’. The far side of the market rendered the stetsoned one all but silent. One or two interesting books but the purchase of the day was a good condition vinyl copy of The Hawk in Holland Coleman Hawkins and the Ramblers Dance Orchestra. Called into the Customs House to check-out the current exhibition – Jane Lee McCracken The Woodcutter’s Cottage. Amazing what can be created using nothing but a biro. Ferry to North Shields. Looked in on a charity shop on the off chance that there would be a rare Joe Harriott LP going for 50p. No Harriott but plenty of Jim Reeves. The Mob (aka a group of young ‘uns) threw in a stink bomb. The staff were not amused. 
Amused caught the Metro, better late than never, to Tynemouth. Once a year the genteel coastal town supports the long weekend Mouth of the Tyne Festival. Front Street comes alive with face painters, acrobats, fire eaters, stilt walkers, street theatre, on-street barbies, drinkers and drunkards and this year the best thing seen/enacted in many a year…folk sporting Roaring Twenties garb - plus twos, spats – looking nonplussed covered in ‘deposits’ from seagulls overhead. Brilliant! 
The Gibraltar Rock stage (the cliff top pub not the time-warped redundant outcrop of ‘Empire’) soaked-up the sun. Sun? Why wasn’t it raining? Three bands shared the billing, each performing two sets. Broadway Melody strolled through their opening spot. Mia Webb, working with the band for the first time, sang Autumn Leaves (!) and sent out an invitation to dance Cheek to Cheek (if only!). The comedic Iain McAulay (trombone & vocals) and Derek Fleck (clarinet & saxophone) made Ms Webb feel right at home. Pianist Brian Chester impressed (every jazz stage should have an acoustic piano) and the back room boys (boys?) Ollie Rillands (drums) and John Carstairs Hallam (double bass) kept things swinging. Second helpings included Sentimental Journey, Royal Garden Blues (excellent trumpet from the excellent Mick Hill) and one of the tunes of the afternoon had Webb opining Mean to Me (surely no one could be so to the wonderful Ms Webb?). 
The West Jesmond Rhythm Kings, led by trumpeter Mike Durham, were drafted in from across Tyneside. Well, in truth most of them simply moved around the stage. Pianist Brian Chester stretched his legs to play trombone on the session as Iain McAulay switched to double bass and the phlegmatic Derek Fleck didn’t stray too far from his pipe and slippers fireside chair. Roly Veitch – a bona fide banjo rhythm king – knocked out the chords with aplomb. Durham was on the look-out for some Cake Walking Babies from Home. Perhaps he didn’t find them but he did unearth a spirited Bad Penny Blues
Dedicated purveyors of Crescent City jazz the Rae Brothers New Orleans Jazz Band closed the first day with a typical set – classic instrumentation, authentic vocals and first-rate ensemble work. The Raes – Mac (trumpet, clarinet & vocals) and Dave (banjo & vocals) have assembled a top-drawer band. Clarinetist Liz Bacon is an assured front line player and drummer Paul Bacon could justifiably lay claim to being a graduate of the School of New Orleans Music (honorary Crescent City citizenship must surely be in the offing). The lugubrious John Robinson (string bass) played as he always does – with reassuring efficiency. The youthful Ian Wynne played some rollicking piano. Hearing him play Professor Longhair’s Crawfish Fiesta confirms him as another five star student of the music. Earlier in the day Mia Webb singing Mean to Me was a highlight and the Rae Brothers provided another – Over in the Glory Land. A glorious finale to a not so glorious summer’s day. The rain returned. A day for mice and jazzmen.
Russell                                                        






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