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Bebop Spoken There

James Brandon Lewis: "Sometimes I'm not thinking about anything other than blowing the paint off the walls, and other times I'm narrating a story about my life." - (DownBeat June 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

15516 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 536 of them this year alone and, so far, 25 this month (June 7).

From This Moment On ...

Sat 10: Miners' Picnic @ Woodhorn, Ashington. Music inc. Northern Monkey Brass Band (3:00-3:50pm); New York Brass Band (4:00-4:55pm).
Sat 10: Jeffrey Hewer @ The Vault, Darlington Covered Market, Darlington. 6:00-8:00pm. Free.
Sat 10: Front Porch Three @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. Americana, blues, jazz etc.
Sat 10: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

Sun 11: WORKSHOP: Tim Richards' Jazz Piano Workshop @ JG Windows, Newcastle. Time TBC. Further details tel. 0191 232 1356.
Sun 11: Jeremy McMurray's Pocket Jazz Orchestra @ Ropner Park, Stockton TS18 4EF. 2:00-4:00pm. Free.
Sun 11: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:30pm. Free.
Sun 11: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 3:00pm.
Sun 11: Groovetrain @ Innisfree Sports & Social Club, Longbenton NE12 8TY. Doors 6:30pm. £15.00 (£7.00. under 16).
Sun 11: Jeffrey Hewer Collective @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Sun 11: Jam No. 19 @ Fabio's Bar, Saddler Street, Durham. 8:00pm. Free. All welcome. A Durham University Jazz Society event.

Mon 12: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

Tue 13: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 13: Infusion Trio @ Forum Music Centre, Darlington. 7:30pm.
Tue 13: Alice Grace & Pawel Jedrzejewski @ Black Swan, Newcastle Arts Centre. 8:00pm. £12.00 (£10.00. adv.).

Wed 14: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 14: NUJO Final Jazz Jam @ Bar Loco, Newcastle. 6:30pm. Free. Newcastle University Jazz Orchestra's final jam session of the academic year. All welcome.
Wed 14: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 14: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 7:00pm.
Wed 14: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 15: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 15: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Gateshead Central Library. 2:30-4:30pm. £2.00. All welcome.
Thu 15: Castillo Nuevo @ Revolución de Cuba, Newcastle. 5:30-8:30pm.
Thu 15: Alexander Ord Trio @ Tynedale Beer & Cider Festival, Tynedale Rugby Club, Corbridge. Evening, time TBC.
Thu 15: Têtes de Pois + Nauta @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. Time TBC.
Thu 15: Indigo Jazz Voices @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:45pm. £5.00.

Fri 16: Sue Ferris Quintet @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 16: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 16: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 16: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 16: Stu Collingwood @ Baltic, Gateshead. 7:00pm. £15.75. A Let's Caper event featuring exhibitions, food, music etc.
Fri 16: Steve Beresford-Hannah Marshall-John Butcher @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 7:30pm. JNE promotion.
Fri 16: James Taylor Quartet @ Fire Station, Sunderland. 7:30pm.
Fri 16: Customs House Big Band @ Customs House, South Shields. 7:30pm.
Fri 16: Sue Ferris Quintet @ Traveller's Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm.
Fri 16: New Orleans Brass Band @ Billy Bootlegger's, Arch 2, Stepney Bank, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. NOBB directed by Jason Holcomb.

Friday, October 26, 2012

A Gardenia for Lady Day: Cecile Mclorin Salvant Sage Hall 2 Thursday October 25

Cecile Mclorin Salvant (vocals); Enrico Tomasso (trumpet/cornet); Jean-Francois Bonnel  (ten/alt sax and clarinet);  Martin Litton (piano); Roly Veitch (guitar); Manu Hagmann (bass); Richard Pite (drums). (Review by Ann Alex).
What a good time was had by all!  Nearly every seat on all three levels of Hall 2 was occupied for this tribute to Billie Holiday, sung by Ms Mclorin Salvant, who was an attractive, elegant lady in red, with large-framed spectacles.  Her voice has many vocal colours, sweet and persuasive, pleadingly sad, then wonderfully dark and rich in the lower ranges.  The emphasis was on the songs that Billie sang in the 1930’s, a relatively happier time of her life.  Our singer brought her own style to the songs, with effective interpretations.  I felt that she could have had an alternative career as an actor.
And what of the musicians?  To say that they were well up to the job would be an understatement.  They were a great band in their own right, very entertaining and skilled, teaming well with the singer.  Outstanding solos from Bonnel, of whom one person said was the nearest thing to Lester Young he’d ever heard, and Tomasso on both trumpet and cornet, they looked as if they were really enjoying themselves – we certainly were!.
The Swiss bass player hummed along gently to his own bowing in a manner, one of my colleagues said, that was reminiscent of Slam Stewart.  Litton, a skilled pianist of many styles, Pite, a drummer who knew instinctively when to be discreet with cymbals and brushes and when to let rip for his solos. Towards the end of the concert he even juggled with the drumsticks.  I thought I’d had too much to drink, then realised it was really happening.  And of course, on guitar, our own Roly Veitch, who acquitted himself with honours, especially in the trio number featuring Cecile accompanied only by acoustic guitar and clarinet - I Can’t Believe That You’re in Love With Me. Roly's chordal solos, I'm told, brought to mind Carl Kress or Dick McDonough. Whatever, they sounded good to me!
In a performance which was rich in evocative songs it’s difficult to pick out specials, but the first song boded well for the rest of the gig - A Sailboat in the Moonlight and You. Lover Come Back to Me opened with just voice and bass, and I wondered how on earth the singer knew when to come in!  The trumpet on this was tremendous! There were 2 lighter songs, some would call them novelty songs, Twenty Four Hours a Day and Miss Brown to You.  I wish more singers would do these little gems, as they add lightness to the more serious material. On The Sentimental Side was played with the sax following the voice and some tender trumpet.  The second half opened well with a gutsy version of I Gotta Right to Sing the BluesIf Dreams Come True was dedicated to Lester Young, and “The nearest thing to Lester Young” certainly is a “presidential candidate”.  The gig rounded off with a lively Them There Eyes. A well deserved encore, On the Sunny Side of the Street, gave band and singer a last chance to let rip.
This was a great pre-party event before the main Whitley Bay Classic Jazz Party, which starts today (Friday October 26).  Fully booked now, sorry, people who missed getting tickets and, please note, already tickets are going fast for next year.  Feel sorry for me, I’m working this weekend.
Ann Alex

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