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Bebop Spoken There

Art Blakey: "You [Bobby Watson] don't want to play too long, because you don't know they're clapping because they're glad you finished!" - (JazzTimes, Nov. 2019)..

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

15848 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 855 of them this year alone and, so far, 53 this month (Sept. 18).

From This Moment On ...

September

Thu 21: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 21: La Malbec Orchestra @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Thu 21: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Ragtime piano. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.
Thu 21: Linsday Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ Harbour View, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 21: Ray Stubbs R & B All Stars @ The Schooner, Gateshead. 8:30pm. Free.
Thu 21: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 22: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 22: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 22: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 22: Brief Encounter @ Bardon Mill Village Hall, Northumberland. 7:00pm. Tickets: £10.00. adv from 07885 303166; £12.00. on the door. Chris & Veronica Perrin improvising to a screening of the 1929 'Jazz Age' silent film Piccadilly (Dir. Ewald André Dupont).
Fri 22: Paul Edis & Graeme Wilson + Three Tsuru Origami @ Jesmond United Reformed Church, Newcastle. 7:30pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Fri 22: Crooners @ Tyne Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm.
Fri 22: Abbie Finn's Finntet @ Traveller's Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. Opus 4 Jazz Club.

Sat 23: Tyne Valley Big Band @ Tanfield Railway, Gateshead. 2:00-4:00pm. Free. A '1940s Weekend' event.
Sat 23: Jason Isaacs @ Stack, Seaburn. 3:30-5:30pm. Free.
Sat 23: Andrew Porritt & Keith Barrett @ Cullercoats Watch House, Front St., Cullercoats NE30 4QB. 7:00pm.
Sat 23: Michael Woods @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig. Country blues.

Sun 24: Musicians Unlimited @ Park Inn, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 24: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.

Mon 25: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Mon 25: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 7:00pm.

Tue 26: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.

Wed 27: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 27: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 27: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Walter Smith III @ The Sage

Walter Smith III (ten); Matt Stevens (gtr); Michael Janisch (bs); Jeremiah Williams (dms).
(Review by Lance).
The gathering was well-attended by those who chose to forego the charms of, was it Danny and Ben?, from Thunder (Google it, I had to!)
D and B were in Hall 2 whereas WS III  was in the Northern Rock Foundation Hall - and there weren't many empty seats for this Jazz North East presentation.
JNE don't always pick the winners but when they do you can bet your life it's a Derby winner. Tonight was just such a classic performance that I felt everyone in the world should be here. They weren't, but that's their misfortune. There were enough to encourage more of the same. By The Same I mean modern jazz that has advanced beyond earlier conceptions but keeps the music within a framework and avoids the Fire in a Pet Shop syndrome.
Smith is simply a wonderful tenor player, I don't know anything about Smiths I and II but this third generation guy can play. A Getzian sound combined with a Rollins-like aggression makes for fine tenor playing.
And hows about guitarist Stevens? So laid back and yet he expertly mixed single note lines with chordal interjections building up his solos to near perfection. On second thoughts, delete near.
Michael Janisch, like the other three, is American (I think Stevens is actually Canadian but I suppose that's still American in a sense) Janisch is currently resident in London. He provides  the pulse and delivers some of the most melodic bass playing in jazz.
Williams was mainly hidden from my view by his ride cymbal but, when I did catch a glimpse, it revealed a drummer with a smile that even Steve Brown would be envious of! His technique was awesome. Using just a basic set-up he drove the band at Formula One speed and soloed like there was no tomorrow.
Needless to say, the crowd demanded more and they got it.
Sans Stevens, Smith, Janisch and Williams delivered, arguably, the best Body and Soul since Coleman Hawkins set the benchmark 70 plus years ago.
This was pure magic.
A gig of the year contender already!
Lance.

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