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Bebop Spoken There

David Hadju: "It was kind of a lightning bolt [seeing a photo of a hi-fi store that's now occupied by a phone store]. Everyone had hi-fi systems, now everyone has a phone" - (DownBeat May 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

15478 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 499 of them this year alone and, so far, 120 this month (May 27).

From This Moment On ...

May 2023

Sun 28: Bradley Creswick's Western Swingfonia @ Whitley Bay Carnival. Free. Plaza Arena stage. 12 noon.
Sun 28: MSK @ Whitley Bay Carnival. 12:15pm. Free. Marquee stage. MSK - Steve Glendinning, Katy Trigger, Martin Douglas.
Sun 28: Musicians Unlimited @ The Park Inn, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 28: Back Chat Brass @ Whitley Bay Carnival. 1:30pm. Free. Marquee stage.
Sun 28: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 28: Tim Kliphuis Trio @ St Mary's Church, Wooler NE71 6BZ. 3:00pm. £15.00 standard; £5.00 student/unwaged; free under 18. Afternoon Cocktail, a Wooler Summer Arts' concert promotion. Kliphuis (violin); Nigel Clark (guitar); Roy Percy (double bass).
Sun 28: Back Chat Brass @ Whitley Bay Carnival. 3:00pm. Free. Plaza Arena stage.
Sun 28: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 3:00pm.
Sun 28: King Bees @ The Delaval Arms, Old Hartley NE26 4RL. 5:00pm. Free. Chicago blues at its best!
Sun 28: Matt Anderson Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Anderson (saxophones); Jamil Sheriff (piano); Andy Champion (double bass); Dave Walsh (drums).

Mon 29: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

Tue 30: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 30: Big Chris Barber Band @ Whitley Bay Playhouse. 7:30pm.

Wed 31: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 31: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 31: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 7:00pm.
Wed 31: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

June
Thu 01: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 01: Thursday Night Prayer Meeting @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Donations.
Thu 01: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Ragtime piano. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.
Thu 01: Jake Leg Jug Band @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Thu 01: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 02: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 02: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 02: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 02: Joseph Carville Trio @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm.
Fri 02: Claire Martin & Her Trio @ The Witham, Barnard Castle. 7:30pm. £25.00., £20.00. Feat. Jim Mullen, Alex Garnett & Jeremy Brown.
Fri 02: Guy Davis + Michael Littlefield & Scott Taylor @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. Doors 7:30pm. Blues double bill.
Fri 02: Anders Ingram @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Blind Pig Blues Club. Country blues. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

Sat 03: Newcastle Record Fair @ Northumbria University, Newcastle NE8 8SB. 10:00am-3:00pm. Admission: £2.00.
Sat 03: Pedigree Jazz Band @ St Augustine's Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm.
Sat 03: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. Tutor: Sue Ferris. £25.00. Enrol at: www.jazz.coop.
Sat 03: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 6:00pm. Free.
Sat 03: Rendezvous Jazz @ Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.
Sat 03: Papa G's Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

Sunday, January 06, 2013

What I Did in the New Year Holidays by Ann Alex

Reminds you of stuff the teacher made you write in the junior school, doesn't it ?  This blog truly does include many types of writing!  Anyway, I stayed at Brecon in mid-Wales, on a leisure activities holiday, organised by a firm that I travel with regularly.  The subject was The Joy of Music and the tutor was one, Chris Howes, jazz pianist, teacher of adults and skilled raconteur.  Jazzers I've spoken to seem recall the name but not many details.  I think Chris would be amused by this.  Brecon Jazz Festival perhaps?  Anyway, many types of music were explored, with excellent powerpoint presentations.  This tutor is something of an expert on the slave song origins of blues and jazz, so I learned lots. 
Other information conveyed included an analysis of a typical 32 bar song (Blue Moon); a run-down of what was happening musically between Stan Getz (tenor sax) and Kenny Barron (piano) in East of the Sun; then came Frank Sinatra with How Deep is the Ocean, to illustrate Sammy Cahn’s statement that it’s not possible to sing such a song without becoming involved with the meaning of the words.  The song-writing partnership of Rodgers and Hart was interesting.  Apparently Rodgers was quite dour but Hart was an emotional type, and he had the ability to come up with instant rhythmic, rhymed lines as if it was part of normal conversation.  Hart did the words first and Rodgers produced the music later.  Their partnership was far longer than that of Rodgers and Hammerstein.  We were told that jazz musicians find the songs written by Hart much more satisfying to play.  Now I think of it, you don’t hear many jazz musicians playing songs from such shows as Oklahoma, do you?
We learned that pianist Ellis Larkins produced his unusually mellow tone by having the damper pedal on the piano actually tied down, to save having to keep it depressed by foot all the time, as illustrated by his accompaniment for Ella Fitzgerald on You Turned the Tables on Me.  And did you know that Irving Berlin couldn't speak a word of English when he arrived in the States, yet his song-writing shows a good grasp of everyday speech?  And he never really learned to play an instrument properly and played the piano on the black notes only.
Other music we heard included Gil Evans arrangement for the wonderful trumpet version of  the Rodriguez Guitar Concerto by Miles, and Half the Fun from Duke Ellington’s Shakespearean Suite Such Sweet Thunder.  This is the bit about Antony and Cleopatra, and it had a definite Egyptian feel, with an insistent rhythm and excellent percussion.  Apparently the last long sax note has to be done with circular breathing, which isn’t recommended by doctors, we were told.
A good time was had by all – apart from the sad text I received….
Ann Alex.

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