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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, 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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