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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

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.

Thu 28: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 28: Alice Grace Quartet @ King's Hall, Newcastle University. 1:15pm. Free.
Thu 28: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Gateshead Central Library, Gateshead. 2:30pm. All welcome.
Thu 28: Faye MacCalman + Snape/Sankey @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 28: Zoe Rahman @ Jesmond United Reformed Church, Jesmond, Newcastle. 7:30pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Thu 28: '58 Jazz Collective @ Hops & Cheese, Hartlepool. 7:30pm.
Thu 28: Speakeasy @ Queen's Hall, Hexham. 7:30pm. £15.00. A Southpaw Dance Company presentation. Dance, audio-visuals, Count Basie, Benny Goodman, swing dancers etc.
Thu 28: Mick Cantwell Band @ Harbour View, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Ace blues band.
Thu 28: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 29: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 29: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 29: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Robert Cray Band + Jon Allen @ The Sage Gateshead. March 11, 2013

(Review by Russell)
The blues greats are all but long gone - Buddy Guy is still around, Taj Mahal, Dr.John, very few others (Magic Slim left us a little over two weeks ago). The next generation (no longer young guns) includes one Robert Cray. British blues aficionados were quick to pick up on Cray when he was little known, his earliest recordings on the Tomato label prized possessions (some collectors sought Japanese imports).
One of Cray’s first gigs on Tyneside attracted those-in-the-know to the Students’ Union of Newcastle University. Decades later the man from Columbus, Georgia, USA walked out onto the stage of Hall One at the Sage Gateshead to a considerably larger following! Cray said it was a pleasure to be back at the Sage Gateshead, turned to his band mates and said: Let’s get to it! 
Cray’s band - the long serving Jim Pugh (keyboards) and bassist Richard Cousins with Les Falconer on drums - tours the world more or less non-stop, resulting in the tightest of professional performances. Ninety minutes of classic Cray material - from his latest CD Nothin But Love to a spoilt-for-choice back catalogue - flew by. The sound was superb, testament to Lord Foster’s building design, the talents of the in-house technicians at the Sage and Cray’s road crew. Cray’s incomparable soul-blues voice, undiminished after years of life on the road, at one with his signature Fender Strat guitar sound, is a rare combination.
Strong Persuader and Smoking Gun were but two of many highlights. Organist Jim Pugh drove Cray to ever greater heights, Richard Cousins’ sinuous bass lines floated then danced, then floated and danced some more and Les Falconer’s in-the-pocket drumming was a master class. Cray’s vocals - arguably non better since Sam Cooke - left one thinking the next number couldn’t possibly be as good as the last, but it was, time and again. The wrought emotion of Chicken in the Kitchen has to be one of the best things heard in the nine year history of the Sage.
Robert Cray’s guest on this tour is Jon Allen. Singer, songwriter, guitarist, harmonica player, Allen was a revelation. Unannounced, the man with the Ford Focus (he felt inclined to tell us) strode onto stage and sang with no little confidence. Possessing a strong voice with an edge to it (think Steve Marriott, the best of early Rod the Mod) he writes songs about situations (Dead Man’s Suit) and relationships (Happy Now). Great voice, great lyrics, perhaps best  illustrated by Happy Now The lyric, delivered despairingly, if not with distain, goes…’I hope you’re happy now?’ Great stuff. Allen likes vinyl. His material is available on LP or the lesser option - CD. Check out Jon Allen, he’s good.
A great night at the Sage drew to a close with Robert Cray about to walk off stage yet he had the presence of mind to thank his special guest Jon Allen. Robert Cray is a class act.
Russell.                                  


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