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Bebop Spoken There

Branford Marsalis: "As ignorance often forces us to do, you make a generalisation about a musician based on one specific record or one moment in time." - (Jazzwise 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

15491 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 512 of them this year alone and, so far, 133 this month (May 31).

From This Moment On ...

June

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.

Sun 04: Smokin' Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm.
Sun 04: Central Bar Quintet @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00-4:00pm. £5.00. The Central Bar Quintet plays Sonny Rollins' Saxophone Colossus. Featuring Lewis Watson.
Sun 04: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 3:00pm.
Sun 04: Struggle Buggy + Michael Littlefield @ Tyne Bar, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. Acoustic blues.
Sun 04: Swinging at the Cotton Club: Harry Strutters' Hot Rhythm Orchestra @ The Fire Station, Sunderland. 7:30pm.
Sun 04: Richard Jones Trio @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Sun 04: Jam No. 18 @ Fabio's Bar, Saddler Street, Durham. 8:00pm. Free. All welcome. A Durham University Jazz Society event.

Mon 05: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

Tue 06: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 06: Jam session @ Black Swan, Newcastle Arts Centre. 7:30pm. House trio: Stu Collingwood (piano); Paul Grainger (double bass); Sid White (drums).

Wed 07: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 07: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 07: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 7:00pm.
Wed 07: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 08: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 08: Easington Colliery Brass Band @ The Lubetkin Theatre, Peterlee. 7:00pm. £10.00.
Thu 08: Faye MacCalman + Blue Dust Archive @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 08: Dilutey Juice + Ceramic @ The Ampitheatre, Sea Road, South Shields. 7:00pm. Free. A South Tyneside Festival event.
Thu 08: Lara Jones w. Vigilance State @ Lubber Fiend, Blandford Square, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 08: Michael Littlefield @ the Harbour View, Roker, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Country blues.
Thu 08: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 09: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 09: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 09: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 09: Castillo Nuevo @ Revolución de Cuba, Newcastle. 5:30-8:30pm.
Fri 09: Emma Rawicz @ Sage Gateshead. 8:00pm.

Monday, April 08, 2013

GIJF Day 3: Ruby Turner; The Brand New Heavies. April 7.

(Review by Lance).
(Dawn Joseph: Photo credit, Mark Savage.)
Tonight posed the question what is and what isn't jazz? Both sets had lots of soul and funk but as regards jazz content that is debatable. Paradoxically, this was, I would guess, one of, if not the, best attended concerts of the Festival. If this helps to subsidise the jazzier events then so be it.
However, the music, irrespective of genre, was exciting albeit the show itself was a visually challenged event.
Ruby Turner bounced around with the exuberance and soulful utterances we have come to know and love via her appearances with Jools and on previous Sage gigs. Without doubt the Lord was on her side as she sang Gospel inspired numbers such as Sister Rosetta Tharpe's This Train with it's underlying suggestion of the work of Harriet Tubman who did so much to help free slaves after the American Civil War.
The downside was the stage lighting. For some reason it rarely caught Ms. Turner who appeared as a shadowy figure probably only recognisable from say the first 5 rows!
Nevertheless, she sounded good and the band, who were somewhat better lit, gave her sterling support.
No shortage of light for the Brand New Heavies who, with their new vocalist Dawn Joseph, soon had Hall One rocking. The horn section of trumpet and tenor blended well and they had some good solos. Ms. Joseph quickly removed most of her clothes to facilitate her onstage cavorting and it was both easy on the eye and the ear. Soon it became just  "the ear".
"Everybody stand" she yelled and everybody did.
This was fine if you happen to be 7 feet tall of which it seems everyone in front of me was but for those who aren't, or are incapable of standing for long periods of time, it took a lot of shine off the gig. Indeed several of the more elderly members of the audience did leave early and I didn't blame them. 
My journey on the Quaylink bus was spent with a chap, much younger than me, complaining about paying for a seat at the concert and having to stand.
A bit of an anti-climax to what had been an otherwise absolutely fabulous weekend.
Lance.

1 comment :

Stocksfield Jazzer said...

Enjoyed the Ruby Turner gig greatly. I agree with you is is not Jazz, but certainly hits the blues button. For various reasons we did not stay for the Brand New Heavies - sounds like (as an older, shorter Jazz [and Ruby Turner] fans) we may have made the right choice!

Why do the Sage insist on booking two major acts for the same concert? I suspect it is to maximise revenue, by attracting two different audiences. At least Ruby Turner was allowed an encore this year. Last year we were allowed one hour of Roberto Fonseca - NO encore. We then had to endure nearly two hours of some Columbian Salsa (it's all the same!) band, as they (being second) were allowed an extended encore.

It may be a "Serious" thing, rather than a "Sage" thing, as some of last year's LJF fixtures also featured two major bands/artists on the same bill.

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