Total Pageviews

Bebop Spoken There

Dee Dee Bridgewater: “ Our world is becoming a very ugly place with guns running rampant in this country... and New Orleans is called the murder capital of the world right now ". Jazzwise, May 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

16434 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 16 years ago. 314 of them this year alone and, so far, 26 this month (May 9).

From This Moment On ...

May

Sun 12: GoGo Penguin @ Wylam Brewery, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). All standing gig.
Sun 12: Eva Fox & the Jazz Guys @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Downstairs. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 12: Satin Beige @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £7.50 + bf. Upstairs. R&B cello & vocals
Sun 12: Fergus McCreadie Trio @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm. £19.80.
Sun 12: Schmid/Wheatley/Prévost + Signe Emmeluth @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. JNE.

Mon 13: Emma Fisk & James Birkett @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 1:00pm. £8.00.

Tue 14: ???

Wed 15: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 15: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 15: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 16: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 16: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Ragtime piano. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 16: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm. Guests: Richie Emmerson (tenor sax); Mark Toomey (alto sax); Garry Hadfield (keys); Ron Smith (bass).

Fri 17: Dave Newton & Dean Stockdale @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 17: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 17: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 17: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 17: Castillo Nuevo Trio @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 5:30pm. Free.
Fri 17: Strictly Smokin’ Big Band @ The Fire Station, Sunderland. 7:30pm. Album launch gig featuring Alan Barnes, Bruce Adams & Paul Booth!
Fri 17: Hot Club du Nord @ Seventeen Nineteen, Hendon, Sunderland. 7:30pm.

Sat 18: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:00-9:00pm. Free. Celebrating ‘10 years of the Jazz Jam!’. House trio: Alan Law, Paul Grainger, Tim Johnston. A Late Shows event.
Sat 18: SH#RP Collective @ Holy Name Parish Church Hall, Jesmond, Newcastle. 7:00-9:00pm. Tickets: £15.00. Bar available, BYO snacks. A Jesmond Community Festival event. All proceeds to Kabuyanda Charity (Ugandan health care).
Sat 18: Red Kites Jazz @ Staithes Café, Autumn Drive, Gateshead. 7:30pm.
Sat 18: Alligator Gumbo @ The Witham, Barnard Castle. 7:30pm.
Sat 18: Rockin’ Turner Brothers @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sat 18: Late Night Special with Ruth Lambert & special guests @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 10:00pm-midnight. £5.00. (booking essential). Lambert & surprise jam session guests from down the years.

Sunday, May 26, 2013

James Birkett & Bradley Johnston @ Sage Gateshead. 24 May 24, 2013

James Birkett & Bradley Johnston (Gtrs)
 (Review by Russell).
They were there in their hundreds, in every nook and cranny, every vantage point taken. Guitarists James Birkett and Bradley Johnston had certainly pulled a crowd for their gig on the concourse at Sage Gateshead. Alas, the drinking and chattering gave the game away...the hordes were there to attend performances in Halls One and Two. Most didn't listen and many of those seemed oblivious to the brilliance of the master and pupil duo. 
Two sets of bossas, waltzes, swingers and blues held the attention of the few. Dick McDonough and Carl Kress made a flying visit (Stage Fright), John Lewis waltzed in Skating in Central Park, so too Dave Brubeck (In Your Own Sweet Way). The clattering of plates, the clink of glass on glass, the I'm at the Sage mobile types did little to dampen the enthusiasm of performers and the listening few.
Pupil Bradley Johnston - Mr Johnston turned eighteen last week - played as if a veteran of the music; rhythm, time, solo invention. Dr Birkett played the part of the senior man in the partnership, confident of his partner's abilities, indeed the younger man frequently took the first solo. 
Jobim's Wave opened the second set just as the few waved goodbye to ticket holders filing into their respective halls. Joe Venuti (Johnston) and Eddie Lang (Birkett) arrived Stringing the Blues (Joe/Bradley swinging it, Eddie/James knocking out sophisticated bass lines). Time for Django - the place had quietened - time for Nuages. Great! Bill Evans contributed Waltz for Debby then it was Guitar Hero Time. Mr P.Metheny's Farmer's Trust impressed Birkett and Johnston as much as the listeners! McDonough and Kress returned briefly with Chicken a La Swing, an hors d'oeuvres to Billie's Bounce. Johnston really got into this one, a highlight of the evening. Just when you thought it couldn't get any better the duo signed off in some style with Chick Corea's Spain. James Birkett is an acknowledged virtuoso, Bradley Johnston's time will surely come.           
Russell.   
at

No comments :

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments ( Atom )

Blog Archive