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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

15867 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 874 of them this year alone and, so far, 72 this month (Sept. 25).

From This Moment On ...

September

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.

Sat 30: John Pope Quintet + Late Girl + Shapeshifters @ Bobik's, Jesmond, Newcastle.
Sat 30: Papa G's Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

OCTOBER

Sun 01: Smokin' Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm.
Sun 01: Dulcie May Moreno sings Portrait of Sheila @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £10.00. Moreno sings Sheila Jordan with Giles Strong, Mick Shoulder & John Bradford.
Sun 01: Middlesbrough Jazz & Blues Orchestra @ Saltburn Community Hall. 2:00pm.
Sun 01: The Easy Rollers @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £13.70., £11.55.
Sun 01: Brand/Roberts/Champion/Sanders @ Blank Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Sun 01: Papa G's Troves @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 02: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Mon 02: FILM: Wattstax; 50th Anniversary @ Forum Cinema, Hexham. 8:00pm.

Tue 03: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 03: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. House trio: Michael Young (piano); Paul Grainger (double bass); Paul Wight (drums).

Saturday, June 29, 2013

Dropping Bombs @ Sage Gateshead June 28.

James Harrison (pno/Hammonds); Ian Simpson (gtr); James Robson (bs); Dave Donnelly (dms); Belinda Voshtina (vcl); Ray Dales (alt).
(Review by Lance, photo by Elaine Harrison)
Dropping Bombs continue to explode - can anyone tell me how long it is since such a young north east band could play with such feeling and respect  for the music that is the backbone of modern jazz?
The material is unbeatable - Sonny Rollins' St. Thomas lays waste to most of the 'originals' that roll off the conveyer belt. The secret? - its simplicity! Ray Dales took it to the Caribbean and back via 52nd St.and made it sound as if it were written yesterday! James Harrison and Ian Simpson kicked it along beautifully and Dave Donnelly knocked seven shades out of the kit.
These kids (exclude Ray from 'kids' although he is still one at heart) know where they're going and even if it is down Route 66 it's still better than the A1(M).. I don't know why some people knock standards, the  Gasbook is the greatest collection of music ever written and, idiom wise, comparable with the best of European classical music.
There were gems galore tonight - Ray Dales playing Just Friends, Now's The Time, Belinda singing Why Don't You Do Right? Slower than Peggy but just as effective. Moondance, Frim Fram Sauce and Every Day I Have the Blues showed her off to great advantage. Harrison laid down some funky Hammond grooves on this one
Take the A Train had Ray swinging like Bird and the two James, Ian and Dave travelled along in the First Class carriage.
From the bowels of the concourse musicians emerged carrying instrument cases - they'd obviously been rehearsing - yet not one of them stopped to listen to what was going on on stage.
It was their loss.
Two people who did appreciate the music were a couple of swing dancers moving in perfect synchronization to the music. Later when the tempo slowed for Lover Man the dancing became elegant and graceful - well as elegant and graceful as you can be wearing jeans and trainers!
Move It On featured some intriguing interplay between the Hammond and guitar and James Robson gave further evidence of his jazz chops. Then, just when you thought it was safe to go back into the water, Belinda sang Summertime. In her defence, she sang it better than most. St James Infirmary Blues showed that these young guys have an eye on the past as well as the future which in my eyes is commendable.
It was a splendid evening (free) and I'm grateful to Elaine and Terry for supplying the photos taken under impossible lighting conditions.
Lance.

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