Total Pageviews

Bebop Spoken There

Billy Boy Arnold: “As long as you don't think old you're good.” - DownBeat, December, 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!"

Simon Spillett: A lovely review from the dean of jazz bloggers, Lance Liddle...

Postage

16051 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 1058 of them this year alone and, so far, 12 this month (Dec. 6).

From This Moment On ...

December

Thu 07: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free CANCELLED!
Thu 07: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Spanish City, Whitley Bay, Newcastle. 12 noon - 4:00pm. £26.00 (inc 3-course meal in in St Mary's Lighthouse Suite). SOLD OUT!
Thu 07: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Gateshead Central Library, Gateshead. 2:30pm. All welcome.
Thu 07: Thursday Night Prayer Meeting @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.Donations. Feat. Mark Sanders. CANCELLED!
Thu 07: Indigo Jazz Voices @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:45pm. £5.00. Downstairs. CANCELLED!
Thu 07: Tees Hot Club: Just Friends @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. Guest band night w. Richie Emmerson, Ian Bosworth, Dave Archbold, Ron Smith, Mark Hawkins. 9:00pm.

Fri 08: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 08: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 08: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 08: Giles Strong Quartet @ The Old Library, Auckland Castle. 1:00pm. £7.00.
Fri 08: Hayley's Little Big Band @ Woodland Village Hall, Bishop Auckland. 7:00pm. £12.00.
Fri 08: Sleep Suppressor + Redwell @ Head of Steam, Neville St., Newcastle. 8:00pm. £10.00. (£8.00. adv); £5.00. student.
Fri 08: Hot Club du Nord @ St Cuthbert's Church, Shadforth, Co. Durham.
Fri 08: Têtes de Pois + Nauta @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.00., £8.00.

Sat 09: Prudhoe Community Band @ Central Station, Newcastle. 10:00am - 12 noon. Charity fundraiser.
Sat 09: Durham Alumni Big Band @ Number One Bar, Skinnergate, Darlington. 1:00pm.
Sat 09: Castillo Nuevo Trio @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 5:30pm. Free.
Sat 09: Hayley's Little Big Band @ Middleton & Todridge Village Hall, Morpeth. 7:30pm. £12.00., £6.00.
Sat 09: Paul Skerritt @ Slaley Hall, Hexham NE47 0BX. 7:30pm. From £42.00.

Sun 10: Musicians Unlimited’s Xmas Party with Zoë Gilby Quartet @ Park Inn, Hartlepool. MU 1:00-3:00pm; Zoë Gilby Quartet 4:00-6:00pm. Tickets: £7.50.
Sun 10: Alan Law, Paul Grainger & Abbie Finn @ Darlington Market, Market Square, Darlington. 1:00pm. Free. A ‘Christmas Market’ outdoor gig. Wrap up warm!
Sun 10: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00-4:00pm. Free.
Sun 10: Funk Soul Sista @ Stack, Seaburn. 5:00-7:00pm. Free.
Sun 10: Beth Clarke @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 10: Hayley's Little Big Band @ Whittingham Memorial Institute, Alnwick. 7:30pm. £12.00., £10.00.
Sun 10: Tele-Port @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Line-up inc. Zhenya Strigalev.

Mon 11: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 11: Interim Final Recitals @ Newcastle University. Details TBC.

Tue 12: Stu Collingwood Organ Trio @ Forum Music Centre, Darlington. 7:00pm. £10.00.

Wed 13: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 13: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 13: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 13: Bold Big Band @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:30pm.
Wed 13: Giles Strong Quartet @ Alphabetti Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Beverley Beirne Quartet @ The Lit and Phil

Beverley Beirne (vcl); Graham Hearn (pno); Ian Mann (bs); Ronnie Bottomley (dms).
The band drove up from Leeds with 6,000 fans in their wake - sadly, they were football fans heading for St. James Park. None of them dropped off at the Lit and Phil. Nor, for that matter, did the scores of aspiring jazz singers from the north east drop in either. I'm not going to call them "Wannabees" because, if they really do want to be they should have been here tonight.
It was a masterclass in singing and if Leeds United had  played as well as this band and singer did they wouldn't have lost 2-0!
However, maybe those aspirants had better things to do than listen to a superb singer bewitching us with Beautiful Love, You and the Night and the Music, Nature Boy or You Made me Love You. This latter tune was written 100 years ago and Beverley sang it with no little movement of her hips. I swear the gentleman in the portrait on the wall behind her had a gleam in his eye - I know I did!
Something Good, Squeeze Me, Trouble is a Man - just voice and piano - was merely sensational. Cheek to Cheek was sensational plus. On drums, Ronnie Bottomley restricted himself to brushes and yet managed to swing more than a lot of the stickmen I've heard recently. For Mancini's  Slow Hot Winds he proved equally adept on mallets.
A knockout opening to the second set. Totally unaccompanied, Bev gave us a medley of When Your Smiling/Smile and Make Someone Happy with ne'er a quarter tone gang awry. Some singers can't even manage it with a band behind them!
The trio returned for a swinging Them There Eyes, Inchworm - a tune I can live without (apologies to Bev, Danny Kaye and Frank Loesser) I Didn't Know What Time it Was, Devil May Care, Walk On By, You're Looking at Me - a tune Bev picked up from Cleo - and I Only Have Eyes For You. I only caught a few bars of this as the 27 was due and it was imperative I beat the footy fans out of town.
It was a great gig - apologies for not mentioning piano and bass but they were absolutely the tops - the Eiffel Tower no less!
Lance.

3 comments :

Beverley Beirne (on F/b) said...

Thank you so much Lance Liddle for coming along to the gig tonight and for this fabulous live review! I'm really grateful and it was so lovely to meet you and what a superb venue and the folks there were so attentive. Hope to see you again sometime soon!

Anonymous said...

Lance from Ann Alex,
Sorry Sir but as an aspiring singer I had a good reason not to be at this gig. We singers have very wide tastes, and I for one was at the Sage to see a dramatic version of the folk ballad 'Little Musgrave and Lady Barnard'. I'd like to bet that Ms Beirne woiuld understand and it was unlucky that the 2 gigs clashed. I'll take the next chance I get to hear Ms Beirne.

Lance said...

Sorry I missed that one Ann!

Blog Archive