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Bebop Spoken There

Wendell Brunious: "Because the blues is not 1,4 and 5 or 1,4,5,2,1. You could wake up with a flat tyre or a headache this morning, that's the blues, man" - (DownBeat, Oct. 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

15878 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 885 of them this year alone and, so far, 83 this month (Sept. 30).

From This Moment On ...

October

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); Sid White (drums). CANCELLED!

Wed 04: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 04: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 04: Paul Skerritt @ Vespa Italian Bar & Steakhouse, Primrose Hill, Jarrow. From 7:00pm. To book a table - 0191 483 3355.
Wed 04: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 05: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 05: Sound the Trumpets @ King's Hall, Newcastle University. 1:15pm. Free.
Thu 05: Hot Club du Nord @ The Lubetkin Theatre, Peterlee. 7:00pm. £10.00. POSTPONED!
Thu 05: Thursday Night Prayer Meeting @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.
Thu 05: Tommy Bentz Trio + Mark Croft Duo + George Shovlin & George Lamb @ The Harbour View, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Harbour View Speakeasy's USA blues double bill + Shovlin & Lamb!
Thu 05: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Ragtime piano. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.
Thu 05: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 06: Alcyona Mick @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Fri 06: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 06: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 06: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 06: WORKSHOP: Philosophy of Arts & Entertainment @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 2:00pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Fri 06: Balo @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 6:20pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Fri 06: Paul Skerritt @ 3Sixty Champagne Lounge, Hadrian’s Tower, Newcastle. From 7:00pm. To book a table - 0191 933 8591.
Fri 06: Lexer/Mayes/Noble + Semay Wu + Miman @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 7:20pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Fri 06: Dulcie May Moreno @ The Vault, Hexham. 7:30pm. £20.00. Book in advance. Moreno with Alan Law, Paul Grainger & John Bradford.
Fri 06: Dean Stockdale Quartet @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm. 'Celebrating Oscar'.
Fri 06: Nu Brass Sounds: Big Brass Bash @ Billy Bootlegger’s, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free.
Fri 06: TBC @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Blind Pig Blues Club. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

Sat 07: WORKSHOP: Philosophy of Arts & Entertainment @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 10:15am. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Sat 07: Hot Club du Nord @ St Augustine's Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm.
Sat 07: Bugge & Niccols + Moore & Fairhall @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Sat 07: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. Tutor: Steve Glendinning - All the Things You Are. £25.00. Enrol at: www.jazz.coop.
Sat 07: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 6:00pm. Free.
Sat 07: Rie Nakajima @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 6:20pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Sat 07: Paul Skerritt @ 3Sixty Champagne Lounge, Hadrian’s Tower, Newcastle. From 7:00pm. To book a table - 0191 933 8591.
Sat 07: Samuel Blaser Trio + Toxvaerd & Zeeberg + Muramatsu & Welch @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 7:20pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Sat 07: Anth Purdy @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Sat 07: Rendezvous Jazz @ Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.

Sun 08: Zoë Gilby Quintet + Ubunye @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Line-up inc. Tony Kofi. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Sun 08: Tommy Bentz Band @ Tyne Bar, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. USA blues band.

Thursday, November 21, 2013

John Wilson Orchestra: That's Entertainment - A Tribute to the Golden Age of the MGM Musicals. Sage Gateshead

(Review by Lance)
This afternoon we abandoned the jazz hat and, instead, stepped out in top hat, white tie and tails - figuratively speaking. John Wilson and his huge orchestra - I lost count - presented That's Entertainment - A Tribute to the Golden Age of the MGM Musicals.
And what a tribute it was by an orchestra totally attuned to the task in hand. The Overture comprised a medley of songs from several of those glorious films whose heyday ran from the 1930s through to the 1950s and, in the process, set the scene for the two vocalists Anna Jane Casey and Matt Ford.
Cole Porter's Stereophonic Sound (Silk Stockings) made for an amusing (lyric-wise) opener by the duo, followed by Ford's sensitive interpretation of The Girl Next Door (Meet me in St. Louis). Casey, looking ravishingly thin in a tight red gown, sang Lady is a Tramp (Pal Joey) and Judy Garland's version of You Made me Love You/Dear Mr. Gable (Broadway Rhythm of 1938). Ford returned to join Casey for We're a Couple of Swells (Easter Parade), the orchestra played a sensuous version of Dancing in the Dark (The Bandwagon) before the two singers sang the song that reputedly has the longest ever title - How Could You Believe me When I Said I Loved You When You Know I've Been a Liar All my Life? (Royal Wedding).
Casey wrapped the set up with I Got Rhythm (Girl Crazy) which featured a lot of  fine playing from the various sections - the violins being particularly impressive.
Everyone was beaming (apart from the couple next to us who seemed to begrudge standing up to let us past!) it had been an absolute delight and there was more to come.
The duo made a brief appearance during the overture to the second set with a quick half chorus of Singing in the Rain (picture of same name), Ford sang You Were Meant For me (Singing in the Rain), Casey - now in a shimmering light coloured gown - gave us Love (Ziegfield Follies) and Can't Help Lovin' That Man of Mine (Showboat).
The orchestra returned to Cole Porter for a medley from High Society with Ford singing I Love You Samantha from the same show and a trumpet player whose name I didn't catch doing the Satchmo bit
Then a real show-stopper from Casey - Thanks a Lot But no Thanks (It's Always Fair Weather - sung in the film by Dolores Gray).
Gershwin's ballet suite from an American in Paris brought things to an official close but as always there was an encore and today it was Everybody Sing (Broadway Melody 1938).
And everybody was singing as they left (apart from the miserable gits sitting next to us. It had been a joyous afternoon and if I'd been able to get a  ticket I'd have done it all again in the evening. But, of course, the evening performance was sold out which was how the afternoon performance came about in the first place.
Yes, as I said, a joyous occasion. However, as so often happens, one discovers that joyousness is not infinite...
The Quaylink bus, normally a dependable mode of transport, turned up half an hour late causing problems for those with trains to catch from Newcastle.
Lance.
PS: In case anyone doesn't know it already, the scores were taken down and transcribed note for note by John Wilson, the originals having been destroyed when the heyday was over!

3 comments :

Liz said...

how come you write such a great review when all I could see was the occasional sight of that special pen?Yes a truly wonderful show, world class I would say, my fave was "Dancing in the Dark"and thanks Lance and friends for making this such a super afternoon...despite the late bus and missed train!Liz

Alphafemale (on Twitter) said...

the trumpet player is the lovely Mike Lovatt :-)

Liz said...

and what a pedigree he has!!

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