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Bebop Spoken There

Kurt Elling: ''There's something to learn from every musician you play with''. (DownBeat, December 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

17602 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 16 years ago. 876 of them this year alone and, so far, 21 this month (Dec. 11).

From This Moment On ...

December

Fri 13: Dean Stockdale Trio @ Auckland Castle, Bishop Auckland. 1:00pm. £8.00.
Fri 13: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 13: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 13: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 13: Bellavana @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 3:00-5:00pm. Free.
Fri 13: Joe Steels Trio @ The Pele, Corbridge. 7:00pm. Free.
Fri 13: Customs House Big Band @ Stocksfield Community Association. 7:00pm. Featuring Ruth Lambert.
Fri 13: Paul Edis & Friends: A Jazzy Xmas @ St Cuthbert’s Centre, Crook. 7:30pm. £15.00.
Fri 13: Strictly Smokin’ Big Band @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 8:00pm (doors 7:30pm). £19.00. + bf. First night of two.
Fri 13: Fiona's Jazz Express @ Flash House Brewing Co., Northumberland St., North Shields NE30 1DS. 8:00pm. Free. Featuring: Fiona Finden (tenor sax); Stu Finden (flugelhorn); Lara Hopper (trumpet); Keith Barrett (guitar); Andrew Porritt (double bass); Neil Hopper (drums).
Fri 13: Ransom Van @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Fri 13: Boys of Brass @ Hoochie Coochie, Newcastle. 9:00pm. £10.00.

Sat 14: Jambone @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 6:15pm. Free but ticketed.
Sat 14: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm.
Sat 14: Red Kites Jazz @ Staiths Café, Autumn Dr., Gateshead. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 14 Lapwing Jazz Trio @ Three Sheets to the Wind, Alnwick. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 14: Strictly Smokin’ Big Band @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 8:00pm (doors 7:30pm). £19.00. + bf. Second night of two.
Sat 14: Papa G’s Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 15: Musicians Unlimited @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 12 noon. £8.50. Xmas party feat. Musicians Unlimited + Customs House Big Band. SOLD OUT!
Sun 15: Paul Edis & Friends: A Jazzy Xmas @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 2:00pm.
Sun 15: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 15: Mitch Laddie Band @ Tyne Bar, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. Superb blues power trio.
Sun 15: Leeway @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 15: Tweed River Jazz Band @ Barrels Ale House, Berwick. 7:00pm. Free.
Sun 15: Paul Edis & Friends: A Jazzy Xmas @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm.
Sun 15: Alligator Gumbo @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 16: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 16: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Wheatsheaf, Benton Sq., Whitley Road, Palmersville NE12 9SU. Tel: 0191 266 8137. 12 noon. £9.95. ‘Festive Turkey Dinner’. Book now: 0191 266 8137.
Mon 16: Paul Edis & Friends: A Jazzy Xmas @ The Fire Station, Sunderland. 7:30pm.

Tue 17: Paul Edis & Friends: A Jazzy Xmas @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 7:30pm.
Tue 17: BBC Big Band @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 7:30pm. ‘A Swinging Xmas’.
Tue 17: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Alan Law, Paul Grainger, Abbie Finn.
Tue 17: Bellavana @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 7:45-9:35pm. Free.

Wed 18: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 18: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 18: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 18: Hot Club of Heaton @ Elder Beer, Heaton, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘third Wednesday in the month’ session.

Thu 19: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Spanish City, Whitley Bay. 12 noon. £27.00. (inc. three -course meal).
Thu 19: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. ‘Christmas comes, but once a year: seasonal tracks & annual quiz’.
Thu 19: Jude Murphy & Dan Stanley @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 19: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm. Free. Guests: Josh Bentham (sax); Dan Johnson (sax); Graham Thompson (keys); Adrian Beadnell (bass).

Reviewers wanted

Whilst BSH attempts to cover as many gigs, festivals and albums as possible, to make the site even more comprehensive we need more 'boots on the ground' to cover the albums seeking review - a large percentage of which never get heard - report on gigs or just to air your views on anything jazz related. Interested? then please get in touch. Contact details are on the blog. Look forward to hearing from you. Lance

Saturday, November 30, 2013

Sonsale + Collaborations Trio @ Sage Gateshead. November 28

(Review by Russell)
A double bill of familiar names and faces: regionally based musicians (bassists Andy Champion and John Pope), national names (Corey Mwamba, Chris Biscoe and Roger Turner) and from France, Valentin Ceccaldi and Sylvain Darrifourcq. The Northern Rock Hall at Sage Gateshead attracted the committed. Chris Biscoe performed earlier in the day at Newcastle University as ‘Biscoe & Co,’ and the same line-up – Biscoe (reeds), John Pope (double bass) and Roger Turner (percussion) – played a set of approximately one hour as the ‘Collaborations Trio’ offering four freely improvised pieces. The quality of the acoustic was in marked contrast to the ‘difficult’ space of the King’s Hall.
The musicians performed close up, the audience in raised tiers. Biscoe, in casual lounge suite, displayed a mastery of his instrument, be it alto, soprano or bass clarinet. The Cat with the Hat, John Pope, stood his ground, looking and sounding all the more at home having come through with flying colours at their lunchtime gig. The Gateshead man made less use of the bow and his contribution was all the better for it. Drummer Roger Turner is a treat anytime – visually as well as musically. Eyes closed, deep in concentration, he picked up sticks, brushes, sticks, more sticks, the tools of his trade. The drumming fraternity should have turned out in droves, in the event, two or three were there. There was much to admire and learn from someone of Turner’s pedigree.
The other half of the bill – Sonsale – returned to Tyneside, the place where it all began. One senses a real friendship between the four musicians. Corey Mwamba (vibes) is a frequent (and most welcome) visitor to Tyneside and has struck a vital partnership with bassist Andy Champion. The Frenchmen – Sylvain Darrifourcq (drums) and cellist Valentin Ceccaldi – are master musicians and all round good guys. The Paris-based duo work across the spectrum, largely Leftfield, contemporary ‘new’ musics. Darrifourcq, an impish character right out of a Godard movie, is a phenomenal talent. Some dyed in the wool jazzers would, no doubt, struggle to hear ‘jazz’ in his playing. No matter, he is one of those musicians you have to hear before you die (guitarist Mike Papapavlou, currently studying in NYC, should check him out. Another one for your list Mike!).
Darrifourcq played jazz kit plus. The ‘plus’ being the entire collection of his (mother’s?) kitchen pots and pans, alarm clocks and a zither! An amazing musician and well worth a trip to Paris to hear him.
Valentin Ceccaldi made a major contribution to this Sage performance. Diminutive, seated (all the more so), he straddles the ‘out’ scene and conventional strings’ settings. This gig heard him in out mode. And how! Is it legal to inflict violence on a defenceless cello? In a sustained, brutal attack he set up a glorious finale. Smiles beamed – Mwamba to Darrifourcq, Darrifourcq to Mwamba. Andy Champion, with ‘game face’ on, couldn’t resist an approving glance, a nod to Ceccaldi to his right. The Girl from Ipanema sprung from Mwamba’s vibes (your reviewer didn’t pick up on this at the time), the ever alert Champion latched on to it, one of the joys of the music. There is talk of Sonsale performing in France. As and when dates are confirmed they will be posted to this blog and it is recommended flights be booked to Paris
Russell.                      

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