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Bebop Spoken There

Abbie Finn: "Even though there's a lot of great work being done to promote women in jazz, I still come up against some attitudes! I pulled up at a recording session with my drums in the car and the studio owner said, 'I'm sorry, this space is reserved for the drummer!'" - (Jazzwise April 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

15245 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 264 of them this year alone and, so far, 77 this month (March 25).

From This Moment On ...

March

Tue 28: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 28: Sanaz Lavasani Trio + Abbie Finn @ Black Swan, Newcastle Arts Centre. 8:00pm. £12.00 (£10.00. adv).

Wed 29: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 29: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 29: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 7:00pm.
Wed 29: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 30: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Gateshead Central Library. 2:30-4:30pm. £2.00. All welcome.
Thu 30: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. Back to 1:00pm stomp off. Free.
Thu 30: Castillo Nuevo @ Revolución de Cuba, Newcastle. 5:30-8:30pm.
Thu 30: '58 Jazz Collective @ Hops & Cheese, Hartlepool. 7:30pm. Free.
Thu 30: Lindsay Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ Harbour View, Sunderland. 8:00pm.
Thu 30: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 31: Lewis Watson Quartet @ Bishop Auckland Town Hall. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 31: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 31: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 31: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm. CANCELLED! Back next week (April 7).
Fri 31: Castillo Nuevo @ Revolución de Cuba, Newcastle. 5:30-8:30pm.
Fri 31: Jasmine Myra + Waclaw Zimpel @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Fri 31: The Revolutionaires @ The Shack, Boldon Colliery. 7:30pm. £10.00. The Revolutionaires' big band (horn section) line-up.
Fri 31: Andrew McCormack @ Maltings, Berwick. 8:00pm. £20.00.

April
Sat 01: The Big Easy @ St Augustine's Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm.
Sat 01: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. Tutor: Steve Glendinning - In a Minor Key. £25.00. Enrol at: www.jazz.coop.
Sat 01: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington Covered Market, Darlington DL1 5PN. 6:00pm. New venue, live jazz!
Sat 01: Boys of Brass @ Stack, Seaburn. 7:00-9:00pm.
Sat 01: Hot Club du Nord @ Pleased to Meet You, Bridge St., Morpeth. 8:00pm. £79.00. A charity fundraising event.
Sat 01: Rendezvous Jazz @ Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00. RESCHEDULED to next week (Sat 08).

Sun 02: Smokin' Spitfires @ The Cluny. 12:45pm.
Sun 02: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 3:00pm.

Mon 03: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

Sunday, December 22, 2013

Café Society Swing @ Leicester Square Theatre, London. December 21.


Cherise Adams-Burnett, China Moses, Alexander Stewart (vcls); Harold Sanditen (narrator/vcls); Alex Webb (MD/comp/arr/pno); Sue Richardson (tpt/flug); Nathanial Facey (alt); Frank Griffith (ten/clt); Nathanial Cross (tmb); Jo Caleb (gtr); Miles Danso (bs); Shane Forbes (dms). Directed by Simon Green.
(Review by Lance. Photos courtesy of Alex Webb - China Moses [l] Alexander Stewart [r]).
Forget Les Mis or Lloyd Webber's latest this is the only place to be. It should run longer than The Mousetrap but it's only on for 2 nights and tonight is the last performance so don't procrastinate but Hurry on Down to this Playhouse Baby - to misquote a tribute to Nellie Lutcher by Adams-Burnett in this wonderful show.
As we waited to get in a girl came round dishing out programmes! Normally programmes cost almost as much as a ticket! (exaggeration!)
For those unfamiliar with the production it is based on the book Café Society: The Wrong Place for the Right People.
Café Society was the brainchild of Barney Josephson who before, during and after the second world war ran two clubs in New York (uptown and downtown). The first known establishments in America where races were allowed to mix which didn't go down well with the establishment who eventually got it closed down in 1947 (49?)
During it's halcyon years many stars and personalities from the world of jazz and show business performed and frequented the place.
This show pays homage to some of those singers and musicians interwoven with key events in the club's history.
Three fine singers, a band that steamed, and a narration that told the story effectively - well, semi effectiuvely. In the first act Sanditen's lapel mic only picked up the voice when his head was turned to the left but not when he turned away! This was fine for me in Row B but could have been difficult for those further back. For the second act he used a standard microphone and all was fine.
The repertoire was a mix of standards and originals by Webb who has created a legacy to be proud of. Unfair to single either singers or musicians out as they all contributed effectively but Griffith's clarinet on What a Little Moonlight Can Do and the final Strange Fruit by Moses were peerless but then again so was Facey's birdlike alto on the boppy What is this Thing Called Love. Just about everything was perfect (delete 'about').
Café Society Swing deserves to be seen at every jazz festival and theatre venue in the world - even New York!
Lance.

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