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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

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); 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.

Monday, March 24, 2014

A Strictly Combustible Evening. March 23

(Review by Russell)
Big bands are dead, long gone. Oh, yeah? The recent Great North Big Band Jazz Festival in Sunderland would suggest otherwise and behind the scenes here in the north east of England (in clubs, pubs, community halls) year-round rehearsals and workshops go largely unnoticed. A Sunday afternoon at Hoochie Coochie couldn’t possibly attract a large crowd keen to experience the thrill of a big band up close. Oh, yeah? The Pilgrim Street venue in Newcastle was busy. Bottles of Fuller’s London Pride, a cocktail if you prefer, being supped or sipped, ahead of an appearance by the Strictly Smokin’ Big Band. For a review of the gig read LL’s piece. Suffice to say it was every bit as good as he said it was.
Less than one hour later, Splinter’s monthly jam session at the Bridge Hotel would attract a contingent of the SSBB. One hour. Time to kill, Time to dash home and still get to the Bridge on time. Turning into the street – Chez Moi –  the powerful effects of London Pride had kicked in. A car, unattended, ablaze.  Surreal or what? Alert the neighbours, call 999! Several buckets of water contained the blaze until the fire fighters arrived. Sorry chaps, must go, much more important business to attend to, there’s a jam session at the Bridge! A pint of Billy Mill or a pint of Amnesia? Opted for one or the other, can’t remember which, a glance at the tv, El Clasico nicely poised: Real 1 Barca 1.
Ascending the stairs to the unmistakable sound of the Findens on Secret Love (Fiona, vocals, Stuart, tenor), musicians sat around the room, thumbing through the pad, looking for the right chart – it could be their turn next. The Findens were working with familiar faces – Alan Law (piano), John Pope (bass) and drummer Eric Stutt. Note pad and pen forgotten in the earlier emergency determined it would be mental notes (Amnesia permitting), a mere sketch. Make that a list.
Pick your favourites from the following...Peter Gilligan (piano), drummers Jeff Armstrong and Jonathan Marriott, Paul Gowland (tenor), Sarah Travena (soprano), Mark Williams (guitar), vocalists Julie Allan, Debra Milne, Kath Jobes. KJ sang Autumn Leaves a day or so after the first day of spring.
Somewhat befuddling to a London Pride amnesiac! Down in the bar, El Clasico update: Real 3 Barca 2. A pint of something or other, a swift ascent of the stairs so as not to miss a second of what was to come and as occasionally happens one of those  ‘I was there’ moments. SSBB vocalist Lindsay Hannon put on her coat, about to go off into the night, when, glass in hand, she was called to the stage. Hannon encouraged SSBB tenor player Jamie Toms to join her. Our vocalist sang as never before; saloon bar ease, from major to minor, from the heart, heartbreak, joy. Magnificent! Perhaps not gig of the year but without doubt, three months into the year, a highlight of 2014. Apologies to any performer not mentioned – the absence of a note pad and the amnesiac effects of a couple of halves were entirely responsible for, for…something or other. Footnote: Messi did it again (a hat trick) – FT Real 3 Barca 4.             
Russell.                          

1 comment :

JC said...

Russell, I knew you could multiple-task but you have become the Roland Kirk of reviewers. Two jazz gigs back to back involving cast of thousands, live tasting of ales (both real and imaginary), running commentary on El Classico and a little voluntary fire fighting on the
side -amazing! I must remember to try a pint of Amnesia.
JC

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