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Bebop Spoken There

Ambrose Akinmusire: “ I am certainly always aware of what the masses are doing. And when I see too many people going one way, I'm going another way - even when I don't know what's over that way". DownBeat, March, 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

16287 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 16 years ago. 169 of them this year alone and, so far, 41 this month (Mar 18).

From This Moment On ...

March

Tue 19: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Michael Young, Paul Grainger, Tim Johnston.

Wed 20: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 20: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 20: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 21: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 21: Castillo Neuvo Trio + Conor Emery & His ‘Bones Band @ The Grove, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 7:30pm (7:00pm doors). £10.00. (£7.00. student).
Thu 21: Remi Banklyn + Chris Corcoran Trio @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.50. Chicago blues. An International Guitar Foundation promotion.
Thu 21: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Ragtime piano.
Thu 21: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm.

Fri 22: Vasilis Xenopoulos & Paul Edis @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. £8.00. SOLD OUT!
Fri 22: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 22: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 22: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 22: Nauta + Remy CB + Last Orders @ Hoochie Coochie, Newcastle. 8:30pm (7:30pm doors). Free.
Fri 22: Vasilis Xenopoulos-Paul Edis Quartet @ Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. £15.00. Opus 4 Jazz Club.
Fri 22: Redwell @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sat 23: Jambone @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 6:30pm. Free (ticketed). End of term performance in the Northern Rock Foundation Hall.
Sat 23: Milne-Glendinning Band @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 23: Red Kites Jazz @ Rowlands Gill Community Centre NE39 1JB. 7:00pm. Tickets: £12.00. (gibsidecommunityfarm@gmail.com). A ‘Build a Barn’ fundraiser. BYOB, tea/coffee available.
Sat 23: New Century Ragtime Orchestra @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £20.00. + bf (book in person at venue - no booking fee!). Featuring pianist Martin Litton.
Sat 23: Pete Tanton’s Cuba Libre @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 24: Musicians Unlimited @ Park Inn, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 24: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:30pm. Free.
Sun 24: Luis Verde @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm. Verde (alto sax); Joe Steels (guitar); John Pope (double bass); John Hirst (drums). Alto sax brilliance!
Sun 24: Elsie Franklin @ The Globe, Newcastle. 3:00pm. £10.00. Country blues. An International Guitar Foundation promotion.
Sun 24: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay Metro Station. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 24: Las Vegas Live with the Rat Pack @ The Forum, Billingham.
Sun 24: Ian Millar & Dominic Spencer @ Otterburn Memorial Hall. 7:30pm. £12.00.
Sun 24: Lindsay Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Note start time - 7:00pm.
Sun 24: Bold Big Band @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 25: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 25: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 6:30pm. Free.

Saturday, March 22, 2014

Customs House Big Band @ (wait for it) The Customs House, South Shields. March 21.

Michael Lamb, Darren Owen, Gordon Marshall, Ken DeVere (tpts); Gareth Weaver, Chris Gurgi-Smith, Michael Fletcher (tmb); Peter Morgan (bs. tmb/MD); Alan Marshall (alt/sop/clt/fl), Kim Webb (alt/clt), Richie Emmerson (ten), Peter Hepplewhite (ten); Sue Ferris (bar); Gavin Smith (pno); Roy Willis (gtr); Alan Smith (bs); Barry Black (dms); Ruth Lambert (vcl).
Quite a few deps and unfamiliar faces tonight. Long time since I heard Barry Black - still a very fine drummer. Richie Emmerson blew excellent tenor whilst regular tenor player Alan Marshall proved equally adept on alto. Michael Lamb, moonlighting from the Strictly Smokin' Big Band took care of the jazz trumpet pad. Ruth was, quite simply, Ruth. Just as Ella was 'Ella' and Billie was 'Billie'.
Because of the influx of 'foreigners' (sounds like the UKIP manifesto) the band wasn't, perhaps, as tight as normal but quite often a degree of looseness helps a band to swing more and there were no complaints on that score - how could there be with Barry behind the kit?
Love For Sale kicked things off - tell me, is there a big band that doesn't have the classic Buddy Rich version in the pad? Later, we had Buddy's West Side Story Medley. Gordon Goodwin was in there but no Sammy Nestico. A couple of Bob Florence's - Carmelo's By the Freeway being particularly outstanding. Maybe one day they'll pick up on Flo's Trash Can City.
Bill Brittain - I don't know if that is the correct spelling, I should have asked him as he was sitting in the row behind me - has now retired. His replacement, Gavin Smith (if your name is Smith or Marshall you stand a fair chance of getting on this band), featured on Don't Get Around Much Any More.
Ruth sang  Come Fly With Me, Over the Rainbow (inc. verse), Embraceable You, I Get a Kick Out of You, Teach Me Tonight, Lady is a Tramp, At Last, Get Happy and, for an encore, Mack the Knife.
During the interval I high-tailed over to the Steamboat for a pint and a few words with a girl named Sue and Richie Emmerson.
The Way You Look Tonight, which opened the second set, was one of the numbers that reminded me of the close attention this band gives to detail and dynamics.
Don't wait till May to catch them in Spennymoor - see the postscript below.
A lift home from Miles (Watson) rounded off a perfect evening. Thank you Miles.
Lance.
PS: Big band fans, you can hear the CHBB for free at an open rehearsal on the first Tuesday of each month at the New Crown Hotel, Mowbray Rd., South Shields. As I say, it's free and kicks off about 7.30pm.
This Sunday at Hoochie Coochie the Strictly Smokin' Big Band ignite at 5pm and, earlier, at the Park Inn, Hartlepool, the Musicians Unlimited Big Band preach the gospel - doors 12 noon.

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