Total Pageviews

Bebop Spoken There

Spasmo Brown: “Jazz is an ice cream sandwich! It's the Fourth of July! It's a girl with a waterbed!”. (Syncopated Times, July, 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

17346 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 16 years ago. 630 of them this year alone and, so far, 35 this month (Sept. 11).

From This Moment On ...

September

Mon 16: Swing Manouche @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 1:00pm. £9.00.
Mon 16: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 16: John Hallam with the James Birkett Trio @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00. A Blaydon Jazz Club 40th anniversary concert!

Tue 17: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Victoria & Albert Inn, Seaton Delaval. 12:30pm. £13.00. Tel: 0191 237 3697. ‘Indian Summer Afternoon Tea’.
Tue 17: Jason Isaacs @ St James’ STACK, Newcastle. 3:00-5:00pm. Free.
Tue 17: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Joe Steels (guitar); Paul Grainger (double bass); Abbie Finn (drums).

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 Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 19: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Ragtime piano. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 19: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesborough. 8:30pm. Free. THC with guests Kevin Eland, Dan Johnson, Jeremy McMurray, Ron Smith.

Fri 20: Lindsay Hannon’s Tom Waits for No Man @ Gala Theatre, Durham. 1:00pm. £8.00.
Fri 20: Rob Hall & Chick Lyall @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Free (donations). SOLD OUT!
Fri 20: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 20: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 20: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 20: Leeway @ 1719, Hendon, Sunderland. 7:30pm. The Old Black Cat Jazz Club. CANCELLED!
Fri 20: Gaz Hughes Trio @ Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. Opus 4 Jazz Club.

Sat 21: Jason Isaacs @ Seaburn STACK, Seaburn. 1:00-2:45pm. Free.
Sat 21: Baghdaddies @ Two by Two, Albion Row, Byker, Newcastle NE6 1RQ. 6:00pm.
Sat 21: Jude Murphy & Alan Law @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 22: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 22: Jason Isaacs @ St James’ STACK, Newcastle. 2:30-4:30pm. Free.
Sun 22: Dulcie May Moreno Quartet @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm.
Sun 22: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 22: Richard Herdman @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 22: Remy CB Band @ Blues Underground, Nelson St., Newcastle. 8:30pm. Free. Remi, 2024 Newcastle Uni graduate, superb soul/blues voice!

Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Darlington Jazz Festival. Sunday Evening Part Two April 27

(Review by Russell (AKA Tolstoy).
The weekend’s finale featured the Al Wood Nine. Multi instrumentalist Al Wood (trumpet, flugelhorn, alto & soprano saxophones) always puts on a good show. Bebop Spoken Here last heard him at the Cluny in Newcastle, for this Darlington engagement the veteran Yorkshireman brought his A-team with him.
 The band: Al Wood, Jim Corry (alto & soprano saxophones), James Russell (alto & baritone saxophones), Stuart MacDonald (tenor and bass saxophones), Sam Thornton (baritone saxophone & vocals), Graham Hearn (piano), Gary Jackson (double bass) & Bob Howard (drums) + Ernie Jackson (percussion)
Benny Carter’s Come On Over opened the first set with Simon Kaylor soloing on tenor and Jim Corry on alto. Corry’s altoist band mate James Russell took a phenomenal solo on Bernie’s Tune. This was going to be some night! Pianist Graham Hearn, heard recently up the road at the Lit and Phil in Newcastle, played beautifully on Rodgers and Hart’s Spring Is Here (Not in Darlington quipped Wood). The multi instrumental talents of the frontline were first demonstrated when Corry switched to soprano on I’m Always Chasing Rainbows. Flight of the Foo Birds featured Wood on alto with sensitive support from pianist Hearn. The set’s closing number will live long in the memory. A big band aficionado had earlier commented that he was pleased to see drummer Bob Howard in the band. Dizzy’s The Champ featured a drum solo to end all drum solos. The frontline cleared the stage as Howard gave an outstanding display. It was the closing number but it was only the end of the first set! 
During the interval one aspiring young drummer was introduced to Mr Howard…they talked drums. Aim for the stars, Howard did and he is up there with the best of them! Nat Adderley’s Work Song opened the second set. Double bassist Gary Jackson - great sound, great technique - grabbed a solo before the altoists (Corry and Russell) traded fours, fast and furious, then faster and ever more furious! Wow! Simon Kaylor featured once more on Stella By Starlight, initially at a slow tempo then up to race speed. It worked. Tenor man Stuart MacDonald (he made Johnny Griffin sound pedestrian) picked up his ton weight bass saxophone - great sound, great technique - to lead the parade on Struttin’ With Some Barbecue (arr. Hearn), Sam Thornton (baritone) followed with his own cast iron sound. A number from Phil Wood’s A Btrazilian Affair concluded matters with solo after solo drawing huge applause. Veteran drummer Ernie Jackson joined the party as guest percussionist. Quite a finale!
The 2014 edition off the Darlington Jazz Festival could only be described as a resounding success. The event is a considerable undertaking and it couldn’t work without the support of many individuals and organisations. Some of those - apologies for those omitted, it is a long list! - include Creative Darlington, Darlington Borough Council, Darlington For Culture, Darlington Jazz Club and the Musicians’ Union. The festival directors - Kirsty Dunn and Shaune Eland - the festival fundraiser (essential!) Kathryn Shaw, Head of Steam staff, staff at the Forum and last but by no means least, the innumerable band of volunteer workers. These are the unsung stars of the event. Many of them are young musicians giving freely of their time. They staff the door, sell raffle tickets, act as stage crew and do the behind the scenes donkey work. See you at the 2015 Darlington Jazz Festival, the Friendly Jazz Festival.          
Russell.

No comments :

Blog Archive