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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

15229 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 248 of them this year alone and, so far, 61 this month (March 20).

From This Moment On ...

March

Fri 24: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 24: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 24: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 24: FILM: Mo' Better Blues @ Forum Cinema, Hexham. 7:00pm.
Fri 24: Ian Millar & Dominic Spencer @ Scarth Hall, Staindrop, Co. Durham. 8:00pm. £10.00.
Fri 24: Archipelago + Bulbils @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.

Sat 25: Vermont Big Band @ Walker Community Centre, Walker, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Fundraiser for Benfield Juniours Football Club. Hot food available, BYOB.
Sat 25: John Logan & Friends @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Rat Pack, Motown etc. 8:00pm. Free (donations).

Sun 26: Musicians Unlimited @ Park Inn, Hartlepool. 1:00pm.
Sun 26: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 3:00pm.
Sun 26: Outlines @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. JNE promotion (upstairs).

Mon 27: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

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 @ 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: '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.

Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Bell & Bucket New Orleans Jazz Festival. May 26

Paul Bacon (drums), Liz Bacon (clarinet), Martyn Sharp (trumpet & vocals), Jeff Milner (trombone & vocals), Roger Howlett (banjo) & Annie Hawkins (double bass) + Matty McElvogue (trumpet)
(Review by Russell).
Paul Bacon first played jazz at the Bell and Bucket (a community pub converted from a decommissioned fire station) in 1991 and has continued to play there regularly down the intervening years. His well established Bell & Bucket New Orleans Jazz Band’s Tuesday lunchtime session recently rebranded itself as Paul’s New Orleans Music Show and now we have Tyneside’s first dedicated New Orleans jazz festival.
A two day affair, Monday’s session took the form of three sets of forty five minutes each over three hours. The musicians assembled on the upper tier of the small, split level, one room pub. The weather fine, the door and windows open, the sound of New Orleans jazz drifted down the banks of the Tyne (Stan Laurel’s statue danced a jig), the tied-up fishing fleet bobbing to the syncopated rhythms.
Mr Bacon plays it strict. A disciple of the music of New Orleans, he pays homage to his heroes – George Lewis, Bunk Johnson and others. A model of economy of style, Bacon invited the larger-than-life Annie Hawkins (double bass) to participate in this first festival of New Orleans jazz. The contrast stark, the playing first rate. The drumming minimalist, the bass playing dynamic. Banjo player Roger Howlett goes way back with Bacon and he sat between the two unfazed by the visual treat (Hawkins) to his left. The front line – Mrs Liz Bacon (clarinet), trumpeter Martyn Sharp and Jeff Milner (trombone) –  worked well together, sharing the solos (Hawkins bagged her share), Sharp and Milner the vocalists. All I Do is Dream of You, I’m Looking For a Four Leaf Clover (Sharp vocals), Brahms Lullaby and a clarinet feature for Liz Bacon – In the Garden – got things off to a good start.
The intervals were short, there was much to fit in. Second set – a spirited Don’t Give Up the Ship, an excellent CC Rider (Sharp muted trumpet, Milner winning vocals), Take My Hand Precious Lord (Liz Bacon clarinet) and Don’t Sweetheart Me – more than matched the first and the final set maintained the standard. Just a Little While to Stay Here, Lady Be Good (Mattie McElvogue sat-in on trumpet), Dinah (McElvogue stayed on), then The Dallas Blues (Sharp back in harness) and Ice Cream made for a fantastic finale to the first day of the Bell and Bucket New Orleans Jazz Festival.
Paul Bacon referred to the New Orleans Jazz Club on Forth Banks in Newcastle. He said that George Lewis played there, opening the venue. Do readers have recollection of the occasion? The second day of the festival – Tuesday 27 – begins at one o’clock. Admission is free, the beers fine (Jarrow and Charles Wells), the jazz just great.    
Russell.       

2 comments :

Dave Kerr said...

Yes I saw George Lewis there in fact he played there twice.
He did not open the club it had been going for years before.
I was invited back stage to meet him in and there were several photos
of local musicians taken with him.

John Taylor said...

Yes I was there on that occasion and in fact that may be a copy of my ticket which I still have somewhere

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