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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

17328 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 16 years ago. 612 of them this year alone and, so far, 17 this month (Sept. 5).

From This Moment On ...

September

Sun 08: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 08: Giles Strong Quartet @ BAA Fest, Brownrigg Lodges, Bellingham. 2:40pm.
Sun 08: Eva Fox & the Jazz Guys @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 08: Graham Hardy’s Eclectic Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 09: Mark Williams Trio @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 1:00pm. £9.00.
Mon 09: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 10: ???

Wed 11: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 11: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 11: The Tannery Jam Session @ The Tannery, Gilesgate, Hexham. 7:00-9:00pm. Free. A ‘second Wednesday in the month’ jam session.
Wed 11: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 12: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 12: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:30pm. £4.00. ‘A Great Day in Harlem’.
Thu 12: The Cuban Heels @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Pete Tanton & co.
Thu 12: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesborough. 8:30pm. Free. THC with guests Donna Hewitt, Bill Watson, Dave Archbold, Adrian Beadnell, Mark Hawkins.

Fri 13: Jeff Barnhart & Neville Dickie @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Two pianos, two pianists! SOLD OUT!
Fri 13: Noel Dennis Quartet @ The Old Library, Auckland Castle, Bishop Auckland. 1:00pm. £8.00.
Fri 13: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 13: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 13: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 13: Dilutey Juice @ Old Coal Yard, Byker, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £11.00. adv..
Fri 13: Ray Stubbs R & B All-stars @ The Forum, Darlington. 7:30pm. Classic blues.

Sat 14: Jeff Barnhart’s Silent Film Fest @ St Augustine's Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. Darlington New Orleans Jazz Club.
Sat 14: Customs House Big Band w. Ruth Lambert @ St Paul’s Centre, St Paul’s Gardens, Spennymoor DL16 7LR. 7:00pm (6:45pm doors). Tickets £10.00. from the venue or tel: 01388 813404. A ‘BYOB’ event.
Sat 14: Emma Wilson @ Claypath Deli, Durham. 7:00pm. £12.00. Acoustic blues.
Sat 14: Rat Pack - Swingin’ at the Sands @ Billingham Forum. 7:30pm.

Saturday, November 15, 2014

Hebrides Ensemble: Dead Elvis @ Sage Gateshead. November 13.

(Review by Russell).
Elvis was in the building, supposedly. Dead or alive, he was keeping a low profile. A cursory glance along the concourse, a look in the café, the bar, the loo, not a sign. The main attraction (for some) couldn’t possibly be a ‘no show’, could he?        
Billed as ‘American classics with a cool vibe’, the Hebrides Ensemble presented six pieces to an attentive, and, belatedly, animated audience in Sage Gateshead’s Northern Rock Foundation Hall. Elvis (dead or alive), was top of the bill. We would have to be patient, other performers and composers were to be heard first. 
Darius Milhaud (a jazz connection via Dave Brubeck) opened the concert with Suite op 157b. Clarinet, piano (Huw Watkins) and viola played as classical musicians do – with precision. Soprano Claron McFadden took to the stage to sing three pieces. The first accompanied by piano, McFadden, seated, found dramatic expression and subtle humour in Thomas Adès’ work. On Stephen Montague’s Wild Nights (Emily Dickinson the source) McFadden stooped under the piano lid breathing life into the strings. Leonard Bernstein’s Dream with Me (an adaptation of JM Barrie’s Peter Pan) heard the soprano in reflective mood, seated once more, working with piano and William Conway’s cello.
The showstopper – Dead Elvis – certainly livened things up. A classical performance with dry ice smoke effects introduced Peter Whelan (aka Elvis). Variously fleet-fingered, brash and convincing (almost!), Whelan/Elvis walked the walk around the hall, turning heads as he and the band played on. So, this is what Elvis has been up to all these years!
Wynton Marsalis. A Fiddler’s Tale Suite. The real jazz element. The band assembled – trombone, trumpet (Ryan Quigley), double bass (May Halyburton), percussion, viola, clarinet and bassoon (a quick change into civvies for Whelan) – under the baton of Conway. Syncopation and swing with a N’Awlins drag, easy for Marsalis, not so easy for a contemporary classical ensemble (familiar with Stravinsky or not). Halyburton and percussionist Oliver Cox brought an element of authenticity to the performance but it just had to be Ryan Quigley to give it the seal of approval. Quigley sat with the others, reading the dots, no grandstanding for him. The final flourish – Marsalis-esque muted trumpet- made the whole endeavour worthwhile. Elvis may well be dead, long live Ryan Quigley!              
Russell.

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