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Bebop Spoken There

Art Blakey: "You [Bobby Watson] don't want to play too long, because you don't know they're clapping because they're glad you finished!" - (JazzTimes, Nov. 2019)..

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

15848 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 855 of them this year alone and, so far, 53 this month (Sept. 18).

From This Moment On ...

September

Mon 25: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Mon 25: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 7:00pm.

Tue 26: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.

Wed 27: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 27: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 27: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 28: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 28: Alice Grace Quartet @ King's Hall, Newcastle University. 1:15pm. Free.
Thu 28: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Gateshead Central Library, Gateshead. 2:30pm. All welcome.
Thu 28: Faye MacCalman + Snape/Sankey @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 28: Zoe Rahman @ Jesmond United Reformed Church, Jesmond, Newcastle. 7:30pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Thu 28: '58 Jazz Collective @ Hops & Cheese, Hartlepool. 7:30pm.
Thu 28: Speakeasy @ Queen's Hall, Hexham. 7:30pm. £15.00. A Southpaw Dance Company presentation. Dance, audio-visuals, Count Basie, Benny Goodman, swing dancers etc.
Thu 28: Mick Cantwell Band @ Harbour View, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Ace blues band.
Thu 28: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 29: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 29: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 29: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.

Sat 30: John Pope Quintet + Late Girl + Shapeshifters @ Bobik's, Jesmond, Newcastle.
Sat 30: Papa G's Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

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.

Sunday, December 21, 2014

Strictly Smokin’ Big Band @ Black Swan - Newcastle Arts Centre: December 20

(Review by Ann Alex/photo by Mike Tilley)
They were certainly smokingly good, firing on all cylinders, and in (not too) strict timing, as a big band needs to be. A real Christmas treat, right from the start, with a jazz version of We Three Kings right through to the final tune, which included two altos duelling and a spirited Good King Wenceslas. A brilliant way to start the Christmas break, and mostly Christmas songs in the second half.
We were sitting at a front table nearest to the stage and I was impressed by the sheer power of a big band in full action.  So this is what the Big Band Era was all about! All the soloists did their stuff well and it isn’t really fair to mention individuals.  The saxes swung wonderfully, including the baritone, especially in Sax Alley, which rounded off the first half, with saxes in tuneful harmony, then sharing a line of music between three tenors (Steve Summers having switched from alto to tenor for this Battle Royal), then jousting with each other before coming together again. The trombones featured on God Rest Ye Merry Trombones and the trumpets became flugelhorns for the American version of It Came Upon A Midnight Clear, which was introduced by the only American in the band. I actually preferred the tune from across the pond as it is more haunting than the usual tune. The drums shone on Little Drummer Boy (well he would, wouldn't he?!) with a steady background beat and the guitars and keys strutted their stuff admirably.
And the singers did well, even though two of them, Steve Morton and Belinda Voshtina, were last minute replacements.  Steve gave us a spirited Let The Good Times Roll; The Best Is Yet To Come and a yearning Last Christmas I Gave You My Heart.  Belinda shone on Jingle Bell Rock and Santa Baby. Lindsay Hannon was not only singing in the second half, but also displaying her new dress from the Artwear Emporium, a new establishment in Newcastle.  The dress, was made to measure, black, waisted, with a fancy neckline and a stunning red lining. The singing was delightful, Chuck E’s In Love; Route 66; Baby It’s Cold Outside (with Steve); then all three singers rounded off with Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas.  Tunes which weren’t about Christmas included Catch As Catch Can; Have You Met Miss Jones?; Song For my Father; The Blues Machine; and The Best Is Yet To Come.
I loved this gig and so did everyone else if the shouts for more were anything to go by.
Ann Alex 
Michael Lamb (MD/tpt/flug); Pete Tanton, Gordon Marshall, Dick Stacey (tpt/flug); Matt Ferris, Kieran Parnaby, Mr John Flood, Robert ‘Pez’ Perry (tmb); Steve Summers, Keith Robinson(alt), Paul Gowland, Jamie Toms (ten), Laurie Rangecroft (bar); Graham Don (pno); Pawel Jedrzejewski (gtr); Michael Whent (bs); Guy Swinton (dms); Belinda Voshtina, Lindsay Hannon, Steve Morton (vcls). 

2 comments :

Lance said...

And don't forget you can hear them again at Hoochie Coochie next Sunday, Dec. 28, 5pm with Paul Skerritt on vocals

Patti D. said...

Oh yes - I'm hot to trot for this one - can't get enough of 'em! And what an ace gig last night - the band's repertoire never fails to amaze me!!

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