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

17444 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 16 years ago. 718 of them this year alone and, so far, 100 this month (Oct. 10).

From This Moment On ...

October

Tue 15: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Alan Law (piano), Paul Grainger (double bass), Bailey Rudd (drums).

Wed 16: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 16: Cath Stephens’ improvisation workshop @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 4:30-6:00pm. Collaborative group focusing on vocal improvisations.
Wed 16: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 16: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 17: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 17: Olivia Cuttill Quintet @ King’s Hall, Newcastle University. 1:15pm. Free.
Thu 17: Moonlight Serenade Orchestra UK: Glenn Miller & Big Band Spectacular @ Phoenix Theatre, Blyth. 7:30pm.
Thu 17: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. Ragtime piano. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 17: Niffi Osiyemi Trio @ The Harbour View, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 17: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesborough. Guests Jeremy McMurray (keys); Richie Emmerson (tenor sax); Mark Toomey (alto sax); Adrian Beadnell (bass). 8:30pm. Free.

Fri 18: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 18: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 18: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 18: Hot Club du Nord @ St Cuthbert’s, Crook. 7:30pm.
Fri 18: Chet Set @ Seventeen Nineteen, Hendon, Sunderland. 7:30pm. Pete Tanton & co.
Fri 18: Michael Woods @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. Doors 7:30pm (upstairs). A Hoodoo Blues dance & social event. £10.00. class & social (£10.00., £7.50., £5.00. social only). Michael Woods (country blues guitar) on stage 9:00pm.
Fri 18: East Coast Swing Band @ Hexham Abbey. 7:30pm. £9.00.
Fri 18: Ben Crosland Quartet @ Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. Opus 4 Jazz Club.
Fri 18: Durham University Jazz Society’s ‘High Standards’ @ Music Dept. Music Room, Divinity House, Palace Green, Durham University DH1 3RS. 8:009-30pm. Tel: 0191 334 1419. £7.00., £5.00.
Fri 18: Ray Stubbs R&B All Stars @ Blues Underground, Nelson St., Newcastle. 9:00pm. Free.

Sat 19: Sat 19: Paula Jackman’s Jazz Masters @ St Augustine’s Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. Darlington New Orleans Jazz Club.
Jeff Hewer Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 19: Howlin’ Mat @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Country blues guitar & vocals. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 20: Kamasi Washington @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 7:30pm. POSTPONED! New date Saturday 5 April 2025.
Sun 20: Tweed River Jazz Band @ Barrels Ale House, Berwick-upon-Tweed. 7:00pm. Free.
Sun 20: Magpies of Swing @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 21: Gideon Tazelaar Quartet @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 1:00pm. £9.00.
Mon 21: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 21: Gideon Tazelaar Quartet @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm.

Tue 22: Bywater Call @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). Americana/blues/soul excellence.

Reviewers wanted

Whilst BSH attempts to cover as many gigs, festivals and albums as possible, to make the site even more comprehensive we need more 'boots on the ground' to cover the albums seeking review - a large percentage of which never get heard - report on gigs or just to air your views on anything jazz related. Interested? then please get in touch. Contact details are on the blog. Look forward to hearing from you. Lance

Friday, December 12, 2014

The Big Chris Barber Band @ Sage Gateshead. December 11

Chris Barber (trombone & vocals), Bob Hunt (trombone & trumpet), Mike Henry (trumpet & clarinet), Pete Rudeforth (trumpet), Richard Exall (baritone & tenor saxophones, clarinet), Bert Brandsma (tenor & alto saxophones, clarinet),Trevor Whiting (tenor & alto saxophones, clarinet), Joe Farler (guitar & banjo), Jackie Favelle (double bass & electric bass) & Alan ‘Sticky’ Wicket (drums)
(Review by Russell)
A broken down vehicle left the Chris Barber band on the hard-shoulder of the M69 for hours on end. Their Sage Gateshead concert was delayed one hour with a nine o’clock start and a ready agreement to play one long set (ninety minutes) without pause.
Sage Gateshead’s café, bar and brasserie did unexpected extra business and the hiatus was accepted by all as just one of those things. Hall One staged a Motown revue and a glittering fashion parade (the punters) walked on by to the amusement of the hardened jazzers killing time on people watching duty. Hall Two opened its doors in good time – Sage staff were, as ever, courteous in admitting patrons and assisting some in finding a numbered seat. All three levels in the cockpit-theatre space were open (level one, or the ‘stalls’, if you will, well-populated).
Chris Barber walked onto stage alone and offered a rambling, bumbling apology. Good, all was well with the world! His band joined him. Bourbon Street Parade. Great! Thank you Mr Barber. If there had been time for just the one number it would still have been a treat. Thankfully, this was just the start. Ellington played a big part during the evening. The first Ducal instalment – three numbers topped and tailed by Rent Party Blues and Jubilee Stomp – showcased the immaculate ensemble work of Barber’s outfit, with Bob Hunt’s lovingly crafted arrangements a joy to listen to. Barber took the first of several vocals (perhaps an under-rated aspect of his work) on Take My, Hand Precious Lord and Goin’ Home. Clarence Williams’ Wild Cat Blues (Barber recalled the band’s first recording of the tune was way back in 1955) heard Richard Exall’s excellent baritone and the equally proficient Trevor Whiting on tenor. The sections’ contributions were never less than top drawer; trumpets Mike Henry and Pete Rudeforth spot-on (open or muted), similarly the reeds with Dutchman Bert Brandsma particularly impressive on clarinet and ‘Sticky’ Wicket holding it together behind the traps.  
More Ellington – East St Louis Toodle-Oo and Merry Go Round (Barber solo). Black and Tan Fantasy raised the stakes with Bob Hunt doing things on trombone that appeared to be impossible! Plungers were regularly plungered across reeds and brass to great effect. Barber, conscious of the time, mis-read his watch, calling time some thirty minutes too soon. On-stage asides quickly reshuffled the set list. All Blues focused on Exall’s alto, Hunt’s muted horn and Jackie Favelle’s subtle double bass playing (other band members wandering off into the wings). Hot and Bothered and Petite Fleur (inevitably) told us it was just about time to say farewell to the Big Chris Barber Band…until the next time. A rockin’ Rockin’ in Rhythm (a phalanx of frontline plungers) called time…almost. Who wants Ice Cream? Vanilla, sarsaparilla, this was a gig with a cherry on top! See you next time Chris!                          
Russell.

1 comment :

George Watt said...

There is little more to add to Russell's brilliant synopsis of a wonderful evening. It was the first time I had been in this particular hall and it was perfect for the occasion. Chris has not improved his diction over the years and together with my hearing problem I could not make out what he was saying - but it was ever so. However, his musicianship left nothing to be desired although I sometimes thought he was about to lean on his trombone.

Blog Archive