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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

15867 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 874 of them this year alone and, so far, 72 this month (Sept. 25).

From This Moment On ...

September

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.

Tue 03: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 03: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. House trio: Michael Young (piano); Paul Grainger (double bass); Sid White (drums). CANCELLED!

Wed 04: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 04: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 04: Paul Skerritt @ Vespa Italian Bar & Steakhouse, Primrose Hill, Jarrow. From 7:00pm. To book a table - 0191 483 3355.
Wed 04: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 05: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 05: Sound the Trumpets @ King's Hall, Newcastle University. 1:15pm. Free.
Thu 05: Hot Club du Nord @ The Lubetkin Theatre, Peterlee. 7:00pm. £10.00. POSTPONED!
Thu 05: Thursday Night Prayer Meeting @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.
Thu 05: Tommy Bentz Trio + Mark Croft Duo + George Shovlin & George Lamb @ The Harbour View, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Harbour View Speakeasy's USA blues double bill + Shovlin & Lamb!
Thu 05: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Ragtime piano. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.
Thu 05: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 06: Alcyona Mick @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Fri 06: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 06: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 06: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 06: WORKSHOP: Philosophy of Arts & Entertainment @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 2:00pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Fri 06: Balo @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 6:20pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Fri 06: Paul Skerritt @ 3Sixty Champagne Lounge, Hadrian’s Tower, Newcastle. From 7:00pm. To book a table - 0191 933 8591.
Fri 06: Lexer/Mayes/Noble + Semay Wu + Miman @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 7:20pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Fri 06: Dulcie May Moreno @ The Vault, Hexham. 7:30pm. £20.00. Book in advance. Moreno with Alan Law, Paul Grainger & John Bradford.
Fri 06: Dean Stockdale Quartet @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm. 'Celebrating Oscar'.
Fri 06: Nu Brass Sounds: Big Brass Bash @ Billy Bootlegger’s, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free.
Fri 06: TBC @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Blind Pig Blues Club. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

Thursday, January 29, 2015

Take it to the Bridge @ The Chillingham. January 28

Dave Weisser (trumpet & vocals), Don Forbes (trumpet), Rachel Richman (alto saxophone), Barry Ascroft (keyboards), Ray Truscott (electric bass), Norman Redhead (drums) & Matthew MacKellar (drums).
(Review by Russell)
Alice in Wonderland. Stop! said workshop leader Dave Weisser. A false start. The ‘E’ is missing, I can’t play the melody said Barry Ascroft. How reassuring to know that some things are for ever! Take it to the Bridge keeps on keeping on at the Chillingham, come rain or come snow.
Snow flakes skirting the Chilli, someone called a couple of Jobim tunes – the wonderful juxtaposition wasn’t lost (a chilly Chillingham to a cooking Copocabana). Jobim didn’t proceed without discussion: Nah, scrap that, come in last beat, fourth bar. You couldn’t make it up! Drummer Norman Redhead had seen and heard it all before, taking it in his stride. Weisser decided to opt out of Joy Spring and Redhead willingly vacated the drum stool to the late arriving Matthew MacKellar (detention at school? – “Not quite my tempo Matthew”).
Trumpeter Don Forbes and Rachel Richman (alto) braved the elements and their arrival signalled something like a band. Wayne Shorter’s One by One upped matters, Forbes in blistering form from the off. MacKellar handled the fours no problem and the revitalised Weisser played good, muted trumpet.
Forbes’ recent gig at the Jazz Café featured a couple of Stan Tracey numbers and it was good to hear them again so soon (Pen Pals and I Lost My Step in Nantucket are so good they could be mistaken for compositions by one of Tracey’s American jazz idols). In an aside Weisser asked Ascroft: How does it [Pen Pals] go again? Quick as a flash Ascroft sang the verse. Bassist Ray Truscott contributed a subtle solo and Mr Weisser added a beautiful vocal coda.
The between-tunes patter is all but legendary; Weisser telling the tale of the time he got the sack after one day into a cruise ship gig. The man should publish his memoirs! The classic story isn’t the sole preserve of DW. Peter, a keen supporter of the music, informed Bebop Spoken Here of his recent encounter with a motorcycle and sidecar (rider with flapping headgear) and a basket of pigeons…I’ll have a pint of what he’s drinking!
MacKellar’s use of brushes on Stella by Starlight belied his youth and the veteran Weisser came up with the verse (as always). When Sonny Gets Blue didn’t go without mishap – a trailing lead caught underfoot almost brought music stands and microphones crashing to the floor. Weisser informed us he must get down to the pound shop to get some better tape. No expense spared! The tune featured a round of solos, MacKellar’s brushwork and Richman on alto accompanying Weisser’s lyrics. Pianist Barry Ascroft wrote Rascal aboard ship (cruise as opposed to convict) many moons ago about an onboard rascal. He couldn’t remember who. No matter, he and the band played it. It was better than good. So many tunes (it’s a surprise the session gets through as many with all the interruptions…go down to the bar and by the time you return the next tune will yet to have started). A good session went out on Beautiful Love and Isn’t it Romantic? Next week at the Chillingham promises who knows what!            
Russell.                            

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