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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

Wed 22: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 22: Darlington Big Band @ Traveller's Rest, Cockerton. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public). Note change of venue - this week only.
Wed 22: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 7:00pm.
Wed 22: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 23: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 4:00-6:00pm. Free.
Thu 23: NUJO Jazz Jam @ Bar Loco, Newcasatle. From 6:30pm 'til late. Free. Newcastle University Jazz Orchestra jam session. All welcome (students & non-students).
Thu 23: Kerrin Tatman + John Garner & John Pope @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 23: Sunna Gunnlaugs & Julia Hülsmann @ Sage Gateshead. 8:00pm. A two-piano gig. A Sage Gateshead-JNE promotion.
Thu 23: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Ragtime piano.
Thu 23: Sleep Suppressor @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £10.00., £8.00. adv. Upstairs.
Thu 23: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

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).

Friday, April 10, 2015

Gateshead International Jazz Festival – it’s here! Today's goodies.

(Preview by Russell)
In less than a few hours’ time Sage Gateshead becomes the centre of the jazz universe. Three days of non-stop jazz all under one iconic Norman Foster-designed roof. Sage Gateshead celebrates its tenth anniversary this year (where has the time gone?!). Jazz plays its part throughout the year but the focus is on the long weekend of April 10-12.
Day One – Friday 10 April
Music, workshops, a seminar, food and drink, late night jam sessions – sleep can wait. The music begins on the concourse at 6:30pm on Friday evening with the New York Brass Band. Tynesiders will be familiar with Graham Hardy’s Northern Monkey Brass Band. The New Yorkers are from Yorkshire and they do a similar job – they’ll get you dancing to and from the bar (Two pints of Byker Jazz, please).
Hall One stages a starry double bill: the David Sanborn Band and John Scofield with Jon Cleary. Sanborn is a ‘name’ in the jazz world. Few attain such status and his appearance at Sage Gateshead can be considered a real coup. Expect top-flight fusion as the saxophonist tours his new CD and revisits some of his back catalogue. The other half of the double bill is one for guitarists and pianists, indeed, for anyone who appreciates consummate musicianship. Sco, as he is affectionately known, made his name with Miles Davis (Hammersmith Odeon, London, as it then was, circa 1980 European tour). A distinctive stylist (angular blues) with jazz guitar history at his fingertips, Scofield will work through his Piety Street band days with British-born pianist Jon Cleary (a hazy memory recalls Cleary at an upright piano during the days of the long-gone North Shields Fish Quay Festival). Hall One should be at capacity for this one – be quick and book your tickets now.
If Hall One puts up the ‘sold out’ signs then Hall Two is likely to do likewise. 2015 marks the fiftieth anniversary of Under Milk Wood. Stan Tracey’s landmark recording is to the British jazz scene as Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue is to the wider jazz world. Everyone has a copy of Kind of Blue. Everyone has a copy of Under Milk Wood, don’t they? If not, take a seat in Hall Two (stand if needs be) for one of the treats of the festival. Stan Tracey is, of course, no longer with us, but his music lives on. Tracey’s long-time collaborator tenor saxophonist Bobby Wellins will play the suite in the A-list company of Andy Cleyndert (double bass), Clark Tracey (drums) and pianist Steve Melling. The quartet will be joined by Tracey’s grandson Ben Tracey as narrator on Dylan Thomas’ work. The quartet will also perform a set of their own. Unmissable. A tough choice – Hall One or Hall Two? The choice is yours!
Late night Friday offers not one, not two, not three, but four options. Soul jazz, opera (!), guitar mastery and a jam session into the early hours. Jarrod Lawson is a soul jazz star of tomorrow. Hear him in Hall Two at 10:30pm. Stevie Wonder is an influence and a few of Hoochie Coochie’s regulars are sure to be tempted to forego cocktails for Byker Jazz. A matter of fifteen minutes later (10:45pm) in the Jazz Lounge (aka the Northern Rock Foundation Hall) prepare to be knocked for six by a tenor battle the likes of which you won’t have heard before. We’re not talking a late night slug fest (Illinois Jacquet v Arnett Cobb), this is one man, two tenors. Hakon Kornstad plays tenor saxophone and sings as an operatic tenor! Jazz vs Opera – a tenor Battle could be the surprise of the festival. As Sage Gateshead’s Jazz Festival programme puts it; Caruso meets Coltrane! To gain an insight to Kornstad’s work, ticket holders will have the opportunity to hear the Norwegian in pre-concert conversation with Kevin LeGendre (9:45pm).
Out on the concourse at 10:15pm and again at 11:15pm James Birkett and Bradley Johnston will be playing jazz guitar of the highest order. Eddie Lang, Django, Metheny (Scofield?!) will form the basis of their two-set performance. Birkett is pre-eminent on the north east jazz scene and beyond. Johnston is gigging across the north of England with Birkett and his own recently formed band. Johnston is a mainstay of the Jazz Café’s excellent jam sessions (fortnightly Tuesdays on Pink Lane, Newcastle). Highly recommended. If Sco is around after his Hall One appearance he is certain to be impressed! You want more? Dash across the Tyne to the Newcastle Jazz Co-op’s home base at the Globe on Railway Street* (just off the Redheugh Bridge) to soak up an after hours jam session led by Steve Glendinning (another fine guitarist). That should take you through to about 3:00am. Not much time to sleep as Saturday (day two) dawns!
Earlier, 11:00am Friday, those interested in environmental politics can make a day of it at Sage Gateshead by attending a free, but ticketed, seminar titled: Take the Green Train. A seminar looking at how sustainability in music is a real live issue should prove to be enlightening. Presented by the Europe Jazz Work and Julie’s Bicycle, there will be case studies and key note speakers. Who’s Julie? Why not book a place and find out! To book a ticket for all of the events at the Gateshead International Jazz Festival telephone 0191 443 4661.            
Russell.
*(Ed. Note) The Jazz Co-op are hoping to provide transport from Sage Gateshead to the Globe jam session. Details from their stand on the Concourse.

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