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Bebop Spoken There

Béla Fleck: “ And that's the great thing about live performances, you take people on a journey. It doesn't have to be like something else they've heard. It's not supposed to be". DownBeat, April, 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

16287 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 16 years ago. 169 of them this year alone and, so far, 41 this month (Mar 18).

From This Moment On ...

March

Thu 28: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 28: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Gateshead Central Library, Gateshead. 2:30pm.
Thu 28: Richard Herdman Quartet @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 28: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm. Guests: Josh Bentham (alto sax); Alan Marshall (tenor sax); Neil Brodie (trumpet); Adrian Beadnell (bass); Graham Thompson (keys); Steve Hunter (drums).

Fri 29: FILM: Soul @ The Forum Cinema, Hexham. 12:30pm. Jazz-themed film animation.
Fri 29: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 29: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 29: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 29: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 6:00pm. Free. POSTPONED!
Fri 29: Thundercat @ Newcastle City Hall.
Fri 29: John Logan @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sat 30: Papa G’s Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sat 30: Pete Tanton’s Cuba Libre @ Whitley Bay Library, York Road, Whitley Bay. 8:00pm.

Sun 31: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay Metro Station. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 31: Ruth Lambert Trio @ Juke Shed, Union Quay, North Shields NE30 1HJ. 3:00pm. Free. Lambert, Alan Law & Paul Grainger.
Sun 31: Sid Jacobs & Tom Remon @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. USA/London jazz guitar duo.
Sun 31: Bellavana @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

April
Mon 01: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 02: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Dean Stockdale, Paul Grainger, Abbie Finn.

Wed 03: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 03: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 03: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

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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