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Bebop Spoken There

Branford Marsalis: "As ignorance often forces us to do, you make a generalisation about a musician based on one specific record or one moment in time." - (Jazzwise June 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

15478 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 499 of them this year alone and, so far, 120 this month (May 27).

From This Moment On ...

May 2023

Wed 31: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 31: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 31: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 7:00pm.
Wed 31: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

June
Thu 01: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 01: Thursday Night Prayer Meeting @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Donations.
Thu 01: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Ragtime piano. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.
Thu 01: Jake Leg Jug Band @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Thu 01: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 02: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 02: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 02: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 02: Joseph Carville Trio @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm.
Fri 02: Claire Martin & Her Trio @ The Witham, Barnard Castle. 7:30pm. £25.00., £20.00. Feat. Jim Mullen, Alex Garnett & Jeremy Brown.
Fri 02: Guy Davis + Michael Littlefield & Scott Taylor @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. Doors 7:30pm. Blues double bill.
Fri 02: Anders Ingram @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Blind Pig Blues Club. Country blues. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

Sat 03: Newcastle Record Fair @ Northumbria University, Newcastle NE8 8SB. 10:00am-3:00pm. Admission: £2.00.
Sat 03: Pedigree Jazz Band @ St Augustine's Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm.
Sat 03: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. Tutor: Sue Ferris. £25.00. Enrol at: www.jazz.coop.
Sat 03: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 6:00pm. Free.
Sat 03: Rendezvous Jazz @ Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.
Sat 03: Papa G's Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

Sun 04: Smokin' Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm.
Sun 04: Central Bar Quintet @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00-4:00pm. £5.00. The Central Bar Quintet plays Sonny Rollins' Saxophone Colossus. Featuring Lewis Watson.
Sun 04: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 3:00pm.
Sun 04: Struggle Buggy + Michael Littlefield @ Tyne Bar, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. Acoustic blues.
Sun 04: Swinging at the Cotton Club: Harry Strutters' Hot Rhythm Orchestra @ The Fire Station, Sunderland. 7:30pm.
Sun 04: Richard Jones Trio @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 05: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

Tue 06: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 06: Jam session @ Black Swan, Newcastle Arts Centre. 7:30pm. House trio: Stu Collingwood (piano); Paul Grainger (double bass); Sid White (drums).

Monday, September 07, 2015

CD Review: Durham University Big Band – overDUBB

(Review by Russell)
A collector’s item. This line-up is unlikely to be heard ever again on CD or any other format. A band comprising classicists, scientists and other disciplines, these guys will,   in a year or two, go their separate ways (some graduated this year, they’re out of here)     establishing careers here in Britain and across the globe. University bands come and go. The Durham University Big Band of 2015 vintage is one of the very best.
Tristan Bacon, the band’s president, Charles Price, band manager and MD Chris Jones should be congratulated on documenting the array of talent heard on overDUBB. It is a band with an enviable track record – winning awards at the Great North Big Band Jazz Festival has become routine! – and the eight selections on this CD are a mixture of  the standard big band repertoire and the new. The Oscar-winning film Whiplash hit British cinema screens in time to have a winning impact on the band, so it’s great that the then-tune-of-the-moment Overture (Whiplash) makes the cut. Drummer Tristan Bacon sets a tempo and Matthew Jacobs (keyboards) and Matt McKernan (tenor) contribute bang-on solos. The band’s alto man Dan Garel composed and arranged Of Wood and Water. The aforementioned Bacon and Jacobs are heard to good effect, as is Sam Clark (trumpet).
Star vocalist Laura Paul sings on Do Better. Star vocalist? You bet! Heard live, Ms Paul projects flawless vocals a la Norma Winstone, a neo-soul/hip hop approach of which the great Soweto Kinch would no doubt approve. From the hip to the hip…Sammy Nestico. Hayburner presents the band, the full ensemble. Sections at work, Basie-ites should have few complaints. The awards in the band’s trophy cabinet include the Durham Distillery Composition Prize 2014 for JJ Wheeler’s Homage. Contemporary, sprawling, sketching across a big band canvas, Dan Garel’s alto solo the focal point, award-winning guitarist Ollie Farley takes it home. To be listened to again, and again.
The soulful Laura Paul comes in after Farley’s chorded intro to Mind, a Hoochie Coochie girl if ever there was one. J Dilla’s Fall in Love keeps the vibe going and keeps Ms Paul on the stand. Garel features once more as the band changes tempo at will, ne’er a hip-hop beat dropped. Scott Chapman’s Barcarolle closes the album. Brass and reeds excel (Chris Jones, trombone), Bacon’s drumming holds it all together, McKernan’s tenor blows again and a final trumpet salvo from Sam Clark stills the orchestra.
Durham University Big Band – overDubb is a Jazz Plus Productions release available by contacting the band. www.uni.bigband@durham.ac.uk The quality of the recording is of a very high standard. overDUBB is highly recommended. Hearing the band live (check Bebop Spoken Here’s listings) cannot fail to impress. Go hear them!
Russell.
Durham University Big Band: Daniel Garel (alto saxophone), Felicity Evans (alto saxophone), Matt McKernan (tenor saxophone), John Somerton (tenor saxophone), Naomi Tansey (baritone saxophone), Noah Lawrence (trumpet), Sam Clark (trumpet), Rasmus Borowski (trumpet), Charles Price (trumpet), Nathaniel Jackson (trombone), Chris Jones (trombone), Joshua Harper (trombone), Luke Bentley (trombone), Matthew Jacobs (keyboards), Ollie Farley (guitar), Jonathan Berry (bass), Tristan Bacon (drums) & Laura Paul (vocals)               

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