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Bebop Spoken There

Ambrose Akinmusire: “ I am certainly always aware of what the masses are doing. And when I see too many people going one way, I'm going another way - even when I don't know what's over that way". DownBeat, March, 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

Tue 19: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Michael Young, Paul Grainger, Tim Johnston.

Wed 20: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 20: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 20: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 21: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 21: Castillo Neuvo Trio + Conor Emery & His ‘Bones Band @ The Grove, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 7:30pm (7:00pm doors). £10.00. (£7.00. student).
Thu 21: Remi Banklyn + Chris Corcoran Trio @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.50. Chicago blues. An International Guitar Foundation promotion.
Thu 21: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Ragtime piano.
Thu 21: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm.

Fri 22: Vasilis Xenopoulos & Paul Edis @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. £8.00. SOLD OUT!
Fri 22: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 22: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 22: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 22: Nauta + Remy CB + Last Orders @ Hoochie Coochie, Newcastle. 8:30pm (7:30pm doors). Free.
Fri 22: Vasilis Xenopoulos-Paul Edis Quartet @ Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. £15.00. Opus 4 Jazz Club.
Fri 22: Redwell @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sat 23: Jambone @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 6:30pm. Free (ticketed). End of term performance in the Northern Rock Foundation Hall.
Sat 23: Milne-Glendinning Band @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 23: Red Kites Jazz @ Rowlands Gill Community Centre NE39 1JB. 7:00pm. Tickets: £12.00. (gibsidecommunityfarm@gmail.com). A ‘Build a Barn’ fundraiser. BYOB, tea/coffee available.
Sat 23: New Century Ragtime Orchestra @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £20.00. + bf (book in person at venue - no booking fee!). Featuring pianist Martin Litton.
Sat 23: Pete Tanton’s Cuba Libre @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 24: Musicians Unlimited @ Park Inn, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 24: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:30pm. Free.
Sun 24: Luis Verde @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm. Verde (alto sax); Joe Steels (guitar); John Pope (double bass); John Hirst (drums). Alto sax brilliance!
Sun 24: Elsie Franklin @ The Globe, Newcastle. 3:00pm. £10.00. Country blues. An International Guitar Foundation promotion.
Sun 24: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay Metro Station. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 24: Las Vegas Live with the Rat Pack @ The Forum, Billingham.
Sun 24: Ian Millar & Dominic Spencer @ Otterburn Memorial Hall. 7:30pm. £12.00.
Sun 24: Lindsay Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Note start time - 7:00pm.
Sun 24: Bold Big Band @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 25: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 25: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 6:30pm. Free.

Saturday, November 07, 2015

Jo Harrop Quartet @ The Gala Theatre, Durham. Nov 6.

Jo Harrop (vocals), Neil Harland (bass), Rob Walker (drums) and Paul Edis (piano).
(Review by Jerry)
Jo Harrop, a great band and a programme listing (among others) Gershwin, Porter, Legrand and Billie Holiday – what a perfect antidote to the soggy Bonfire Night I had in Borrowdale! There was a full house (100), with people being turned away at the door and an expectant hush at 12.59 and into the opening song, Love Me or Leave Me - no noisy diners here!
Looking across the river there were still autumn colours to be seen against a slate-blue sky befitting Autumn in New York. The line: “Autumn in New York is often mingled with pain”, was not true at the Gala with Jo Harrop’s vocals to soothe us. There was seasonal consolation later, too, in Legrand’s You Must Believe in Spring: “If winter comes, can spring be far behind?” Nothing like a bit of Shelley to adorn already beautiful lyrics!
I’m a Fool to Want You by Herron / Sinatra / Wolf is a tune which does NOT suffer from being much-covered over the years. Here the backing was stripped down to minimal - no solos - allowing the audience to focus entirely on the plaintive Billie Holiday-style delivery. It was “hear a pin drop time” in the packed room.
Piano and bass both got to solo on Richard Rodgers’ cheery, up-tempo This Can’t Be Love and then we had more master-class lyrics on Cole Porter’s It’s All Right with Me. Who else coolly rhymes “chips” with “lips” outside of a limerick?
Bye Bye Blackbird opened with just vocals and bass and, sung in the manner of Julie London, achieved another “pin-drop” silence until it became Bye Bye Blackbird (Hello Durham Constabulary) as Jo had to contend with sirens full blast on Milburngate Bridge! Nowhere’s perfect…
Rob Walker’s drumming came more to the fore on Gershwin’s lovely The Man I Love. Maybe that should be Gershwins’ as Ira’s lyrics contribute much to the enduring appeal of the tune. Tuesday, there, might be “good news day” but we were all doing nicely on Friday, thank you! I Can’t Give You Anything but Love saw Jo at her most winsome and some trading fours generated more fizz and pop than our sparklers last night.
Then more Cole Porter with an up-tempo Just One of those Things which featured more great lyrics, though apparently it was a friend of Porter’s who suggested the adjective in “gossamer wings”. No one’s perfect?
The official last number was my idea of perfect – how could they top it? Great blues piano (with piano “answering” the vocals), great bass solo and great blues singing on Billie Holiday’s Fine and Mellow…….which they then topped with their encore: I Wish I Knew How it Would Feel to Be Free! I have loved this song since I first heard Jo Harrop perform it about 5 years ago and it took on added poignancy having watched, two days ago, a DVD of Twelve Years a Slave in which I found the brutality portrayed truly shocking. Anyway, the audience clearly loved it too.
Never mind soggy Bonfire Night – this was Christmas come early!
Jerry

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