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Bebop Spoken There

Billy Boy Arnold: “As long as you don't think old you're good.” - DownBeat, December, 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!"

Simon Spillett: A lovely review from the dean of jazz bloggers, Lance Liddle...

Postage

16034 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 1041 of them this year alone and, so far, 73 this month (Nov. 27).

From This Moment On ...

December

Mon 04: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Mon 04: Northern Monkey Brass Band @ People’s Kitchen, Bath Lane, Newcastle. From 5:30pm. On-street gig supporting the work of the People’s Kitchen charity. Wrap up warm! Donate!
Mon 04: Michael Young Trio w Lindsay Hannon @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 7:00pm. Free.
Mon 04: James Birkett Trio @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £8.00.
Mon 04: Durham University Jazz Orchestra + Durham University Big Band @ Durham Castle DH1 3RW. 8:30pm. £6.00.; £5.00. concs; £4.00. DSM. ‘Jazzy Christmas’.

Tue 05: Customs House Big Band @ All Saints Church, Cleadon. 7:00pm. Concert in the church hall. BYOB.
Tue 05: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Michael Young, Paul Grainger, Sid White. The best free show in town!

Wed 06: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 06: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 8:00pm. Free. Note later start time, concert performance (open to the public).
Wed 06: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 07: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free CANCELLED!
Thu 07: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Spanish City, Whitley Bay, Newcastle. 12 noon - 4:00pm. £26.00 (inc 3-course meal in in St Mary's Lighthouse Suite). SOLD OUT!
Thu 07: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Gateshead Central Library, Gateshead. 2:30pm. All welcome.
Thu 07: Thursday Night Prayer Meeting @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.Donations. Feat. Mark Sanders. CANCELLED!
Thu 07: Indigo Jazz Voices @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:45pm. £5.00. Downstairs.
Thu 07: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 08: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 08: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 08: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 08: Hayley's Little Big Band @ Woodland Village Hall, Bishop Auckland. 7:00pm. £12.00.
Fri 08: Sleep Suppressor + Redwell @ Head of Steam, Neville St., Newcastle. 8:00pm. £10.00. (£8.00. adv); £5.00. student.
Fri 08: Hot Club du Nord @ St Cuthbert's Church, Shadforth, Co. Durham.
Fri 08: Têtes de Pois + Nauta @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.00., £8.00.

Sat 09: Castillo Nuevo Trio @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 5:30pm. Free.
Sat 09: Abbie Finn Trio @ Claypath Deli, Durham. 7:00pm.
Sat 09: Hayley's Little Big Band @ Middleton & Todridge Village Hall, Morpeth. 7:30pm. £12.00., £6.00.
Sat 09: Paul Skerritt @ Slaley Hall, Hexham NE47 0BX. 7:30pm. From £42.00.

Sun 10: Musicians Unlimited’s Xmas Party with Zoe Gilby Quartet @ Park Inn, Hartlepool. MU 1:00-3:00pm; Zoë Gilby Quartet 4:00-6:00pm. Tickets: £7.50.
Sun 10: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00-4:00pm. Free.
Sun 10: Funk Soul Sista @ Stack, Seaburn. 5:00-7:00pm. Free.
Sun 10: Beth Clarke @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 10: Hayley's Little Big Band @ Whittingham Memorial Institute, Alnwick. 7:30pm. £12.00., £10.00.
Sun 10: Tele-Port @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Line-up inc. Zhenya Strigalev.

Sunday, November 01, 2015

Ray Johnson & Tom Lapworth @ The Jazz Café – October 31

Ray Johnson (trumpet & flugelhorn) & Tom Lapworth (guitar)
(Review by Russell/Photo courtesy of Mike Tilley)
Last night’s Halloween goings-on around town had to be seen to be believed. Ghouls galore, full costume, face paint, the works. Big business types must be cackling all the way to the bank on their broomsticks. The Jazz Café would offer sanctuary. Horror of horrors! A zombie – full costume, face paint – had taken over the bar. The nightmare never ending, the night of the living dead. Meanwhile…
On occasion a jam session or workshop forges a musical alliance. Over the years Dave Weisser’s weekly meeting at the Chillingham has introduced musicians to one another. Ray Johnson and Tom Lapworth met at one of those Wednesday night sessions at the Chilli. Modern jazz standards the common bond, they expressed a wish to perhaps do something, some time. The Jazz Café’s Saturday evening duo sessions seemed like the ideal platform to get together and play a few tunes.
With Johnson living out in the wilds of Northumberland and Lapworth having recently relocated to Leeds, rehearsals were at a premium. Skype offered a ‘next best’ solution. The wonders of technology!  A set list agreed, they would meet at the Caff.
Black Nile, Stolen Moments, Just Friends. Solid material. Lapworth, the junior partner, had been in the woodshed, Johnson had played the dots countless times and alternated between trumpet and flugelhorn. If there were any nerves on the stand it appeared they were with Johnson. By no means reserved, but perhaps, a tad tentative to begin with. In contrast, Lapworth, playing his recently acquired Telecaster, dipped into his copy of ‘A thousand and one chords before breakfast’. Tom Harrell’s sensitive Moon Alley heard a more relaxed Johnson on flugel, the senior man beginning to express himself. Afro Blue confirmed the view that the duo felt more settled. Johnson thought Autumn Leaves was appropriate at this time of year, introducing the number with trumpet muted.
An interval chat with a sage judge on matters jazz suggested Lapworth’s Telecaster was, perhaps, not the best choice of instrument for an up-close selection of standards. Strings and brass can be an exposed duo combination – there is nowhere to hide. To some ears – your BSH correspondent’s – the format and choice of instrument made close listening a rewarding experience. Guitar accompaniment with a plethora of chord changes feeding solo brass excursions succeeded in keeping things ‘on the edge.’ Hats off (witches hats included) to Johnson and Lapworth.
Tadd’s Ladybird, Sting’s Fragile and Miles’ Four set the second set on its way, perhaps at times a little hurried, but good stuff nonetheless. The Preacher hit the heights. Great intro from Lapworth, the blues feel picked up by Johnson. The duo continued to up their game on Stanley Turrentine’s Sugar and topped the lot with ACJ’s How Insensitive. This was sensitive; Lapworth’s chords – one of them a seemingly impossible stretch – and an excellent flugel solo from Johnson. The Jazz Café’s Saturday crowd grew in number, at its peak the place was busy. Johnson and Lapworth should be pleased with the response. For a first public performance things went well. It is to be hoped they do it again. They know better than anyone that gigging is key, let’s hope geographical estrangement won’t be a decisive factor in future. Michael Brecker’s Timeline took us up to eleven. Good to see the guys, until next time…                      
Russell.

1 comment :

ray johnson said...

Thanks Russell spot on critique as usual. Good to see you again.

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