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Bebop Spoken There

Spasmo Brown: “Jazz is an ice cream sandwich! It's the Fourth of July! It's a girl with a waterbed!”. (Syncopated Times, July, 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

17372 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 16 years ago. 656 of them this year alone and, so far, 61 this month (Sept. 17).

From This Moment On ...

September

Sat 21: Jason Isaacs @ Seaburn STACK, Seaburn. 1:00-2:45pm. Free.
Sat 21: Vieux Carré Hot Four @ The Beehive, Hartley Lane, Earsdon Whitley Bay NE25 0SZ. 4:30pm-6:30pm.
Sat 21: Baghdaddies @ Two by Two, Albion Row, Byker, Newcastle NE6 1RQ. 6:00pm.
Sat 21: Milne-Glendinning Band @ The Northumberland Club, Jesmond, Newcastle. 7:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Sat 21: Jude Murphy & Alan Law @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 22: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 22: Jason Isaacs @ St James’ STACK, Newcastle. 2:30-4:30pm. Free.
Sun 22: Dulcie May Moreno Quartet @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm.
Sun 22: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 22: Richard Herdman @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 22: Remy CB Band @ Blues Underground, Nelson St., Newcastle. 8:30pm. Free. Remi, 2024 Newcastle Uni graduate, superb soul/blues voice!

Mon 23: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 23: Paul Booth with the Paul Edis Trio @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00. A Blaydon Jazz Club 40th anniversary concert! SOLD OUT!

Tue 24: Dulcie May Moreno Quartet @ Newcastle House Hotel, Rothbury. 7:30pm. £12.00. (£10.00. adv. from Tully’s of Rothbury). Coquetdale Jazz.
Tue 24: Sarah Gillespie @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £16.50. Duo performance with Chris Montague.

Wed 25: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 25: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 25: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 25: Moonlight Serenade Orchestra UK: Glenn Miller & Big Band Spectacular @ Middlesbrough Theatre. 7:30pm.

Thu 26: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 26: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. ‘Contemporary Jazz & the Piano’.
Thu 26: The New 58 Jazz Collective @ Hops & Cheese, Hartlepool. 7:30pm. Free.
Thu 26: Jo Harrop & Friends @ Hexham Abbey. 8:00pm. ‘An Evening with Jo Harrop & Friends’. A Hexham Abbey Festival of Music & Arts event. £20.00., £5.00. child/student.
Thu 26: Neil Yates & Tom Remon @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 26: Loco House Band @ Bar Loco, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 26: Tees Hot Club @ Dorma’s Club, Middlesborough. 8:30pm. Free. Mark Toomey, Neil Brodie, Graham Thompson, Adrian Beadnell.

Fri 27: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 27: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 27: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 27: Jason Isaacs @ St James’ STACK, Newcastle. 2:15-4:00pm. Free.
Fri 27: Nothing in Rambling @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £10.00. + bf. Upstairs. Acoustic blues duo + Michael Littlefield & Lyndon Anderson.
Fri 27: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Downstairs. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Fri 27: Tim Bloomer Collective @ Hoochie Coochie, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Fri 27: Jo Harrop @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm. All-star line-up.
Fri 27: Faye MacCalman @ Jesmond Pool, Newcastle. 8:30pm. Tickets £6.00. from: www.seetickets.com. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & improvised Music event in association with Jesmond Pool. Note 16+ only.

Wednesday, December 30, 2015

The Glenn Miller Orchestra (Ray McVay, MD) @ Sage Gateshead – Dec 29

(Review by Russell).
The UK Glenn Miller Orchestra directed by Ray McVay returned to Sage Gateshead to play a sold out matinee show. All 1700 seats occupied a matter of days after Christmas was a sure sign of the band’s popularity and, of course, the enduring popularity of their raison d’êtré – Major Glenn Miller.
The tunes, largely associated with Miller, together with a smattering of other numbers, were instantly recognisable, such was, and is, the popular entertainment status of Miller. Caribbean Clipper, I Got a Gal in Kalamazoo, Jumpin’ at the Woodside, number after number, the audience knew them all. The focal point of the performance shifted from a vocalist to a vocalist, to a vocal troupe to a dance troupe. Catherine Sykes, a graduate of Leeds College of Music, shared the spotlight with veteran Colin Anthony. Sykes sang All of Me, Anthony A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square. Class performers fronting a big band, they vacated the stage returning from time to time to sing some more favourites.
The Uptown Hall Gang, the band within a band originally created by Mel Powell after Miller's disappearance, played some small group swing, sang a tune or two, and the Jiving Lindy Hoppers bounced onto the stage to inject some vim and pep to proceedings. They had the jive, Jack, and they gave the boys in the band an opportunity to have a blow.    
American Patrol – this was the AAF stuff – and Minnie the Moocher (Alan Berlyn blew trumpet out front), then String of Pearls, then When Johnny Comes Marchin’ Home. The realisation that this was a genuine ‘greatest hits’ affair struck home. MD Ray McVay – a Miller enthusiast if ever there was one – frequently introduced numbers with ‘Another million selling number…’ Second set, more of the same, and no one was complaining! St Louis Blues March, Chattanooga Choo Choo (featuring the Moonlight Serenaders), then some jazz, yes jazz, with Jersey Bounce and the excellent dance steps of the Jiving Lindy Hoppers.
Moonlight Serenade…cheers rang to the echo (‘Aye, when I was a lad…’). And then for something completely different…Colin Anthony paid tribute to Sinatra. Ah, this was an unexpected bonus. A medley comprising classic 50s material (Come Fly with Me) and a great take on New York, New York (perhaps not Ol’ Blue Eyes’ favourite) heard McVay’s band at its best behind the saloon bar vocal ‘These little town blues…
There was more. Pennsylvania 65000 (inevitably), then Runnin’ Wild with guess who? The Jiving Lindy Hoppers, of course! Two and a half hours of music, Sage Gateshead’s audience went home happy, very happy. In the Mood sent them on their way. So, an entertaining afternoon, a trip down memory lane for those who were there first time around, and, for the jazz heads, an education.        
Russell
Ray McVay (MD), Colin Anthony (vocals), Catherine Sykes (vocals), Andy Potts (alto saxophone), Simon Meredith (alto saxophone), Martin Dunsdon (tenor saxophone), Dan Faulkner (tenor saxophone), Loren Hignell (baritone & alto saxophone), Dave Ford (trumpet), Alan Berlyn (trumpet), Danny Hammerton (trumpet), John Hinch (trumpet), Dale Gibson Jnr (trombone), Ray Wordsworth (trombone), Cliff Hardie (trombone), Bruce Douglas (bass trombone), Bunny Thompson (piano), Paul Scott (double bass) & Bobby Cleall (drums); the Moonlight Serenaders; Uptown Hall Gang & the Jiving Lindy Hoppers

1 comment :

Liz said...

times like this when I wish I lived up there, good review Russell

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