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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

Fri 20: Lindsay Hannon’s Tom Waits for No Man @ Gala Theatre, Durham. 1:00pm. £8.00. SOLD OUT!
Fri 20: Rob Hall & Chick Lyall @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Free (donations). SOLD OUT!
Fri 20: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 20: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 20: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 20: Leeway @ 1719, Hendon, Sunderland. 7:30pm. The Old Black Cat Jazz Club. CANCELLED!
Fri 20: Gaz Hughes Trio @ Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. Opus 4 Jazz Club.

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.

Sunday, March 27, 2016

James Birkett and Bradley Johnston Jazz Guitar Duo – Hexham, Saturday, March 26

(Review by Hugh C/Photos courtesy of Rachel).
'Twas a rain-lashed Easter Eve when 30 or so of the faithful gathered in the western margins of the Beboposphere at The Little Angel Cafe, Hexham.  Diners had finished their pizza and gelati, glasses or mugs (according to taste) were charged.  At the appointed hour (8pm) an expectant hush descended on those assembled and in the glow of the single spotlight the jazz guitar maestri James Birkett and Bradley Johnston took to the floor (there is no stage  - it is a cafe).
We were to be a treated to a whirlwind tour of the oeuvre from the 1920s to the contemporary.  We started with Blues for PJ and were next in Brazil with Antonio Carlos Jobim's Wave then back in 1920s USA with Joe Venuti and Eddie Lang's duo, Stringing the Blues – the part of Venuti's violin ably taken by Johnston on guitar.  We were then treated to a beautiful ballad by Pat Metheny (a favourite of the duo as you might expect) -  Farmer's Trust.  Gypsy jazz then came to the fore with Biréli Lagrène's Fisco Place, the two guitarists chasing each other at rapid speed, but ending together bang on the note.  Brazilian composer Luiz Bonfa's Una Prece followed then a guitar version of Sonny Rollins' Doxy.  The first set was finished by the quickfire round – Django Reinhardt's Suite Number Four.  It was at this point that James Birkett suggested the guys needed “a little lie down”.
During the interval I got into conversation with James Birkett (music educator as well as jazz guitarist) and learnt two things:
          The art of improvisation is not confined to Early Music/Baroque and Jazz as is commonly thought, but extended well into the Classical period – Beethoven, in particular, was an arch improvisor who could produce a whole piece from a short musical segment thrown at him by an audience member.

          It is urban myth that the grand London music colleges were the first in this country to run courses in jazz studies – in fact, these courses started in the North of England - Newcastle, Leeds and Salford in particular, at a time when the practice rooms of the London colleges still had notices on the walls to the effect of THIS PIANO MUST NOT BE USED FOR THE PLAYING OF JAZZ!

Refreshed in both mind and body then, the second half commenced with an energetic rendition of another Sonny Rollins number, Oleo.  The duo then cooled off with a three- time piece – John Lewis' Skating in Central ParkPerfect, by Eddie Lang followed leading into a bravura rendition of Coltrane's Giant Stepsas James Birkett put it “we sometimes like to set ourselves a challenge – there's a key change about every eight seconds”.  The bluesy Blue Room (Eddie Lang/Lonnie Johnson) then Reinhardt's Large followed ending up at the penultimate number, Burt Bacharach's AlfieIt was probably the sensuous rendition of this balladic song that prompted one audience member to speak to the meeting, a distinct “Yeah!” could be heard at the end. 
And here we were, at the final number.  Throughout the evening, the set list had been fluid, with Birkett and Johnston choosing the music played as they went along.  A brief introduction from Birkett to each piece provided background and context.  The title was announced:  Chick Corea's Spain - the famous introduction from Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez stunningly presented by Johnston.  This was a tour de force and served as an excellent finale. 
Overall this was an excellent evening in the sort of venue most suited to this kind of music, an intimate space with cabaret style seating and easily available refreshment.  I thoroughly enjoyed it, was educated – and the pizza was good too!  What's not to like?
The James Birkett/Bradley Johnston Jazz Guitar Duo can be experienced at Ushaw College, Durham on April 29 at 7.30 pm and at the Lit and Phil, Newcastle on June 24 at 1 pm.
Hugh C.

1 comment :

Lance said...

I'm surprised they didn't play any seasonal tunes like Easter the Sun or Eggsactly Like You

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