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Bebop Spoken There

Kurt Elling: ''There's something to learn from every musician you play with''. (DownBeat, December 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

17586 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 16 years ago. 860 of them this year alone and, so far, 5 this month (Dec. 2).

From This Moment On ...

December

Wed 11: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 11: Cath Stephens’ improvisation workshop @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 4:30-6:00pm. Collaborative group focusing on vocal improvisations.
Wed 11: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 11: The Tannery Jam Session @ The Tannery, Gilesgate, Hexham. 7:00-9:00pm. Free. Second Wednesday in the month.
Wed 11: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 12: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Spanish City, Whitley Bay. 12 noon. £27.00. (inc. three -course meal).
Thu 12: Jason Isaacs @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 5:00-6:45pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Thu 12: Stuart Turner @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 12: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesborough. 8:30pm. Free. Guests: Jeremy McMurray (keys); Mark Toomey (alto sax); Donna Hewitt (tenor sax); Kevin Eland (trumpet); Ron Smith (bass).

Fri 13: Dean Stockdale Trio @ Auckland Castle, Bishop Auckland. 1:00pm. £8.00.
Fri 13: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 13: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 13: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 13: Bellavana @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 3:00-5:00pm. Free.
Fri 13: Joe Steels Trio @ The Pele, Corbridge. 7:00pm. Free.
Fri 13: Customs House Big Band @ Stocksfield Community Association. 7:00pm. Featuring Ruth Lambert.
Fri 13: Paul Edis & Friends: A Jazzy Xmas @ St Cuthbert’s Centre, Crook. 7:30pm. £15.00.
Fri 13: Strictly Smokin’ Big Band @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £19.00. + bf. First night of two.
Fri 13: Ransom Van @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Fri 13: Boys of Brass @ Hoochie Coochie, Newcastle. 9:00pm. £10.00.

Sat 14: Jambone @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 6:15pm. Free but ticketed.
Sat 14: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm.
Sat 14: Red Kites Jazz @ Staiths Café, Autumn Dr., Gateshead. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 14 Lapwing Jazz Trio @ Three Sheets to the Wind, Alnwick. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 14: Strictly Smokin’ Big Band @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £19.00. + bf. Second night of two.
Sat 14: Papa G’s Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 15: Musicians Unlimited @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 12 noon. £8.50. Xmas party feat. Musicians Unlimited + Customs House Big Band. SOLD OUT!
Sun 15: Paul Edis & Friends: A Jazzy Xmas @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 2:00pm.
Sun 15: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 15: Mitch Laddie Band @ Tyne Bar, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. Superb blues power trio.
Sun 15: Leeway @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 15: Tweed River Jazz Band @ Barrels Ale House, Berwick. 7:00pm. Free.
Sun 15: Paul Edis & Friends: A Jazzy Xmas @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm.
Sun 15: Alligator Gumbo @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 16: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 16: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Wheatsheaf, Benton Sq., Whitley Road, Palmersville NE12 9SU. Tel: 0191 266 8137. 12 noon. £9.95. ‘Festive Turkey Dinner’. Book now: 0191 266 8137.
Mon 16: Paul Edis & Friends: A Jazzy Xmas @ The Fire Station, Sunderland. 7:30pm.

Tue 17: Paul Edis & Friends: A Jazzy Xmas @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 7:30pm.
Tue 17: BBC Big Band @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 7:30pm. ‘A Swinging Xmas’.
Tue 17: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Alan Law, Paul Grainger, Abbie Finn.
Tue 17: Bellavana @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 7:45-9:35pm. Free.

Reviewers wanted

Whilst BSH attempts to cover as many gigs, festivals and albums as possible, to make the site even more comprehensive we need more 'boots on the ground' to cover the albums seeking review - a large percentage of which never get heard - report on gigs or just to air your views on anything jazz related. Interested? then please get in touch. Contact details are on the blog. Look forward to hearing from you. Lance

Tuesday, April 26, 2016

Darlington Jazz Festival: From Clervaux to the Quakerhouse. April 23

(Review by Russell/Photos of Dean Stockdale courtesy of Shaune Eland. Photos of Ruth Lambert and Lindsay Hannon from BSH archives)).
Clervaux Artisan Bakery’s covered courtyard on Coniscliffe Road is the perfect place for an early start the morning after the night before. Jazz from 10:00am with a coffee, pastry or something more substantial kick-started Saturday’s long day of festival music (the late night jam session would wind down in the early hours of Sunday).
Jonny Dunn (trumpet) & Steve McGarvie (keyboards) played a half hour set at around eleven o’clock. Members of the Durham Alumni Big Band, the duo chose a tune, played it, suggested another one and played it. The audience comprised Clervaux’s regulars, the Saturday morning lycra-clad cyclists stopping by to refuel and the jazz diehards. All the Things You Are typified a tasteful set – Dunn the lyrical horn player, McGarvie the piano player perhaps better known as the Alumni’s alto/soprano saxophonist.         
Al Wood (baritone sax) & Dean Stockdale (keyboards)     

Al Wood’s cv is impressive – ex-Maynard Ferguson, Ken Mackintosh and countless gigs with a dizzying array of A-listers (Peter King, Danny Moss, Kenny Baker, Nat Adderley, Buddy Greco) and Dean Stockdale, the junior man of the partnership, has been schooled by the best in the business including Dave Newton and now playing GAS book gigs with the likes of Ruth Lambert and James Birkett and working with contemporary performers such as Johnny Hunter. 
Yorkshire based Wood plays all the saxes, trumpet and trombone. At this Darlington Jazz Festival weekend he wielded the big beast, the baritone. Coffee, tea, cake, chatter in the sunlit space, Wood and Stockdale played whatever took their fancy. Have You Met Miss Jones? then Autumn in New York, Softly, as in a Morning Sunrise, There Will Never be Another You and Wood going for it on St Thomas. Class playing from the duo.
More class playing was in the offing with the Baker siblings – Amy and Alex – next up. That festival dilemma cropped up – stay at Clervaux or walk around the corner to the Quakerhouse for the afternoon set in the bar. The Quakerhouse won out (the Bakers would be playing later at Central Hall, as indeed would Al Wood and Dean Stockdale).          
Ruth Lambert Trio: Ruth Lambert (vocals), Giles Strong (guitar) & Mick Shoulder (double bass) Cheltenham bound. Darlington Jazz Festival to Cheltenham Jazz Festival, Ruth Lambert dropped by to open the afternoon’s entertainment at the Quakerhouse and then on to the BBC Introducing stage at the Cheltenham Jazz Festival later this week. Ah, such is the life of a superstar!
Time After Time – Lambert swinging as only she can. Silencing a pub crowd tells you all you need to know, we were listening to a great singer. Backed by Giles Strong, guitar and double bassist Mick Shoulder, Lambert’s set flew by. Everything Was Beautiful, Love for Sale, Shoulder’s How Could I? A pint of Green Mill’s Ella (it had to be!) then Skylark. A master class in jazz singing. Caravan, No Moon at All and to end, The Snake. Hey, there, Cheltenham – you’re in for a treat!              
Noel Dennis (trumpet & flugelhorn) & Dean Stockdale (keyboards) That man Dean Stockdale strolled from Clervaux to the Quakerhouse to meet up once more with Noel Dennis. Their duo gig is a relatively new partnership and they’ve yet to play a wrong note. There is no Greater Love, Tom Harrell’s Moon Alley (Dennis, flugelhorn), Mingus’ Nostalgia in Times Square, a marvellous Beautiful Love, My Funny Valentine, Love for Sale (for the second time this afternoon) and to close, Now’s the Time. We’re still waiting for that wrong note.  
The Lindsay Hannon Plus: Lindsay Hannon (vocals), Mark Williams (guitar), John Pope (double bass) & Russ Morgan (drums)
With pianist James Harrison on tour with Philip Scofield, bandleader Lindsay Hannon called in a dep. Not any old dep, rather the never less than brilliant Mark Williams. The Quakerhouse bar doesn’t have much floor space placing drummer Russ Morgan partially out of view. No matter, what a player! The Papal presence of double bassist Mr. J Pope guaranteed a swinging set and Ms. Hannon started to sing. Decidedly ‘other’ material is Hannon’s thing. Always in key, expert voice projection, forever taking a chance, Hannon mixed self-penned numbers with several standards (The Very Thought of You, No More Blues with its impressive vocal gymnastics, some Monk and Miss Otis Regrets). This was Hannon excelling in a small combo setting, later in the evening, she would take on the challenge of performing to a somewhat larger gathering in Central Hall.
Russell.                   

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