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Bebop Spoken There

Art Blakey: "You [Bobby Watson] don't want to play too long, because you don't know they're clapping because they're glad you finished!" - (JazzTimes, Nov. 2019)..

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!"

Postage

15848 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 855 of them this year alone and, so far, 53 this month (Sept. 18).

From This Moment On ...

September

Thu 21: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 21: La Malbec Orchestra @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Thu 21: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Ragtime piano. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.
Thu 21: Linsday Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ Harbour View, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 21: Ray Stubbs R & B All Stars @ The Schooner, Gateshead. 8:30pm. Free.
Thu 21: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 22: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 22: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 22: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 22: Brief Encounter @ Bardon Mill Village Hall, Northumberland. 7:00pm. Tickets: £10.00. adv from 07885 303166; £12.00. on the door. Chris & Veronica Perrin improvising to a screening of the 1929 'Jazz Age' silent film Piccadilly (Dir. Ewald André Dupont).
Fri 22: Paul Edis & Graeme Wilson + Three Tsuru Origami @ Jesmond United Reformed Church, Newcastle. 7:30pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Fri 22: Crooners @ Tyne Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm.
Fri 22: Abbie Finn's Finntet @ Traveller's Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. Opus 4 Jazz Club.

Sat 23: Tyne Valley Big Band @ Tanfield Railway, Gateshead. 2:00-4:00pm. Free. A '1940s Weekend' event.
Sat 23: Jason Isaacs @ Stack, Seaburn. 3:30-5:30pm. Free.
Sat 23: Andrew Porritt & Keith Barrett @ Cullercoats Watch House, Front St., Cullercoats NE30 4QB. 7:00pm.
Sat 23: Michael Woods @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig. Country blues.

Sun 24: Musicians Unlimited @ Park Inn, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 24: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.

Mon 25: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Mon 25: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 7:00pm.

Tue 26: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.

Wed 27: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 27: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 27: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Monday, April 18, 2016

GIJF: Café Society Swing - Sage Gateshead April 17


Alex Webb (pno/MD); Vimala Rowe (vcl); Ciyo Brown (vcl/gtr); Sue Richardson (tpt); Winston Rollins (tmb); Nat Facey (alt); Denys Baptiste (ten/clt); Miles Danso (bs); Shaney Forbes (dms).
(Review by Lance).
What a show! I'd seen Alex Webb's brainchild a couple of years back in a little theatre just off Leicester Square so I knew what to expect - or did I?
It's the story of the legendary New York nightclubs Café Society and Café Society Uptown that flourished between December 28, 1938, and March 2, 1949.
The owner, Barney Josephson, had the outrageous idea, for the time, that black and white folks should be able to meet and eat, drink and dance - unsegregated.
Shock! Horror! cried the authorities and, eventually, they won. However, over the eleven years of its existence,some of the finest American jazz musicians played there including Lena Horne, Billie Holiday, Mildred Bailey, Ida Cox, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Meade Lux Lewis and many more.
Alex Webb narrates the story from the piano. The social aspects told with ironical humour.
Vimala Rowe (pictured visiting the Jazz Coop stall) was a new name to most of the audience - she won't be after this stunning performance!
Dressed and coiffured as befitted the period, Vimala gave exquisite renditions of, among others, such classics as All of Me; What a Little Moonlight Can do; Stormy Weather; Where or When; I Let a Song Go Out of my Heart; Ida Cox's Wild Women Don't Have the Blues; Hurry on Down to my House and the dramatic finale - Strange Fruit. 60/70 years on it's still an emotional experience and there were very few dry eyes in the near-full auditorium.
Ciyo Brown, dressed as sharp as any cat in 1940's New York, played guitar and also sang. I'd heard One Meat Ball years ago without digesting the meaning. Brown's delivery, inspired by the Josh White recording was, in its own way, as full of pathos as Strange Fruit. Lush Life, some Jimmy Rushing Blues and a great duet with Vimala on a barroom 2am song, the title of which I'm not sure, were just some of his other numbers. 
As well as narrating, Webb's piano was evocative of the era whether backing the singers or soloing. It could have been Eddie Heywood or, at times, Albert Ammons.
The horns were used in a mainly supportive role although when they did pop-up it was done effectively. Sue Richardson on trumpet had some outstanding moments, in particular, the muted intro to Stormy Weather. Facey shone brightly as did Baptiste and Rollins. Danso and Forbes kept it all well fuelled.
The Café Society slogan was "The wrong place for the right people".
Last night, Sage Two was "The right place for the right people".
Lance.

1 comment :

Jen said...

So disappointed I missed this Lance and even more after reading your comments. Thought it would be a great show. Had tickets for a couple of months and also missed Liane Carroll due to chest infection. Ah well there's next year!!

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