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Bebop Spoken There

Abbie Finn: "Even though there's a lot of great work being done to promote women in jazz, I still come up against some attitudes! I pulled up at a recording session with my drums in the car and the studio owner said, 'I'm sorry, this space is reserved for the drummer!'" - (Jazzwise April 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!"

Postage

15229 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 248 of them this year alone and, so far, 61 this month (March 20).

From This Moment On ...

March

Fri 24: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 24: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 24: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 24: FILM: Mo' Better Blues @ Forum Cinema, Hexham. 7:00pm.
Fri 24: Ian Millar & Dominic Spencer @ Scarth Hall, Staindrop, Co. Durham. 8:00pm. £10.00.
Fri 24: Archipelago + Bulbils @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.

Sat 25: Vermont Big Band @ Walker Community Centre, Walker, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Fundraiser for Benfield Juniours Football Club. Hot food available, BYOB.
Sat 25: John Logan & Friends @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Rat Pack, Motown etc. 8:00pm. Free (donations).

Sun 26: Musicians Unlimited @ Park Inn, Hartlepool. 1:00pm.
Sun 26: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 3:00pm.
Sun 26: Outlines @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. JNE promotion (upstairs).

Mon 27: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

Tue 28: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 28: Sanaz Lavasani Trio @ Black Swan, Newcastle Arts Centre. 8:00pm. £12.00 (£10.00. adv).

Wed 29: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 29: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 29: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 7:00pm.
Wed 29: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 30: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Gateshead Central Library. 2:30-4:30pm. £2.00. All welcome.
Thu 30: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. Back to 1:00pm stomp off. Free.
Thu 30: '58 Jazz Collective @ Hops & Cheese, Hartlepool. 7:30pm. Free.
Thu 30: Lindsay Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ Harbour View, Sunderland. 8:00pm.
Thu 30: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Friday, April 29, 2016

The Gala Big Band, @ The Gala Theatre, Durham - April 28

(Review by Jerry)
At the end of a dismal day, weather-wise, this rapidly improving big band (even bigger when augmented with a percussionist) gave a packed Gala audience a musical treat to cheer and warm. It was great fun!
The opener was one of the band’s favourites – Flight of the Foo Birds – and was followed by Miller’s Little Brown Jug featuring an excellent tenor sax solo. My apologies for being unable to name individuals – even the MD, Paul Edis, struggled with that in a name-check towards the end of the evening. My excuse (and his) was that it is a VERY big band.
Next up was a vocalist, Johnny Roxburgh (?) who likes Sinatra and who performs his songs with some panache. Here, it was I’ve Got You Under My Skin and in the second set we had Come Fly with Me: excellent stuff from this young Sage student.
Perdido followed, performed by a “small band” consisting of the rhythm section plus about 9 of the horns – a format repeated on two numbers in the second set: All Blues and Blue Monk.
This “small” format got even smaller as George, the pianist, on his last gig with the band (he will be much missed) did a dreamy duet of A Nightingale Sang in Berkley Square with Paul Edis on clarinet. Next, to wake us all up again, it was carnival time in Durham with the Edis’ original Mighty Samba – apparently inspired by a Nissan Micra! This is a great tune, made all the more Latino-rhythmic by the additional percussion available tonight
Georgia Brown got good applause, as always and then the first set stormed to a close with Techtonic, a high-octane Edis’ original featuring four baritone saxes and “rock” guitar in the talented hands of Francis Tulip
In the second set, All of Me featured Dave Skipsey on trumpet and Tuxedo Junction was greeted with whoops and cheers.
The MD admitted that his inclusion of Summertime in the set-list was ironic in a week which saw hail stop play at Durham’s Riverside Ground! The irony was then compounded in the second vocal offering of the evening with its repeated line about “weather-wise it’s such a lovely day…” Well, a lovely evening, anyway.
Despite one of them being entitled Mercy, Mercy, Mercy, the last two numbers were undiluted joy. First was The Timothys – familiar to all who have the Mr. Hipster CD, but here played with driving electric bass, an infectious guitar riff, and an absolute blast of sound from the many horns. Edis (wearing his MD hat) praised the band for their progress in such a short time, reminding us that this is a “hard tune”. The band absolutely aced it!
Jerry.

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