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Bebop Spoken There

Branford Marsalis: "As ignorance often forces us to do, you make a generalisation about a musician based on one specific record or one moment in time." - (Jazzwise June 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

15491 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 512 of them this year alone and, so far, 133 this month (May 31).

From This Moment On ...

June

Sat 03: Newcastle Record Fair @ Northumbria University, Newcastle NE8 8SB. 10:00am-3:00pm. Admission: £2.00.
Sat 03: Pedigree Jazz Band @ St Augustine's Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm.
Sat 03: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. Tutor: Sue Ferris. £25.00. Enrol at: www.jazz.coop.
Sat 03: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 6:00pm. Free.
Sat 03: Rendezvous Jazz @ Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.
Sat 03: Papa G's Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

Sun 04: Smokin' Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm.
Sun 04: Central Bar Quintet @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00-4:00pm. £5.00. The Central Bar Quintet plays Sonny Rollins' Saxophone Colossus. Featuring Lewis Watson.
Sun 04: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 3:00pm.
Sun 04: Struggle Buggy + Michael Littlefield @ Tyne Bar, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. Acoustic blues.
Sun 04: Swinging at the Cotton Club: Harry Strutters' Hot Rhythm Orchestra @ The Fire Station, Sunderland. 7:30pm.
Sun 04: Richard Jones Trio @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Sun 04: Jam No. 18 @ Fabio's Bar, Saddler Street, Durham. 8:00pm. Free. All welcome. A Durham University Jazz Society event.

Mon 05: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

Tue 06: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 06: Jam session @ Black Swan, Newcastle Arts Centre. 7:30pm. House trio: Stu Collingwood (piano); Paul Grainger (double bass); Sid White (drums).

Wed 07: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 07: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 07: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 7:00pm.
Wed 07: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 08: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free. CANCELLED! BACK ON JUNE 15.
Thu 08: Easington Colliery Brass Band @ The Lubetkin Theatre, Peterlee. 7:00pm. £10.00.
Thu 08: Faye MacCalman + Blue Dust Archive @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 08: Dilutey Juice + Ceramic @ The Ampitheatre, Sea Road, South Shields. 7:00pm. Free. A South Tyneside Festival event.
Thu 08: Lara Jones w. Vigilance State @ Lubber Fiend, Blandford Square, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 08: Michael Littlefield @ the Harbour View, Roker, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Country blues.
Thu 08: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 09: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 09: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 09: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 09: Castillo Nuevo @ Revolución de Cuba, Newcastle. 5:30-8:30pm.
Fri 09: Emma Rawicz @ Sage Gateshead. 8:00pm.

Sunday, May 22, 2016

Alice Grace Quartet @ The Cherry Tree, May 18

Alice Grace (vocals), Pete Gilligan (piano), Paul Grainger (bass) and Russell Morgan (drums)
(Review/photos by JC)
The frenetic and mass produced sameness of the restaurants and bars on Osborne Road in Jesmond has been a mainstay of Newcastle nightlife for a bit too long in my view.  The noisy and youthful hordes that gather there at weekends bring to mind Dorothy Parker's remark while observing a debutante's ball in Yale that 'If everyone in this crowd was laid end to end...I wouldn't be at all surprised'. 
However, for more than a few years now there has been one oasis of great food and music at the city end of the street, the Cherry Tree restaurant, which is just far enough away from the mayhem further up the road to allow one to forget its existence. 

As well as providing excellent cuisine, the owner Peter has a strong commitment to presenting quality jazz musicians on a weekly basis and all the best local artists have appeared there as well as distinguished visitors from further afield. Having noticed recently that there were some weeks with no jazz I was pleased to hear from Peter that there are still going to be regular sessions but perhaps on a slightly less frequent basis (every three or four weeks).
Anyway, the gap in the schedule had made us even more keen to go and, having heard Alice Grace before, we knew this would be a good one.
The band were straight at it from the off with Grace scatting assuredly on Devil May Care and Pete Gilligan producing one of his many fine piano solos. This was followed by Blue Skies which gave Paul Grainger a chance to show what he could do. The restaurant quickly filled up with appreciative diners and a nice rapport developed between the musicians and the audience. St. Louis Blues was taken at an appropriately slow pace but with an undercurrent of raw blues energy particularly exemplified by Gilligan's piano. It was also an example of a number of the songs featured in the set where Grace and the band gave the song space and time and let it breathe which really drew the listeners into the music (more on this later). Another was Lush Life, the Billy Strayhorn song, which has a long intro section that Grace made the most of and she demonstrated her vocal technique over the complex arrangement. Apparently Strayhorn wrote the song when he was in his teens - so how come he knew Geordie slang?
Other songs were Do I Love You, No More Blues and another Strayhorn number Take the A Train which always brings me back to listening to Willis Conover's Jazz Hour on the Voice of America radio station in the kitchen at home in the 60s as it was the programme's theme tune. There was great scatting from Grace on this number and a very nice drum and bass interplay.
The second half continued the high standard with swinging versions of Bye Bye Blackbird and I Remember You (Grace forewarned us that on this one Russell Morgan would be getting his shaker out). Then another of those songs that the band do so well, You Don't Know What Love Is, with Alice Grace stretching out the melody and the lyrics so that the audience was hanging on every word. One listener was so entranced by the performance that she started to applaud when Grace paused after 'You don't know...' in the last line and stopped abruptly when she realised the song was not finished. However, the singer responded with real style saying that the applause was a compliment and showed that she was really into the music - very nicely done.
Then Just In Time, Nature Boy featuring some fine interplay between voice and drums, and Beautiful Love.  But another highlight for me was Parker's Billie's Bounce with Grace's vocalese and Gilligan's piano going at breakneck speed with great support from Grainger and Morgan. By contrast, a request for Blame It on My Youth saw the band equally at home with this beautiful ballad and a storming version of I Can't Give You Anything But Love ended the night on a high.
As others have said, this quartet is really the business and combined with the excellent food and great service why go anywhere else on Osborne Road?
JC

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