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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, June 20, 2016

Alice Grace Quintet @ The Black Bull. June 19

Alice Grace (vocals), Paul Gowland (tenor, alto & soprano saxophones), Peter Gilligan (piano), Paul Grainger (double bass) & Russ Morgan (drums) + Roly Veitch (guitar)
(Review by Russell/Photos courtesy of Roly Veitch.)
A Weaver of Dreams. It couldn’t get any better, could it? Alice Grace singing a favourite song, Paul Gowland playing tenor and, sitting-in on the first two numbers, Blaydon Jazz Club’s Roly Veitch. A first visit to the Black Bull for vocalist Alice Grace, and the place was busy. First heard in the north east at a late night Gateshead Jazz Festival jam session, Ms Grace is building an ever-growing fan club having recently relocated to Tyneside.
Blaydon Jazz Club is a bastion of the Great American Songbook. Alice Grace knows the cannon, sings it, and embraces a wider, more contemporary repertoire. Choosing to open with A Weaver of Dreams was a good move. The regulars were onside! Black Orpheus/A Day in the Life of a Fool similarly met with approval. Gowland switched to soprano, PG – Peter Gilligan, piano – accompanied and soloed as well as he has ever done, and, guest in his own manor, Roly Veitch played in his distinctive, understated ‘no hurry’ style. RV stepped down, saying he didn’t know any more tunes, leaving the stage to Alice Grace.

Ms Grace brought a tune new to the Black Bull; The Sky is There (comp. Lars Jansson) with lyrics added by our vocalist. Paul Gowland blew great tenor and the number is likely to become a fixture in the set. Ms Grace is a composer; Peter Gilligan stated the theme on The Long Road, PG – Paul Grainger, bass – stepped into the spotlight and at this juncture things became somewhat confusing. Grace acknowledged Grainger’s efforts exclaiming: Paul Gowland! The boys in the band laughed, our singer oblivious. Later to be informed of her error, Grace apologised to PG (Paul Grainger). Apology accepted, what happened next? Another solo contribution, this time from PG (P Gilligan), met with Grace saying: Paul Gowland! Much hilarity. Ms Grace opted to use first names only…Paul, Peter and Russ.

Anthropology taken, as elite athletes might say, at ‘eye balls-out’ pace, featured Gowland, alto, Grace (a bebopping horn), Gilligan killing, Grainger cruising in the fast lane and the brilliant Russ Morgan (drums) closed out a superb first set. A discerning jazz fan who has seen and heard all the greats had just heard Alice Grace sing for the first time. Effusive in praise of Ms Grace: pitch-perfect, wonderful, wow! the superlatives just kept on coming!

Alice and Peter opened the second set as a duo with Tom Jobim’s Two Kites plus Norma Winstone’s affecting lyrics. Abbey Lincoln’s Throw It Away got to the heart of the matter – your scribe’s notes read: serious jazz! This was it. Russ Morgan’s brushwork and hand drumming just so good, Gowland’s tenor, AG’s scatting. Windows (comp. Chick Corea)  with AG’s value added lyrics, described by our discerning fan as: very challenging. The Black Bull’s audience stayed with it. Peter Gilligan introduced Alice Grace to Autumn Nocturne. Ms Grace introduced the tune to Blaydon with a superb vocal intro, Gilligan’s piano playing absolutely top drawer. To say goodnight, Alice Grace sang If I Knew Then, What I Know Now. What a tune! What a performance! Swinging like nobody’s business, with the audience on its feet, Alice Grace deservedly won rapturous applause.
 Next month at Blaydon Jazz Club it’s the annual visit of Colin Aitchison. A Hong Kong-based trumpeter and vocalist, the ex-pat Geordie jazz man always delivers the goods in a fun-filled performance. Expect to hear some proper trumpet playing and an amazing take on Louis’ vocal style. Accompanying Colin on his ‘working holiday’ will be the knock-out clarinetist Franco Valussi. The Reunion Band – Colin, Franco, Steve Andrews, Roy Cansdale and Roly Veitch – will be travelling from all four corners of the globe to meet up and play a few tunes. Jazz at its best. Sunday 10 July, eight o’clock, £5.00 on the door.                  
Russell.

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