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Bebop Spoken There

James Brandon Lewis: "Sometimes I'm not thinking about anything other than blowing the paint off the walls, and other times I'm narrating a story about my life." - (DownBeat 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

15516 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 536 of them this year alone and, so far, 25 this month (June 7).

From This Moment On ...

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.

Sat 10: Miners' Picnic @ Woodhorn, Ashington. Music inc. Northern Monkey Brass Band (3:00-3:50pm); New York Brass Band (4:00-4:55pm).
Sat 10: Jeffrey Hewer @ The Vault, Darlington Covered Market, Darlington. 6:00-8:00pm. Free.
Sat 10: Front Porch Three @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. Americana, blues, jazz etc.
Sat 10: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

Sun 11: WORKSHOP: Tim Richards' Jazz Piano Workshop @ JG Windows, Newcastle. Time TBC. Further details tel. 0191 232 1356.
Sun 11: Jeremy McMurray's Pocket Jazz Orchestra @ Ropner Park, Stockton TS18 4EF. 2:00-4:00pm. Free.
Sun 11: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:30pm. Free.
Sun 11: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 3:00pm.
Sun 11: Groovetrain @ Innisfree Sports & Social Club, Longbenton NE12 8TY. Doors 6:30pm. £15.00 (£7.00. under 16).
Sun 11: Jeffrey Hewer Collective @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Sun 11: Jam No. 19 @ Fabio's Bar, Saddler Street, Durham. 8:00pm. Free. All welcome. A Durham University Jazz Society event.

Mon 12: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

Tue 13: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 13: Infusion Trio @ Forum Music Centre, Darlington. 7:30pm.
Tue 13: Alice Grace & Pawel Jedrzejewski @ Black Swan, Newcastle Arts Centre. 8:00pm. £12.00 (£10.00. adv.).

Wed 14: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 14: NUJO Final Jazz Jam @ Bar Loco, Newcastle. 6:30pm. Free. Newcastle University Jazz Orchestra's final jam session of the academic year. All welcome.
Wed 14: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 14: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 7:00pm.
Wed 14: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 15: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 15: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Gateshead Central Library. 2:30-4:30pm. £2.00. All welcome.
Thu 15: Castillo Nuevo @ Revolución de Cuba, Newcastle. 5:30-8:30pm.
Thu 15: Alexander Ord Trio @ Tynedale Beer & Cider Festival, Tynedale Rugby Club, Corbridge. Evening, time TBC.
Thu 15: Têtes de Pois + Nauta @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. Time TBC.
Thu 15: Indigo Jazz Voices @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:45pm. £5.00.

Monday, June 06, 2016

Raymond MacDonald & Gunter ‘Baby’ Sommer @ The Bridge Hotel, Newcastle - June 5














Raymond MacDonald (Alto/soprano); Gunter ‘Baby’ Sommer (drums/perc).
(Review by Steve H/photos courtesy of Ken Drew.)
As the sunlight  over the railway bridge  poured through the bay window into the upstairs room  at The Bridge on Sunday night the audience were not only blinded by the sun’s rays but also by the brilliant radiance of the magnificent duo on stage.  It is easy to be prone to hyperbole when enthusiastically reviewing a gig from the night before but I can honestly say that was one of the best gigs in over 40 years that I ever had the pleasure of attending.
Sommer had driven his kit over from Dresden for this short tour and it was well worth the mileage such was the fascinating variety and range of instruments he transported.
From the off it was obvious that there was a close bond between the two protagonists as the interplay and improvisation on display appeared effortless. Unlike much heavily improvised music, the music was accessible and melodic at all times and I’m sure those who may have been put off by the ‘On The Outside’ label would have thoroughly enjoyed this evening.  
MacDonald has a beautiful tone on both alto and soprano and this was really emphasised by a solo piece he performed during the first set. Sommer is a fascinating stylist and augments proceedings with wonderful atmospheric chanting.  This set concluded with the pair lifting a wooden chest to the front of the stage which was a German-made copy of a similar African instrument; the sounds and rhythms Sommer was able to extract from this ‘box’ together with Macdonald’s subtle accompaniment was spectacular.
The second set began where the first left off Sommer played another amazing bit of kit – a metre wide circular cymbal (which appeared to resemble an upturned Moroccan tea table top) rested on the floor of the stage producing the most phenomenal sound. This set also featured a percussion solo which seemed to encompass all of Sommer’s great qualities of improvisation, musicality, technique and humour. At one point he was pretending to hit the drums whilst making the percussive sounds vocally. At the conclusion of the gig, the audience burst into sustained heartfelt applause. Both MacDonald and Sommer thanked the audience for their contribution to the evening. As an encore, Sommer accompanied his partner on the jaw harp. The pair then exited the room still playing allowing the music to drift to a sumptuous close. It was one of Sommer’s late compatriots who wrote a tune which summed up the evening perfectly ‘Ode to Joy’.
Steve H.

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