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Bebop Spoken There

Ambrose Akinmusire: “ I am certainly always aware of what the masses are doing. And when I see too many people going one way, I'm going another way - even when I don't know what's over that way". DownBeat, March, 2024.

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!"

Simon Spillett: A lovely review from the dean of jazz bloggers, Lance Liddle...

Josh Weir: I love the writing on bebop spoken here... I think the work you are doing is amazing.

Postage

16287 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 16 years ago. 169 of them this year alone and, so far, 41 this month (Mar 18).

From This Moment On ...

March

Tue 19: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Michael Young, Paul Grainger, Tim Johnston.

Wed 20: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 20: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 20: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 21: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 21: Castillo Neuvo Trio + Conor Emery & His ‘Bones Band @ The Grove, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 7:30pm (7:00pm doors). £10.00. (£7.00. student).
Thu 21: Remi Banklyn + Chris Corcoran Trio @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.50. Chicago blues. An International Guitar Foundation promotion.
Thu 21: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Ragtime piano.
Thu 21: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm.

Fri 22: Vasilis Xenopoulos & Paul Edis @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. £8.00. SOLD OUT!
Fri 22: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 22: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 22: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 22: Nauta + Remy CB + Last Orders @ Hoochie Coochie, Newcastle. 8:30pm (7:30pm doors). Free.
Fri 22: Vasilis Xenopoulos-Paul Edis Quartet @ Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. £15.00. Opus 4 Jazz Club.
Fri 22: Redwell @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sat 23: Jambone @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 6:30pm. Free (ticketed). End of term performance in the Northern Rock Foundation Hall.
Sat 23: Milne-Glendinning Band @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 23: Red Kites Jazz @ Rowlands Gill Community Centre NE39 1JB. 7:00pm. Tickets: £12.00. (gibsidecommunityfarm@gmail.com). A ‘Build a Barn’ fundraiser. BYOB, tea/coffee available.
Sat 23: New Century Ragtime Orchestra @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £20.00. + bf (book in person at venue - no booking fee!). Featuring pianist Martin Litton.
Sat 23: Pete Tanton’s Cuba Libre @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 24: Musicians Unlimited @ Park Inn, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 24: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:30pm. Free.
Sun 24: Luis Verde @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm. Verde (alto sax); Joe Steels (guitar); John Pope (double bass); John Hirst (drums). Alto sax brilliance!
Sun 24: Elsie Franklin @ The Globe, Newcastle. 3:00pm. £10.00. Country blues. An International Guitar Foundation promotion.
Sun 24: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay Metro Station. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 24: Las Vegas Live with the Rat Pack @ The Forum, Billingham.
Sun 24: Ian Millar & Dominic Spencer @ Otterburn Memorial Hall. 7:30pm. £12.00.
Sun 24: Lindsay Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Note start time - 7:00pm.
Sun 24: Bold Big Band @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 25: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 25: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 6:30pm. Free.

Wednesday, June 29, 2016

Tim Richards Hextet @ The Black Swan Bar and Venue, Newcastle. June 28 - JNE/Schmazz Promotion.

Tim Richards (keys): Dick Pearce (tpt); Ed Jones (ten); Ralph Wyld (vbs); Dominic Howles (bs); Ben Brown (dms).
(Review by Lance/ Photo courtesy of Ken Drew).
I looked out of my living room window, it was raining, hardly the June weather of our youth - or maybe it was! Whatever, it was a night to turn up the central heating, splash the glass with your favourite tipple play a disc or two. Not a night to venture out, even to see the Tim Richards Hextet. However, I thought thar if several thousand fans could brave it to Sunderland to see Beyonce at the Stadium of Light - it would be the best performance that venue would see this year - then surely I could hop a westbound Metro to see the hextet (apart from the spelling, what's the difference between a hextet and a sextet?).
In reality, I had no choice. Paul Bream quoted my glowing review of the band's last CD in his Jazz Alert and in doing so presented me with a fait accompli
It was a worthwhile decision. The all original program consisted mainly of pieces from that CD (Telegraph Hill) plus a couple of ringers from previous albums. As chance would have it, it was Dominic Howles' Like John which wasn't from the album that made the first big impression of the night. The head had a floating Tadd Dameron feel to it that set it up perfectly for the soloists.
Talking of soloists, Wyld - heard previously 'up here' at The Globe with Sammy Eagles - is back at the Jazz Café this Friday (July 1) with John Martin. The young vibes player not only laid down some stunning solos he also provided Storebæltsbroen a piece inspired by a bridge in Denmark which just goes to show that the muse is everywhere, you just have to look.
It's difficult to think of Dick Pearce as having reached pensionable age. His playing still sounds as fresh as ever whilst maintaining the hard bop approach that has ever been his forte. He also supplied Joe's Outside and Airships in a Cloud. Ed Jones - Blue Note/Prestige lives! Ed blew Mobley, Coltrane, Henderson tenor and composed Clandestine, as intriguing a composition as the title implies.
Ben Brown who wasn't on the album (Peter Ibbetson) nevertheless played as if he had been and slotted in well.
Howles had some nice bass lines and wrote Ease Up which is on the album. The remainder were by Richards. The opener Tollbridge; a trilogy comprising Lucid Dreaming, Spirit Walking and Shapeshifting; Discovery and the title track of the CD Telegraph Hill. His keyboard playing, whilst at times a tad overpowering, didn't clash with the vibes but rather complemented or was it vibes-versa?
At the end, the audience demanded the obligatory encore and got Ticket to Tomorrow - solos all-round with a seemingly never-ending coda of cadenzas!
A most enjoyable evening.
Lance.

1 comment :

Steven T. said...

I was really disappointed to miss this. About 15 years ago I saw a group called Great Spirit (I think) in Darlo and, only on buying the CD, realised the common denominator with Spirit Level, possibly the first acoustic(ish)Jazz group I ever saw, at a Newcastle Jazz Festival, somewhere in a university building in the early eighties.

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