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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

15478 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 499 of them this year alone and, so far, 120 this month (May 27).

From This Moment On ...

May 2023

Wed 31: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 31: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 31: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 7:00pm.
Wed 31: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

June
Thu 01: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 01: Thursday Night Prayer Meeting @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Donations.
Thu 01: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Ragtime piano. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.
Thu 01: Jake Leg Jug Band @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Thu 01: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 02: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 02: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 02: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 02: Joseph Carville Trio @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm.
Fri 02: Claire Martin & Her Trio @ The Witham, Barnard Castle. 7:30pm. £25.00., £20.00. Feat. Jim Mullen, Alex Garnett & Jeremy Brown.
Fri 02: Guy Davis + Michael Littlefield & Scott Taylor @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. Doors 7:30pm. Blues double bill.
Fri 02: Anders Ingram @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Blind Pig Blues Club. Country blues. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

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.

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).

Monday, July 11, 2016

The Reunion @ Blaydon Jazz Club. July 10

Colin Aitchison (trumpet & vocals), Franco Valussi (clarinet & tenor saxophone), Steve Andrews (tenor saxophone & clarinet), Roly Veitch (guitar) & Roy Cansdale (bass guitar) + Red Pellini (tenor saxophone), Jim McBriarty (clarinet) & Neville Sarony (vocals)
(Review by Russell/Photos courtesy of Jeannie)
The scenic Tyne Valley railway butts up against the back door of the Black Bull. Picture the Edwardian scene…pub-goers standing on the terrace, faces peering through wrought iron railings, necks craning to catch first sight of the Flying Scotsman. You could say an everyday occurrence, except this is 2016. Blaydon Jazz Club’s monthly gig was about to begin in the lounge of the Black Bull but not before a battery of iPhone snappers got that all-important shot. Here she comes! The iconic engine hurtled past hauling its carriages - carriages full of steam train buffs who, no doubt, paid a pretty penny for the privilege - to Newcastle Central. In this era of the instant image, the results of the assembled snappers were, for the most part, unlikely to feature on the front cover of Steam Train Weekly.
The Flying Scotsman way down the line, thoughts turned to jazz…Hong Kong style jazz. Colin Aitchison was in town and as usual he brought with him Franco Valussi. An Italian living in Hong Kong, Valussi is a fabulous clarinet player. Previous visits won him praise from all quarters. Those in the know knew they couldn’t miss this one. Ex-pat Aitchison, a jazz man to his core, leads a stompin’ session at Ned Kelly’s in Kowloon. It’s anyone’s guess how many great players sit-in (let’s book a flight to Hong Kong and check it out!), Valussi we knew about but we didn’t know about Red Pellini or Neville Sarony. We were about to find out…
Lady be Good, Tea for Two with Aitchison leading with the verse, an apposite Slow Boat (to you know where), Aitchison and Valussi crooning it on Jeepers Creepers with Italian tenor player Red Pellini in on the fun, this was the stuff! ‘Red’ (now there’s a proper jazz name) produced such a big sound it came as something of a shock to the system, making Earl Bostic appear timid in comparison! Signor Pellini has worked with Bob Wilber – in other words, he can play. Local lad, long-since Cumbrian resident, Steve Andrews played tenor every bit as well as our Italian guest and made sure he got in the one-liners, such as, when looking quizzically at his tenor: It was in tune when I bought it!
The Rolls Royce rhythm section, seated at the back, purred. Messrs Roly Veitch, guitar, and Roy Cansdale, bass guitar, didn’t miss a beat, nor any of the jokes, chuckling away as Aitchison and Andrews entertained out front. The band permutations were many; a tenor trio, later a three-clarinet front line of Valussi, Andrews and Jim McBriarty. Yes, Maine Street mainstay McBriarty, earlier in the day to be heard outside Tynemouth Priory, made the trip to Blaydon. A class act is McBriarty. A rousing Exactly Like You concluded the first set, with, as Colin Aitchison observed, the Blaydon Black Bull Big Band. All hands on deck including vocalist Mr Neville Sarony, surely the debonair one at Ned Kelly’s.   
The Black Bull was busy. When word gets around that the Reunion Band is back in town the goggle box gets switched-off and a b-line is made to Bridge Street, Blaydon. A Flying Scotsman, Black Sheep Bitter, a raffle, a chat and before you know it’s the second set.
In a Mellotone, Fats promising to write that letter courtesy of Neville Sarony, described by Aichison as Ned Kelly’s ‘QC - Quality Controller’ and a stinging critique of Donald Trump thanks to Sarony’s updated lyrics to It Had to be You. A two-tenor highlight on Apex Blues threatened to steal the show with Andrews and Pellini going for it, as did the clarinet duo Valussi and McBriarty with Aitchison first growling then plungering.
Bill Bailey took us up to closing time. The full band, vocals, snapping jazz fingers, great playing. More! More! It should be noted (this ain’t fair) Franco Valussi, clarinet virtuoso also played some great tenor. Why don’t these musos settle for being good at one thing? So, an encore was won. Ain’t Misbehavin’. Ain’t kiddin’, this was one great session. Next month at Blaydon Jazz Club (August 21) a jazz piano trio worth travelling many a mile to hear, the Dean Stockdale Trio will be playing Oscar, Stockdale originals and more with a top class bass and drums pairing – Mick Shoulder and Adam Sinclair. Eight o’clock, see you there.
Photos.                      
Russell.

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