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Bebop Spoken There

Kurt Elling: ''There's something to learn from every musician you play with''. (DownBeat, December 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

17630 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 16 years ago. 904 of them this year alone and, so far, 49 this month (Dec. 20).

From This Moment On ...

December

Fri 20: Edison Herbert Trio @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 20: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 20: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 20: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 20: Jason Isaacs @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 1:00-3:00pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Fri 20: Baghdaddies @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 20: Smokin’ Spitfires @ Platform 1, East Bedlington Community Centre. 7:00pm.
Fri 20: Pete Tanton’s Christmas @ 1719, Hendon, Sunderland. 7:30pm. CANCELLED!
Fri 20: Alligator Gumbo @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 20: Abbie Finn’s Finntet @ The Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. Opus 4 Jazz Club.
Fri 20: Brass Fiesta @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 10:30pm. Free.

Sat 21: Lindsay Hannon Quartet @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £15.00. ‘Swinging with Christmas Songs’.
Sat 21: Jason Isaacs @ Seaburn STACK, Seaburn. 3:30-5:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 21: Jackson’s Wharf Xmas Party @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 7:00pm. Free. Featuring the New ’58 Jazz Collective.
Sat 21: Brass Fiesta @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 10:30pm. Free.

Sun 22: Hot Club du Nord @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:00pm. £15.00. + bf. Xmas party. SOLD OUT!
Sun 22: Red Kites Jazz @ Gibside Chapel, nr. Rowlands Gill. 1:00pm. Admission charge applies.
Sun 22: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 22: Ruth Lambert Trio @ The Juke Shed, Union Quay, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 22: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 22: Revolutionaires @ Tyne Bar, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. Superb rhythm & blues outfit.
Sun 22: Laurence Harrison, Paul Grainger & Mark Robertson @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Line-up TBC.
Sun 22: The Globe Xmas Party @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. Live music (musicians TBC).
Sun 22: Ray Stubbs R & B All-Stars @ Zerox, Sandhill, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors).

Mon 23: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 23: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Wheatsheaf, Benton Sq., Whitley Road, Palmersville NE12 9SU. Tel: 0191 266 8137. 1:00pm. Free. CANCELLED!
Mon 23: Edison Herbert Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 4:00pm. Free.
Mon 23: Jason Isaacs @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 4:00-6:00pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Mon 23: Milne-Glendinning Band @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.

Tue 24: Lindsay Hannon & Mark Williams @ Ernest, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 11:00am-1:00pm. Free.
Tue 24: Paul Skerritt @ Mambo Wine & Dine, South Shields. 1:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.

Wed 25: Wot? No jazz!

Thu 26: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free. TBC.
Thu 26: The Boneshakers @ Tyne Bar, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. The 17th annual Boneshakers’ Shindig.

Reviewers wanted

Whilst BSH attempts to cover as many gigs, festivals and albums as possible, to make the site even more comprehensive we need more 'boots on the ground' to cover the albums seeking review - a large percentage of which never get heard - report on gigs or just to air your views on anything jazz related. Interested? then please get in touch. Contact details are on the blog. Look forward to hearing from you. Lance

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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