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Bebop Spoken There

Billy Boy Arnold: “As long as you don't think old you're good.” - DownBeat, December, 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!"

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

Postage

16034 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 1041 of them this year alone and, so far, 73 this month (Nov. 27).

From This Moment On ...

December

Mon 04: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Mon 04: Northern Monkey Brass Band @ People’s Kitchen, Bath Lane, Newcastle. From 5:30pm. On-street gig supporting the work of the People’s Kitchen charity. Wrap up warm! Donate!
Mon 04: Michael Young Trio w Lindsay Hannon @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 7:00pm. Free.
Mon 04: James Birkett Trio @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £8.00.
Mon 04: Durham University Jazz Orchestra + Durham University Big Band @ Durham Castle DH1 3RW. 8:30pm. £6.00.; £5.00. concs; £4.00. DSM. ‘Jazzy Christmas’.

Tue 05: Customs House Big Band @ All Saints Church, Cleadon. 7:00pm. Concert in the church hall. BYOB.
Tue 05: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Michael Young, Paul Grainger, Sid White. The best free show in town!

Wed 06: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 06: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 8:00pm. Free. Note later start time, concert performance (open to the public).
Wed 06: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 07: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free CANCELLED!
Thu 07: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Spanish City, Whitley Bay, Newcastle. 12 noon - 4:00pm. £26.00 (inc 3-course meal in in St Mary's Lighthouse Suite). SOLD OUT!
Thu 07: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Gateshead Central Library, Gateshead. 2:30pm. All welcome.
Thu 07: Thursday Night Prayer Meeting @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.Donations. Feat. Mark Sanders. CANCELLED!
Thu 07: Indigo Jazz Voices @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:45pm. £5.00. Downstairs.
Thu 07: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 08: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 08: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 08: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 08: Hayley's Little Big Band @ Woodland Village Hall, Bishop Auckland. 7:00pm. £12.00.
Fri 08: Sleep Suppressor + Redwell @ Head of Steam, Neville St., Newcastle. 8:00pm. £10.00. (£8.00. adv); £5.00. student.
Fri 08: Hot Club du Nord @ St Cuthbert's Church, Shadforth, Co. Durham.
Fri 08: Têtes de Pois + Nauta @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.00., £8.00.

Sat 09: Castillo Nuevo Trio @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 5:30pm. Free.
Sat 09: Abbie Finn Trio @ Claypath Deli, Durham. 7:00pm.
Sat 09: Hayley's Little Big Band @ Middleton & Todridge Village Hall, Morpeth. 7:30pm. £12.00., £6.00.
Sat 09: Paul Skerritt @ Slaley Hall, Hexham NE47 0BX. 7:30pm. From £42.00.

Sun 10: Musicians Unlimited’s Xmas Party with Zoe Gilby Quartet @ Park Inn, Hartlepool. MU 1:00-3:00pm; Zoë Gilby Quartet 4:00-6:00pm. Tickets: £7.50.
Sun 10: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00-4:00pm. Free.
Sun 10: Funk Soul Sista @ Stack, Seaburn. 5:00-7:00pm. Free.
Sun 10: Beth Clarke @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 10: Hayley's Little Big Band @ Whittingham Memorial Institute, Alnwick. 7:30pm. £12.00., £10.00.
Sun 10: Tele-Port @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Line-up inc. Zhenya Strigalev.

Sunday, August 21, 2016

Claire Kelly with Pete Gilligan @ The Globe: August 20

Claire Kelly (vocals); Pete Gilligan (piano).
(Review by Ann Alex/photo courtesy of Dave Parker).
And the BSH gold medal doesn’t go to Claire Kelly.  Lance will burst into tears when he reads that Claire rounded off her excellent performance with (yes!) Summertime. The audience of 6 or so soon became many, as Claire’s friends and admirers flocked in, so that by the end of the gig it was rather lively with a couple dancing at the front and shouts of encouragement from the audience. Pete had assisted with choosing the set list, so Claire was singing some numbers she’d not sung for a few years but you wouldn’t have guessed. Ms Kelly is soon to return to her current home in Thailand, a shame for us but Thailand’s gain, as she’s up there with the best of our ‘local’ women singers.
Confident, strong-voiced and with stage presence, Claire began with I’ve Got The World On A String; and We’ll Be Together Again, followed by very convincing scatting on Aqua De Beberfor contrast we had Ain’t Nobody’s Business But My Own, very bluesy, sliding up and down the scales and Pete in speakeasy mode, playing as well as we’ve come to expect, and better. Let’s Slip Away was from the singing of Cleo Laine, whom Claire once encountered in a lift; the first half closed with a ballad, A Song For You.
We resumed with Beautiful Love and This Masquerade both well-acted, not just sung, and Masquerade was given an improvised ending before being gently faded out. Then a song about clichés old and new (didn’t catch the title); Pete’s choice of Whisper Not; then I’ve Grown Accustomed To His Face and a Carmen McCrae song called Tip Toe Gently (I think). My Heart Belongs To Daddy was wonderfully sleazy, with strong sleazy-sounding chords from Pete who was obviously thoroughly enjoying himself, especially when he sang the last line for Claire, after making her laugh out loud .A lively West Coast Blues got a rather gospelly ending, to riotous applause, then came Summertime, just as the Metro called me home, so other songs could have followed for all I know.
A good time was had by all. Thank you, Claire, Pete and the Jazz Co-op.
Ann Alex

5 comments :

Liz said...

ha,ha,had a good laugh at"Summertime" Ann...cannot imagine why Lance dislikes it so much, or maybe it's because it is overdone by wannabes!!

Lance said...

I don't dislike 'Summertime'. It's a great song but, as you say, it's been overdone - not just by the 'wannabes' (which Claire has long moved up from) but by every singer - it's almost become their national anthem. I loved the first thousand renditions but after that I wondered why they didn't dip further into the Porgy and Bess songbook?

Ann Alex said...

Lance, Here is a question. Please answer carefully. About these wannabes, are they always singers or do you come across, say, saxophone or drum wannabes, or even banjo wannabes? Just a thought.

Lance said...

Of course Ann! From the moment you sit at the piano or behind the kit or blow your first note or sing the first chorus of 'The Wheels on the bus go round and round' you're a wannabe. How MUCH you want to be is what makes the difference.

Lance said...

The reviewer asked about a song Claire Kelly sang at the Globe last Saturday - it's called New Clichés.
Claire had first heard it on an album by singer Diane Hubka
(The above info was emailed to me by Nathan Allonby)

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