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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.

Wednesday, August 31, 2016

Zoë Gilby Quartet @ Ushaw Durham Jazz Festival. August 26

 Zoë Gilby (vocals), Mark Williams (guitar), Andy Champion (double bass) & Richard Brown (drums)
(Review by Russell/photos by John Marlor)
Plush, deep Chesterfields. Plenty of them. Wood panelling, plush, deep carpets, this is the Francis Thompson Room. Impressive, the previous occupants at Ushaw College certainly lived well! Today, the room, with its full bar service, is an ideal, informal gig venue. The Friday evening concert presented one of Britain’s finest jazz singers – Zoë Gilby.
On a warm summer’s evening, Gilby began with a question: Is It Me? The first of several original compositions, it was an indication of the quality of writing and performance that it stood comparison with many tunes considered standards. Gilby has a stage presence of which some aspirants could learn much: a consummate performer, fully engaged with the music making of those sharing the stand with her. Gilby’s established band is top quality: Mark Williams, guitar, is a supreme accompanist and unrivalled in his solo excursions. A bass and drums partnership comprising Andy Champion and Richard Brown is as secure as any on the scene with Champion possessing amazing chops and Brown the epitome of taste and sensitivity.
Phil Lynott’s folksy Dublin came with a story – Gilby happened to meet, as one does, the mother of the late P. Lynott in the Irish capital. A chance meeting, of course, but one that led to the song being part of the set. Another original number, a waltz, In It Together then a reprise of our vocalist’s Pannonica set with a sparkling Straight No Chaser featuring M. Williams and A. Champion, not forgetting Gilby’s tongue-twisting lyrics!
The personal permeated the performance. The story of a Red Headed Girl from the North East of Nowhere opened with Champion’s resonant bass playing and the story unfolded – a time of carefree living, of living the life. The subject of Gilby’s tale just happened to be present on the evening. An interval conversation between Gilby and Ushaw Durham Jazz Festival’s artist in residence Dave Barden established a mutual appreciation of musician Tom Waits. Perhaps T. Waits overheard the conversation…a Barden portrait of the man in question took pride of place in the room as part of an exhibition of the artist’s work!

Second set. Guess what? T. Waits’ Way Down in the Hole! Vocal dexterity, instrumental facility, top class! Top class and tasteful apply to Mark Williams’ playing on Your Words and Gilby’s way-down-the-range vocal. Drummer Richard Brown’s mesmerising intro to Caravan  set up Messrs Williams and Champion to run riot. Thirties noir, all about object d’art, the base desires of the working class filtered through the prism of Patrick Hamilton on Midnight Bell.

And so to the finale, and what a finale. Red City – sand, souk and the sounds of the souk. A fixture in Zoë Gilby’s set, this Ushaw Durham performance was something else. By a County Durham country mile Gilby produced a magnificent, committed performance.           
Russell.            

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