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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: Just Friends @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. Guest band night w. Richie Emmerson, Ian Bosworth, Dave Archbold, Ron Smith, Mark Hawkins. 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: Prudhoe Community Band @ Central Station, Newcastle. 10:00am - 12 noon. Charity fundraiser.
Sat 09: Durham Alumni Big Band @ Number One Bar, Skinnergate, Darlington. 1:00pm.
Sat 09: Castillo Nuevo Trio @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 5:30pm. Free.
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.

Saturday, October 01, 2016

Dave Lyttle Trio @ Jazz Café - September 30












David Lyttle (dms/perc); Tom Harrison (alt); Pete Turner (bs).
(Review by Lance/Photos courtesy of Mike Tilley).
The trio played, a slow minimalist number that had the audience thinking that maybe they just had time to catch "Chas and Dave" around the corner at the O2 Academy!
The silence was the loudest ever heard,
Irishman Lyttle explained that Lazy Afternoon was dedicated to the late Louis Stewart, an early mentor of the drummer/leader and we all felt slightly uncomfortable that we hadn't recognised it as such.
RIP Louis.
Things levelled out with Perpetual Smile that could have been retitled Perpetual Alto as Harrison soared like a bird for chorus after chorus building up to a climactic end leaving us all breathless . This was fine alto playing with barely a cliche in sight.
After the Flood and some amazing hand drumming. Hand drumming seems to be the in thing amongst present day percussionists  and few, if any, do it better than Lyttle who somehow incorporated shakers and scrapers into the mix. More prodigious alto playing and a bass solo from Turner making his debut with the trio,
Lullaby of the Lost featured Jean Toussaint - talking! No, the former Jazz Messenger hadn't popped in for a bottle of Geordie Jazz, instead, Lyttle who, like Harrison, has been much inspired by Toussaint played a recording of the great man giving out advice to aspiring jazz musicians as a backdrop to the music. The gist of which was to be yourself making an analogy with fingerprints. Every person's fingerprint is different and so it should be with each musician's style.
In a perfect world...
Certainly, as a band, the David Lyttle Trio falls into that category.
The set closed with Benny Carter's Wonderland. A tune, previously unfamiliar to me, with a catchy hook that the guys did justice to. 
Time to refresh and catch-up before we were off again.
A wailing blues with solos all round including some frantic 4's.
Facebook Emancipation - a cynical look at today's obsession with smartphones and their intrusion into all our activities. Demonstrated by Lyttle calling a halt mid-tune to check for a text and later Turner sharing an image on his phone before continuing with the music. It's one of the saddest aspects of society today, not least because we're all guilty of it from time to time! 
I Couldn't Do it involved some taped narration the relevance of which escaped me (I was probably checking my emails when it was explained) but the playing was ace.
Jazz Wars, a tongue in cheek look at what is and what isn't jazz, fused a multitude of styles and genres culminating with the inevitable drum solo.
The encore was a surprise - Lucky to be Me, one of the less familiar numbers from On the Town. In the film, it was sung by Gene Kelly and here Tom Harrison danced beautifully around the melody.
Very appropriate for a Friday night in Newcastle as there were plenty folk On the Town (or should that be Toon?) but they hadn't been to the Jazz Café so I did feel Lucky to be me!
Gig of the Year contender!
Lance.


1 comment :

Pam Young (on f/b) said...

Yeah Lance I felt lucky to be there too. Great gig.

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