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Bebop Spoken There

David Hadju: "It was kind of a lightning bolt [seeing a photo of a hi-fi store that's now occupied by a phone store]. Everyone had hi-fi systems, now everyone has a phone" - (DownBeat May 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

Sun 28: Bradley Creswick's Western Swingfonia @ Whitley Bay Carnival. Free. Plaza Arena stage. 12 noon.
Sun 28: MSK @ Whitley Bay Carnival. 12:15pm. Free. Marquee stage. MSK - Steve Glendinning, Katy Trigger, Martin Douglas.
Sun 28: Musicians Unlimited @ The Park Inn, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 28: Back Chat Brass @ Whitley Bay Carnival. 1:30pm. Free. Marquee stage.
Sun 28: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 28: Tim Kliphuis Trio @ St Mary's Church, Wooler NE71 6BZ. 3:00pm. £15.00 standard; £5.00 student/unwaged; free under 18. Afternoon Cocktail, a Wooler Summer Arts' concert promotion. Kliphuis (violin); Nigel Clark (guitar); Roy Percy (double bass).
Sun 28: Back Chat Brass @ Whitley Bay Carnival. 3:00pm. Free. Plaza Arena stage.
Sun 28: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 3:00pm.
Sun 28: King Bees @ The Delaval Arms, Old Hartley NE26 4RL. 5:00pm. Free. Chicago blues at its best!
Sun 28: Matt Anderson Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Anderson (saxophones); Jamil Sheriff (piano); Andy Champion (double bass); Dave Walsh (drums).

Mon 29: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

Tue 30: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 30: Big Chris Barber Band @ Whitley Bay Playhouse. 7:30pm.

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.

Monday, November 21, 2016

John Wilson Orchestra w. Kim Criswell & Matthew Ford @ Sage Gateshead - November 21.

 












(Review by Lance).


My timbers shivered as I awaited the Quaylink bus to paddle me to Sage Gateshead - it was that kind of day! It occurred to me that I wouldn't have endured this weather to see the films let alone the songs and soundtracks. However, meeting up with Liz, Margaret, Valerie and Jane soon warmed me up and, upon reflection, often the songs and soundtracks were better than the storylines anyway. Certainly, the near capacity audience at this matinee seemed to think so.
No way could it be described as a jazz gig although there were quite a few jazz names in the line-up.
Alfred Newman's Street Scene from How to Marry a Millionaire (1953) is one of the most evocative film scores and even without Monroe, Bacall & Grable I wasn't complaining. After all, I had Liz, Valerie, Jane and Margaret. And then Kim!
Ms. Criswell sang I'm the Greatest Star from Funny Girl and, if she isn't, then she should be. Love of my Life from The Pirate gave way to Matthew Ford telling us that Something's Gotta Give (Daddy Long Legs, 1955).
The program promised Laura but it turned out she was only a dream and, instead, we got a ballet sequence from Forever Darling - Confetti. I'd have preferred Laura
Ford returned for If Ever I Should Leave You (Camelot 1967) and it set, I'm sure, a few ladies hearts a fluttering.
Kim returned for So Long, Dearie from Hello Dolly. This was the showstopper! She had it and she flaunted it and the song contained the immortal line; "I should have said ' so long', so long ago."
The set finished with part of the soundtrack of The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938).
A 45-minute set and a short interval saw us back on our seats for the overture to My Fair Lady then a suite from A Place in the Sun. Two long orchestral pieces in a row had some of the audience losing the plot but they were back on course when Kim returned, wearing a gown that defied gravity, and took the room apart with two songs from Yentl - The Way He Makes me Feel and Papa Can You Hear me?
What could follow that we wondered, little realising we'd be saying the same after the next one - an instrumental to boot!
Tom and Jerry at MGM is an arrangement by John Wilson of various soundtracks by Scott Bradley of the greatest cartoon series ever. This was an absolute hoot, you could almost see the cat v mouse scenario being played out.
Matt Ford returned for Gigi and Days of Wine and Roses before Wilson announced the finale as a Suite from Gone With the Wind. Not the finale I was hoping for but at least it wasn't Star Wars.
Naturally, the finale wasn't really the finale - we had another orchestral piece before Matt and Kim returned for You're Just in Love from Call Me Madam
Earlier, as we sipped our chosen aperitif and ate our BLT, John Sibbald was sitting at the piano and playing the most delightful music - nonstop and far more tasteful than our BLT!
Nice to meet up with John again. We gigged together in the dim and distant past!
Lance.
John Wilson Orch w. Kim Criswell & Matthew Ford (vocals) and an 80 piece orchestra including: Jamie Kenny (bass); Colin Oxley (guitar); Matt Skelton (drums); Howard McGill (alto/clarinet/flute); Mark Crooks (tenor/clarinet); Mike Davis (baritone/alto clarinet/bass clarinet/oboe/flute); Michael Lovatt (trumpet); Gordon Campbell (trombone).

1 comment :

Liz said...

an excellent review as ever Lance. For me I would have liked more vocals, so many great numbers from the Oscar winning films of those days. Also, in a quite short concert I thought the Orchestral pieces were a bit long, especially the Robin Hood feature. But hey!a great show

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