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Bebop Spoken There

Branford Marsalis: "As ignorance often forces us to do, you make a generalisation about a musician based on one specific record or one moment in time." - (Jazzwise 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

15491 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 512 of them this year alone and, so far, 133 this month (May 31).

From This Moment On ...

Mon 05: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

Tue 06: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 06: Jam session @ Black Swan, Newcastle Arts Centre. 7:30pm. House trio: Stu Collingwood (piano); Paul Grainger (double bass); Sid White (drums).

Wed 07: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 07: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 07: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 7:00pm.
Wed 07: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 08: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free. CANCELLED! BACK ON JUNE 15.
Thu 08: Easington Colliery Brass Band @ The Lubetkin Theatre, Peterlee. 7:00pm. £10.00.
Thu 08: Faye MacCalman + Blue Dust Archive @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 08: Dilutey Juice + Ceramic @ The Ampitheatre, Sea Road, South Shields. 7:00pm. Free. A South Tyneside Festival event.
Thu 08: Lara Jones w. Vigilance State @ Lubber Fiend, Blandford Square, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 08: Michael Littlefield @ the Harbour View, Roker, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Country blues.
Thu 08: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

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: 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: 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.

Mon 12: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

Saturday, November 26, 2016

Mercury @ Jazz Café. Nov 25

Tom Thorp (tenor & soprano saxophones, bass clarinet), Jim Faulkner (guitar), Richard Jones (keyboards), Gavin Barras (bass) & Johnny Hunter (drums)
(Review by Russell/Photos courtesy of Mike Tilley)
Tom Thorp’s Mercury arrived at the Jazz Café in good time and just in time. Three of the band arrived safely, the others were delayed in traffic due to an accident on the A1. Cross Pennine traffic can be heavy at the best of times, the Friday evening commuter rush hour isn’t ideal if you’re due on stage later in the evening. Manchester to Newcastle negotiated without further mishap, the quintet set-up, soundchecked and found time to take five.

Thorp brought with him the few remaining copies of the band’s eponymous debut CD. At the end of the evening a few more would find new homes and the new album – Sea Speak – similarly did good business. Thorp, playing tenor and soprano saxophones, made a case for the bass clarinet – he had one with him – being ‘the best instrument ever’, referring to it as ‘my new toy’. Opening with Quicksilver from Mercury, Thorp revealed that this was the first tune he had written for the band. Mercury is a slow-burn affair – the atmospheric as important as any notion of flashy pyrotechnics, the new album was, understandably, to feature over two sets. Winter Brook and Hanging Gardens were the scene setters, then an energetic workout – Phalanx - featured Thorp playing muscular tenor with Richard Jones  at the Nord 2 and drummer Johnny Hunter stoking the fires.
The eponymous Sea Speak spoke to the Jazz Café faithful, a return to the first album for a reworking of If We Were There Now (Thorp bass clarinet, Hunter brushes, Gavin Barras a seated, calming presence on his custom-made six-string fretless bass) a reflective piece. A short notice dep, guitarist Jim Faulkner, last seen in these parts with Katie Patterson, read the charts as schooled musicians do. This Newcastle date was low key, but nonetheless an enjoyable evening.

Russell.           

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