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Bebop Spoken There

Art Blakey: "You [Bobby Watson] don't want to play too long, because you don't know they're clapping because they're glad you finished!" - (JazzTimes, Nov. 2019)..

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

15867 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 874 of them this year alone and, so far, 72 this month (Sept. 25).

From This Moment On ...

September

Tue 26: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.

Wed 27: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 27: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 27: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 28: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 28: Alice Grace Quartet @ King's Hall, Newcastle University. 1:15pm. Free.
Thu 28: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Gateshead Central Library, Gateshead. 2:30pm. All welcome.
Thu 28: Faye MacCalman + Snape/Sankey @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 28: Zoe Rahman @ Jesmond United Reformed Church, Jesmond, Newcastle. 7:30pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Thu 28: '58 Jazz Collective @ Hops & Cheese, Hartlepool. 7:30pm.
Thu 28: Speakeasy @ Queen's Hall, Hexham. 7:30pm. £15.00. A Southpaw Dance Company presentation. Dance, audio-visuals, Count Basie, Benny Goodman, swing dancers etc.
Thu 28: Mick Cantwell Band @ Harbour View, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Ace blues band.
Thu 28: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 29: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 29: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 29: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.

Sat 30: John Pope Quintet + Late Girl + Shapeshifters @ Bobik's, Jesmond, Newcastle.
Sat 30: Papa G's Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

OCTOBER

Sun 01: Smokin' Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm.
Sun 01: Dulcie May Moreno sings Portrait of Sheila @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £10.00. Moreno sings Sheila Jordan with Giles Strong, Mick Shoulder & John Bradford.
Sun 01: Middlesbrough Jazz & Blues Orchestra @ Saltburn Community Hall. 2:00pm.
Sun 01: The Easy Rollers @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £13.70., £11.55.
Sun 01: Brand/Roberts/Champion/Sanders @ Blank Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Sun 01: Papa G's Troves @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 02: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Mon 02: FILM: Wattstax; 50th Anniversary @ Forum Cinema, Hexham. 8:00pm.

Wednesday, December 07, 2016

Alter Ego @ The Fox Inn, Hexham. Dec 6

Keith Robinson (alto saxophone), Niall Armstrong (tenor saxophone & flute), Dave Hignett (trumpet & flugelhorn), Andy Hawking (keyboards), Tony Abell (bass) & David Francis (drums)
(Review by Russell/Photo of Keith Robinson from BSH Archives).
The last night of the tour said, Keith Robinson. The first night (Thursday, December 1) at Durham’s Empty Shop, then, five days later, the tour bus completed its tortuous journey from Durham to Hexham just as the rain began to fall. The Fox Inn, just off the Allendale road, home to Hexham Jazz Club, welcomed Alter Ego, appearing remarkably fresh, making a beeline to the bar.

 Alter Ego play post-bop charts, the familiar and not so familiar, and a smattering of their own compositions. Altoist Robinson announced that the set list would be exactly as their gig in Durham. And it was, near enough. Kicking off with Budini, the Hexham Jazz Club regulars outnumbered the band. Tenor sax man, and occasional flautist, Niall Armstrong writes for the band and his Dog Leap Bounce stood comparison with the best of them. A Latin or samba number is a particular penchant of Alter Ego, and Episode from a Village Dance came from that bag, as did, later in the set, an unusual take on Naima. Coltrane as a samba prompted one astute listener to suggest – albeit jocularly – they got away with a near sacrilegious act!

McCoy Tyner’s Blues on the Corner – with drummer David Francis driving a la Blakey – hit the heights with some great alto from Robinson. Bookending Tyner, a couple of Niall Armstrong’s compositions – Undertone with its intricate front line voicings and Mustard Mash, the title perhaps indicating the composer’s imaginative culinary skills. The first set closer – Kenny Garrett’s Computer G – featured the frontline and Andy Hawking on keys with kit man Francis taking it home.

Second set: Blues Marx rounded up members of the band; first Robinson, alto, then Andy Hawking, keys. Their playing alerted the other members of the sextet (standing at the bar)  that their participation was required. Trumpeter Dave Hignett sauntered over to the stand, put down a pint of Guinness and gave it a blast. Tony Abell contributed a new tune of his own, a cannily disguised blues – Llangranog Blues – of Welsh origin, or inspiration, with Robinson stating the melody and the composer laying down a solo. Abell contributed one other tune, a blues – The Perpetrator – featuring the composer, Robinson and Hignett. As is their want, Bobby Watson’s A Wheel Within a Wheel, with its infectious internal logic, took Alter Ego up to closing time. Just time to squeeze in Joe Henderson’s Mo Joe. Alter Ego are a cracking band, nothing flash, simply first rate musicians playing great material. As and when their next ‘tour’ is announced, go hear them. Russell.

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