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Bebop Spoken There

Abbie Finn: "Even though there's a lot of great work being done to promote women in jazz, I still come up against some attitudes! I pulled up at a recording session with my drums in the car and the studio owner said, 'I'm sorry, this space is reserved for the drummer!'" - (Jazzwise April 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

15245 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 264 of them this year alone and, so far, 77 this month (March 25).

From This Moment On ...

March

Sun 26: Musicians Unlimited @ Park Inn, Hartlepool. 1:00pm.
Sun 26: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 3:00pm.
Mar 26: Pop Jazz @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. 'Jazzified' tunes by the likes of Sylvester, Bowie, the Monkees etc., feat. Alan Law, David Gray, Richard Herdman & Jude Murphy.
Sun 26: Outlines @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. JNE promotion (upstairs).

Mon 27: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

Tue 28: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 28: Sanaz Lavasani Trio @ Black Swan, Newcastle Arts Centre. 8:00pm. £12.00 (£10.00. adv).

Wed 29: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 29: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 29: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 7:00pm.
Wed 29: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 30: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Gateshead Central Library. 2:30-4:30pm. £2.00. All welcome.
Thu 30: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. Back to 1:00pm stomp off. Free.
Thu 30: '58 Jazz Collective @ Hops & Cheese, Hartlepool. 7:30pm. Free.
Thu 30: Lindsay Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ Harbour View, Sunderland. 8:00pm.
Thu 30: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 31: Lewis Watson Quartet @ Bishop Auckland Town Hall. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 31: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 31: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 31: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm. CANCELLED! Back next week (April 7).
Fri 31: Jasmine Myra + Waclaw Zimpel @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Fri 31: The Revolutionaires @ The Shack, Boldon Colliery. 7:30pm. £10.00. The Revolutionaires' big band (horn section) line-up.
Fri 31: Andrew McCormack @ Maltings, Berwick. 8:00pm. £20.00.

April
Sat 01: The Big Easy @ St Augustine's Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm.
Sat 01: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. Tutor: Steve Glendinning - In a Minor Key. £25.00. Enrol at: www.jazz.coop.
Sat 01: Hot Club du Nord @ Pleased to Meet You, Bridge St., Morpeth. 8:00pm. £79.00. A charity fundraising event.
Sat 01: Boys of Brass @ Stack, Seaburn. 7:00-9:00pm.
Sat 01: Rendezvous Jazz @ Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00. RESCHEDULED to next week (Sat 08).

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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