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Bebop Spoken There

James Brandon Lewis: "Sometimes I'm not thinking about anything other than blowing the paint off the walls, and other times I'm narrating a story about my life." - (DownBeat 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

15516 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 536 of them this year alone and, so far, 25 this month (June 7).

From This Moment On ...

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: Miners' Picnic @ Woodhorn, Ashington. Music inc. Northern Monkey Brass Band (3:00-3:50pm); New York Brass Band (4:00-4:55pm).
Sat 10: Jeffrey Hewer @ The Vault, Darlington Covered Market, Darlington. 6:00-8:00pm. Free.
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: Jeremy McMurray's Pocket Jazz Orchestra @ Ropner Park, Stockton TS18 4EF. 2:00-4:00pm. Free.
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.
Sun 11: Jam No. 19 @ Fabio's Bar, Saddler Street, Durham. 8:00pm. Free. All welcome. A Durham University Jazz Society event.

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

Tue 13: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 13: Infusion Trio @ Forum Music Centre, Darlington. 7:30pm.
Tue 13: Alice Grace & Pawel Jedrzejewski @ Black Swan, Newcastle Arts Centre. 8:00pm. £12.00 (£10.00. adv.).

Wed 14: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 14: NUJO Final Jazz Jam @ Bar Loco, Newcastle. 6:30pm. Free. Newcastle University Jazz Orchestra's final jam session of the academic year. All welcome.
Wed 14: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 14: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 7:00pm.
Wed 14: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 15: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 15: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Gateshead Central Library. 2:30-4:30pm. £2.00. All welcome.
Thu 15: Castillo Nuevo @ Revolución de Cuba, Newcastle. 5:30-8:30pm.
Thu 15: Alexander Ord Trio @ Tynedale Beer & Cider Festival, Tynedale Rugby Club, Corbridge. Evening, time TBC.
Thu 15: Têtes de Pois + Nauta @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. Time TBC.
Thu 15: Indigo Jazz Voices @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:45pm. £5.00.

Saturday, December 17, 2016

Christmas at the Black Swan with the Strictly Smokin’ Big Band. Dec 16










(Review by Russell/Photos courtesy of Mike Tilley)
We Three Kings heralded a night of swinging big band jazz, and what a night! The first of two sold out nights, the dynamic Strictly Smokin’ Big Band dazzled from the off with the audience there to enjoy themselves. Power, precision, all sections firing, this was the way to open the show! Tenor men Paul Gowland and Jamie Toms introduced themselves, Pav Jedrzejewski similarly made his presence felt with the first of several fine guitar solos, as did multi-reeds virtuoso Steve Summers opening on alto.
Tyneside’s jazz fans look forward to these now annual nights at the Black Swan for many weeks if not months and they have yet to be disappointed. The band in sober lounge suits, vocalist Alice Grace looking sensational in a red evening gown, the first set started at the appointed hour, this is how to put on a show! Ms Grace’s fellow vocalist – F’reez – sang Moondance (sounding better than ever), followed by a duet with Alice on Baby, It’s Cold Outside. The audience loved it, the applause said it all. Alice has a high class pedigree… the National Youth Jazz Orchestra no less. She brought along a NYJO chart – Heat of the Moment – which went down a treat. F’reez delivered on Gambling Man Blues and Alice melted/broke hearts telling us My Heart Belongs to Daddy (featuring a three-flute intro).
 
Don’t Think Twice (comp B Dylan) featured Alice (Maggie Bell recorded a fine version) once more, then the band played some jazz – Benny Golson’s Whisper Not; Gowland on tenor, MD Michael Lamb on muted trumpet, a measured Toms (tenor) and more from the consistently good, no, make that excellent, Steve Summers. The first set closer – Grass is Greener – heard more from F’reez and Jedrzejewski, and the ensemble in wild abandon.
This being that time of year – Bah humbug time – the set list included plenty of seasonal tunes. Only a curmudgeon could take issue, and he – they’re always of the male variety – didn’t. Perhaps he wasn’t present, sitting at home, more like, the miserable so and so. As the Christmas classics came thick and fast, the applause kept pace; Joy to the World then Hark the Herald Angels Sing, the fabulous Alice singing Winter Wonderland, a birthday dedication to the forever young Sylvia with Alice singing I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm. Altoists Steve Summers and Keith Robinson fought it out on I’ve Got Christmas (fours, then twos) and Kieran Parnaby, trombone, pulled no punches on Little Drummer Boy, thus encouraging Pete Tanton to do likewise before bassist Michael Whent stepped forward, taking the rhythm section with him. Drummer Steve Wall, depping for regular sticksman Guy Swinton, did a grand job, on top of things all night, most impressive. No Christmas gig is complete without Santa Baby. Alice Grace (in a second set change of wardrobe) wowed the on-side crowd, and sure enough, an encore (two of them!) sent the full house on its way without a care in the world. The Strictly Smokin’ Big Band has a large, loyal following. You can join the party at Hoochie Coochie on December 29th.
Russell.
Michael Lamb, Pete Tanton, Gordon Marshall, Dick Stacey (trumpets); Kieran Parnaby, David Barnes, Tom Dowling, John Flood (trombones); Paul Gowland, Jamie Toms, Steve Summers, Keith Robinson, Laurie Rangecroft (reeds); Graham Don (piano); Pawel Jedrzejewski (guitar); Michael Whent (bass); Steve Wall (drums); Alice Grace (vocals) & F’reez (vocals)

1 comment :

jacqueline said...

Fabulous Saturday night Christmas set.....

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