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Bebop Spoken There

Billy Boy Arnold: “As long as you don't think old you're good.” - DownBeat, December, 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!"

Simon Spillett: A lovely review from the dean of jazz bloggers, Lance Liddle...

Postage

16051 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 1058 of them this year alone and, so far, 12 this month (Dec. 6).

From This Moment On ...

December

Sat 09: Prudhoe Community Band @ Central Station, Newcastle. 10:00am - 12 noon. Charity fundraiser.
Sat 09: Durham Alumni Big Band @ Number One Bar, Skinnergate, Darlington. 1:00pm.
Sat 09: Castillo Nuevo Trio @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 5:30pm. Free.
Sat 09: Hayley's Little Big Band @ Middleton & Todridge Village Hall, Morpeth. 7:30pm. £12.00., £6.00.
Sat 09: Paul Skerritt @ Slaley Hall, Hexham NE47 0BX. 7:30pm. From £42.00.

Sun 10: Musicians Unlimited’s Xmas Party with Zoë Gilby Quartet @ Park Inn, Hartlepool. MU 1:00-3:00pm; Zoë Gilby Quartet 4:00-6:00pm. Tickets: £7.50.
Sun 10: Alan Law, Paul Grainger & Abbie Finn @ Darlington Market, Market Square, Darlington. 1:00pm. Free. A ‘Christmas Market’ outdoor gig. Wrap up warm!
Sun 10: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00-4:00pm. Free.
Sun 10: Funk Soul Sista @ Stack, Seaburn. 5:00-7:00pm. Free.
Sun 10: Beth Clarke @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 10: Hayley's Little Big Band @ Whittingham Memorial Institute, Alnwick. 7:30pm. £12.00., £10.00.
Sun 10: Tele-Port @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Line-up inc. Zhenya Strigalev.

Mon 11: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 11: Interim Final Recitals @ Newcastle University. Details TBC.

Tue 12: Stu Collingwood Organ Trio @ Forum Music Centre, Darlington. 7:00pm. £10.00.

Wed 13: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 13: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 13: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 13: Bold Big Band @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:30pm.
Wed 13: Giles Strong Quartet @ Alphabetti Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 14: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 14: Hot Fingers @ The Lubetkin Theatre, Peterlee. 7:00pm. £10.00.
Thu 14: After Hours Student Jazz Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 14: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. . Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 14: Niffi Osiyemi Trio @ Harbour View, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 14: Mo Scott ‘Little Mo’s Festive Appearance’ @ The Schooner, Gateshead. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 14: Tees Hot Club w. Kevin Eland, Josh Bentham, Garry Hadfield, Adrian Beadnell @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 15: Paul Edis @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 15: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 15: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 15: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 15: Paul Skerritt @ Black Horse Inn, Crook. From 7:00pm.
Fri 15: Paul Edis: A Jazzy Christmas @ St Cuhtbert's Centre, Crook. 7:30pm. £15.00. SOLD OUT! Waiting list open.
Fri 15: Zoë Gilby Trio @ Seventeen Nineteen, Hendon, Sunderland. 7:30pm. £12.00. Fri 15: Strictly Smokin' Big Band @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 8:00pm. First night of two.
Fri 15: Darlington Big Band @ Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. £10.00. Opus 4 Jazz Club.
Fri 15: Baghdaddies @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £14.00.; £10.00.

Saturday, December 31, 2016

The Glenn Miller Orchestra (Ray McVay, MD) @ Sage Gateshead – Dec 30

(Review by Russell)
Twelve months on from Ray McVay’s last visit to Sage Gateshead, the weather unseasonably mild, the veteran band leader’s troops were as last time round with just two changes in personnel – Keith Hutton joining the trombone section, and vocalist Mark Porter returning to the fold after a number of years fulfilling other engagements. All seats were occupied on Level One (the stalls, in old money), Level Two likewise, resulting in the upper level being open for business. It is seventy-two years and more since Glenn Miller bailed out but the popularity of the American big band swing legend shows no sign of waning.
Strike Up the Band commanded McVay. A String of Pearls, the first appearance of the Swing Time Jivers doing their thing to Flying Home, the Moonlight Serenaders – Catherine Sykes, Mark Porter, Ray Wordsworth, Alan Berlyn and Danny Hammerton – singing I Got A Gal in Kalamazoo, this was a fast moving show. Sykes remained on stage to sing As Time Goes By accompanied by trumpeter Berlyn. The Nearness of You featured Mark Porter with succinct trombone, tenor and trumpet solos accompanying from within the sections.

The band’s collective resumé is truly impressive; concert, stage, radio and television engagements include Frank Sinatra, Nancy Wilson, Humphrey Lyttleton, Alex Welsh, Sarah Vaughan, Mel Tormé and Billy Eckstine…and then there’s Urbie Green and Bill Watrous, Dionne Warwick, Buddy Greco, the list goes on…Art Farmer, Sonny Stitt, Bing Crosby. And some of them have been to college, a shining example being vocalist Catherine Sykes (Leeds College of Music). Yes, these guys know exactly what they’re doing. Band leader Ray McVay lets them get on with it. Nominally conducting the band, McVay the Miller obsessive, listens as much as directs.

Little Brown Jug featured trombone master Ray Wordsworth, Dan Faulkner, tenor, and one of four top notch trumpeters on the gig, Alan Berlyn. Extended solo spots were few and far between. One notable departure showcased Simon Meredith playing soprano on My Funny Valentine. Too much jazz could disturb the foot-tapping crowd, McVay knows his audience, Pennsylvania 6-5000

 kept the Miller fans on side. Catherine Sykes singing Moonglow hit the heights, indeed this, and Sing, Sing, Sing (a drum feature for Bobby Cleall) topped-off this matinee performance at Sage Gateshead.   

Second set, costume change, Miller’s AEF Band. American Patrol heard the trumpet section nail it. Hot Toddy featured the energetic dance troupe the Swing Time Jivers doing their thing alongside, or rather in front of, the band’s excellent ensemble work. More of the same as all and sundry went Runnin’ Wild. McVay introduced a ‘million seller’ tune on more than one occasion; Tuxedo Junction (the Miller clarinet sound so evident), Chattanooga Choo Choo, the inevitable In the Mood, and, as McVay said: Adios. Ray McVay, Glenn Miller, Sage Gateshead…Christmas 2017? Probably!   
Russell.
Ray McVay (MD), Mark Porter (vocals), Catherine Sykes (vocals), Andy Potts (alto saxophone & clarinet), Simon Meredith (alto & soprano saxophones, clarinet), Martin Dunsdon (tenor saxophone), Dan Faulkner (tenor saxophone), Loren Hignell (baritone & alto saxophone), Dave Ford (trumpet), Alan Berlyn (trumpet), Danny Hammerton (trumpet), John Hinch (trumpet), Dale Gibson Jnr (trombone), Ray Wordsworth (trombone & vocals), Keith Hutton (trombone), Bruce Douglas (bass trombone), Bunny Thompson (piano), Paul Scott (double bass) & Bobby Cleall (drums); the Moonlight Serenaders & the Swing Time Jivers.


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