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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

15478 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 499 of them this year alone and, so far, 120 this month (May 27).

From This Moment On ...

May 2023

Wed 31: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 31: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 31: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 7:00pm.
Wed 31: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

June
Thu 01: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 01: Thursday Night Prayer Meeting @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Donations.
Thu 01: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Ragtime piano. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.
Thu 01: Jake Leg Jug Band @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Thu 01: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 02: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 02: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 02: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 02: Joseph Carville Trio @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm.
Fri 02: Claire Martin & Her Trio @ The Witham, Barnard Castle. 7:30pm. £25.00., £20.00. Feat. Jim Mullen, Alex Garnett & Jeremy Brown.
Fri 02: Guy Davis + Michael Littlefield & Scott Taylor @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. Doors 7:30pm. Blues double bill.
Fri 02: Anders Ingram @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Blind Pig Blues Club. Country blues. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

Sat 03: Newcastle Record Fair @ Northumbria University, Newcastle NE8 8SB. 10:00am-3:00pm. Admission: £2.00.
Sat 03: Pedigree Jazz Band @ St Augustine's Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm.
Sat 03: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. Tutor: Sue Ferris. £25.00. Enrol at: www.jazz.coop.
Sat 03: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 6:00pm. Free.
Sat 03: Rendezvous Jazz @ Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.
Sat 03: Papa G's Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

Sun 04: Smokin' Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm.
Sun 04: Central Bar Quintet @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00-4:00pm. £5.00. The Central Bar Quintet plays Sonny Rollins' Saxophone Colossus. Featuring Lewis Watson.
Sun 04: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 3:00pm.
Sun 04: Struggle Buggy + Michael Littlefield @ Tyne Bar, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. Acoustic blues.
Sun 04: Swinging at the Cotton Club: Harry Strutters' Hot Rhythm Orchestra @ The Fire Station, Sunderland. 7:30pm.
Sun 04: Richard Jones Trio @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

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).

Friday, January 27, 2017

Mark Williams & Joel McCullough @ The Lit & Phil. January 27

Mark Williams (guitar) & Joel McCullough (guitar)
(Review by Russell/photo courtesy of Brian Ebbatson.)
Walking past St John’s Church on the way to the Lit & Phil a feathered friend left a large deposit on your reviewer’s head. Splat! Such an occurrence is said to bring good luck, so, make a note of the winning numbers on this weekend’s Lottery…4, 23, 24, 37, 42 and…onto more important matters.
On this bitterly cold January day, a good number of folk defied the elements, keen to hear some top quality jazz. Today’s lunchtime concert featured two fine guitarists – Mark Williams and Joel Byrne-McCullough. The Irishmen, friends from way back studied together in Newcastle on the BMus Jazz course, went their separate ways, recently reuniting as a working duo when McCullough decided to make his home in the region. Williams has been a welcome figure on the local scene for some time and now his fellow countryman is making his mark. 
Nine tunes in one hour, a jazz guitar treat.
The seated duo – Williams with his Heritage, McCullough playing a Gibson – played a set of choice material beginning with Peter Bernstein’s Little Green Men (a contrafact of a Grant Green number). Out of Nowhere and John Scofield’s Not You Again (another contrafact, this time There Will Never Be Another You) heard the duo taking it leisurely as if at home, running through a few tunes. Joel took the first solo on all but one of the nine compositions in the programme, Mark responding with an equally fine solo.
Steve Swallow and Joe Henderson were in the pad, as was Neal Hefti’s Girl Talk. The Chick Corea tour de force - Spain - featured, the boys quipping they had been trying to play the tune since their college days. A challenging tune at the best of times, they decided to reharmonise parts of it…just for fun! If it is possible to play a relaxed version of the number, this was it. Just Friends (apposite!), the one number to feature Mark as first soloist, just about took the honours as tune of the day. The Lit & Phil audience sat rapt throughout the hour-long performance. Our guitar wizards said goodbye with I’ll Be Seeing You. A wonderful start to this year’s lunchtime jazz at the Lit & Phil. Next month: Hand to Mouth. A recently established partnership featuring vocalist Lindsay Hannon and guitarist Bradley Johnston, GASbook, Ella, Carmen McCrae and some more contemporary material will be on the menu on Friday 24 February. One o’clock start, a bargain fiver admission.            
Russell.

1 comment :

Lance said...

That's friends, feathered or otherwise, for you - always end up shitting on you! Wear a hat next time.

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