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Bebop Spoken There

Steve Fishwick: “I can’t get behind the attitude that new is always somehow better than old” - Jazz Journal, April 15, 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!"

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

Postage

16034 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 1041 of them this year alone and, so far, 73 this month (Nov. 27).

From This Moment On ...

December

Sun 03: Smokin’ Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:30pm. £7.50.
Sun 03: The Central Bar Quartet @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £10.00. The Central Bar Quartet plays Lou Donaldson’s Gravy Train. Featuring Jamie Toms.
Sun 03: Paul Skerritt @ Smith’s Arms, Carlton, Stockton-on-Tees. 7:00pm.
Sun 03: Johnny Hunter Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Sun 03: Jam session @ The Schooner, Gateshead. 8:00pm. Free.

Mon 04: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Mon 04: Northern Monkey Brass Band @ People’s Kitchen, Bath Lane, Newcastle. From 5:30pm. On-street gig supporting the work of the People’s Kitchen charity. Wrap up warm! Donate!
Mon 04: Michael Young Trio w Lindsay Hannon @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 7:00pm. Free.
Mon 04: James Birkett Trio @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £8.00.
Mon 04: Durham University Jazz Orchestra + Durham University Big Band @ Durham Castle DH1 3RW. 8:30pm. £6.00.; £5.00. concs; £4.00. DSM. ‘Jazzy Christmas’.

Tue 05: Customs House Big Band @ All Saints Church, Cleadon. 7:00pm. Concert in the church hall. BYOB.
Tue 05: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Michael Young, Paul Grainger, Sid White. The best free show in town!

Wed 06: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 06: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 8:00pm. Free. Note later start time, concert performance (open to the public).
Wed 06: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 07: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free CANCELLED!
Thu 07: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Spanish City, Whitley Bay, Newcastle. 12 noon - 4:00pm. £26.00 (inc 3-course meal in in St Mary's Lighthouse Suite). SOLD OUT!
Thu 07: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Gateshead Central Library, Gateshead. 2:30pm. All welcome.
Thu 07: Thursday Night Prayer Meeting @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.Donations. Feat. Mark Sanders.
Thu 07: Indigo Jazz Voices @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:45pm. £5.00. Downstairs.
Thu 07: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 08: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 08: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 08: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 08: Hayley's Little Big Band @ Woodland Village Hall, Bishop Auckland. 7:00pm. £12.00.
Fri 08: Sleep Suppressor + Redwell @ Head of Steam, Neville St., Newcastle. 8:00pm. £10.00. (£8.00. adv); £5.00. student.
Fri 08: Hot Club du Nord @ St Cuthbert's Church, Shadforth, Co. Durham.
Fri 08: Têtes de Pois + Nauta @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.00., £8.00.

Sat 09: Castillo Nuevo Trio @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 5:30pm. Free.
Sat 09: Abbie Finn Trio @ Claypath Deli, Durham. 7:00pm.
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.

Sunday, February 05, 2017

Royal Northern Sinfonia : The Cole Porter Songbook @ Sage Gateshead



Royal Norther Sinfonia conducted by Roderick Dunk w. Anna O'Byrne; Caroline Sheen; Damian Humbley: Jon Boydon.
(Review by Lance).
This was absolutely superb - not a jazz gig, not even slightly, but as a showcase for, perhaps the greatest songwriter the world has ever known, it couldn't be bettered.
Guest conductor, Dunk, pointed out that he loved hearing Frank or Ella singing Porter and the wonderful arrangements of Nelson Riddle, Billy May etc. but, this afternoon was about hearing the songs as they were originally performed on Broadway.
The songs, we know, are great. They provide a launching pad for all jazz musicians, and singers past and present. However, this afternoon it was the words, the lyrics, that totally captured me. Songs that I've listened to for years suddenly had new lyrics whilst the humour, the double entendre, of some of the others made me wonder how I'd missed them the first (and subsequent) times around! As Jon Boydon sang Brush Up Your Shakespeare, the incredibly clever and funny number from Kiss Me Kate I wondered if in, say 500 years time, someone will write a tune called Brush Up Your Cole Porter? They should and next week would be better than half a millennium away.  
This was all about Broadway and, as everyone knows, The Great White Way's motto is 'The Show Must Go On'. Today proved it.
David Thaxton had to pull out due to family illness and Damian Humbley stepped in.
Damian had drove/flew/trained/biked/walked [delete as appropriate] 300 miles, for a 10;30am rehearsal the previous day and gave a performance that suggested it was just another day at the office! Fantastic!
Amazingly, Boydon, who'd been on the gig a little longer did fluff a couple of lines but I doubt if anyone else noticed. It didn't lose him any points and, of the two guys, he was the jazzier.
The girls were gorgeous and they had voices to match. Anna O'Byrne, Australian opera singer, sang with the range expected of someone whose career has encompassed leads in such diverse vehicles as the Magic Flute and Sweeney Todd.
Caroline Sheen, the sassier of the two - think Garland/Merman - completed the quartet. Her Why Can't You Behave?most certainly would have had me behaving.
This was one non-stop concert and, much as I love the John Wilson shows, this was every bit as good!
Thank you, Sage, thank you, Cole Porter.
Earlier, on the concourse, James Birkett led his aspirants through a short set that heartened me for the future.
Lance.

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