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Bebop Spoken There

David Hadju: "It was kind of a lightning bolt [seeing a photo of a hi-fi store that's now occupied by a phone store]. Everyone had hi-fi systems, now everyone has a phone" - (DownBeat May 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

Sun 28: Bradley Creswick's Western Swingfonia @ Whitley Bay Carnival. Free. Plaza Arena stage. 12 noon.
Sun 28: MSK @ Whitley Bay Carnival. 12:15pm. Free. Marquee stage. MSK - Steve Glendinning, Katy Trigger, Martin Douglas.
Sun 28: Musicians Unlimited @ The Park Inn, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 28: Back Chat Brass @ Whitley Bay Carnival. 1:30pm. Free. Marquee stage.
Sun 28: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 28: Tim Kliphuis Trio @ St Mary's Church, Wooler NE71 6BZ. 3:00pm. £15.00 standard; £5.00 student/unwaged; free under 18. Afternoon Cocktail, a Wooler Summer Arts' concert promotion. Kliphuis (violin); Nigel Clark (guitar); Roy Percy (double bass).
Sun 28: Back Chat Brass @ Whitley Bay Carnival. 3:00pm. Free. Plaza Arena stage.
Sun 28: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 3:00pm.
Sun 28: King Bees @ The Delaval Arms, Old Hartley NE26 4RL. 5:00pm. Free. Chicago blues at its best!
Sun 28: Matt Anderson Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Anderson (saxophones); Jamil Sheriff (piano); Andy Champion (double bass); Dave Walsh (drums).

Mon 29: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

Tue 30: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 30: Big Chris Barber Band @ Whitley Bay Playhouse. 7:30pm.

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.

Thursday, February 09, 2017

Southport Jazz Festival : Birmingham Conservatoire Ellington Orchestra - February 5.

MD, Jeremy Price. Featured pianist (Far East Suite), John Turville.
(Review Steve T/Photos courtesy of Neil Hughes © Robert Burns.)
Brexit! Trump! Who cares? Let's have some Ellington. So spoke Jeremy Price and I think we all agreed.
It all began with the rhythm section: piano, guitar, bass, drums, with Price on trombone as the rest of the horns marched in to take their seats, playing as they came: four trumpets, three trombones and five saxes. The festival was gagging for a stage full of musicians, reflected in our appreciation. 
Trumpets are out, one trombone left, down to tenor, cut.
Years ago, when the time came to face the beast, my strategy was to sprawl through multiple box sets and key albums from the mid-fifties onwards, when such things began to appear.
I had decided to not even try to identify pieces, but Price kept it simple, doing them in threes: A Flat Minor, Half the Fun and Harlem Air Shaft; Flirty Bird, Idiom 59 and Koko; Across the Track Blues, Happy Go Lucky and Rockin’ in Rhythm.
A Train to finish and the Ella Fitzgerald arrangement which keeps us waiting for the main melody, and I think I've heard the Durham Gala Big Band do it this way.
They left the way they came in, down to big Jimmy Blanton.
The second set was the Far East Suite, a genius choice, a seriousambitious and difficult late work. Across the two sets we were given a wonderful contrast between early Ellington, which established him as the maestro for many of the greats (Miles, Mingus, Gil Evans, Cecil Taylor, Archie Shepp) across countless short pieces, in keeping with the technology of the times, and Ellington the elder statesman, highly respected as one of Americas greatest ever composers, in the era of the fortyish minute album.
The musicianship, from fourth years to first years, was of an astonishing level, with not an ounce of slack anywhere. Special mention of Sam Wright, swiftly switching between tenor and clarinet, and the only lady on the stage, which was something of a theme for the day. And my journey towards total acceptance of the clarinet continues.
I came out in search of a pee and a pint but everywhere was deserted: the loos, the lounge, the corridors, the bars, the only occasion this happened over the two days.
Back in the hall, the applause was raucous, encouraged by Price doing a brilliant job with the announcements, encouraging us to ease up on the reverence, smiling faces and thumbs going up across the room.
Appropriately it was Sam Wright’s clarinet that finally brought things to a close.
I've no doubt many there would have had this as the gig of the festival. 
Photos.
Steve T.

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