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Bebop Spoken There

Kurt Elling: ''There's something to learn from every musician you play with''. (DownBeat, December 2024).

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...

Josh Weir: I love the writing on bebop spoken here... I think the work you are doing is amazing.

Postage

17586 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 16 years ago. 860 of them this year alone and, so far, 5 this month (Dec. 2).

From This Moment On ...

December

Tue 10: Customs House Big Band @ All Saints Church Hall, Cleadon. 7:30pm. £6.00. The CHBB’s annual Xmas concert featuring Ruth Lambert. A BYOB gig!

Wed 11: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 11: Cath Stephens’ improvisation workshop @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 4:30-6:00pm. Collaborative group focusing on vocal improvisations.
Wed 11: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 11: The Tannery Jam Session @ The Tannery, Gilesgate, Hexham. 7:00-9:00pm. Free. Second Wednesday in the month.
Wed 11: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 12: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Spanish City, Whitley Bay. 12 noon. £27.00. (inc. three -course meal).
Thu 12: Jason Isaacs @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 5:00-6:45pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Thu 12: Stuart Turner @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 12: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesborough. 8:30pm. Free. Guests: Jeremy McMurray (keys); Mark Toomey (alto sax); Donna Hewitt (tenor sax); Kevin Eland (trumpet); Ron Smith (bass).

Fri 13: Dean Stockdale Trio @ Auckland Castle, Bishop Auckland. 1:00pm. £8.00.
Fri 13: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 13: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 13: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 13: Bellavana @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 3:00-5:00pm. Free.
Fri 13: Joe Steels Trio @ The Pele, Corbridge. 7:00pm. Free.
Fri 13: Customs House Big Band @ Stocksfield Community Association. 7:00pm. Featuring Ruth Lambert.
Fri 13: Paul Edis & Friends: A Jazzy Xmas @ St Cuthbert’s Centre, Crook. 7:30pm. £15.00.
Fri 13: Strictly Smokin’ Big Band @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £19.00. + bf. First night of two.
Fri 13: Ransom Van @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Fri 13: Boys of Brass @ Hoochie Coochie, Newcastle. 9:00pm. £10.00.

Sat 14: Jambone @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 6:15pm. Free but ticketed.
Sat 14: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm.
Sat 14: Red Kites Jazz @ Staiths Café, Autumn Dr., Gateshead. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 14 Lapwing Jazz Trio @ Three Sheets to the Wind, Alnwick. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 14: Strictly Smokin’ Big Band @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £19.00. + bf. Second night of two.
Sat 14: Papa G’s Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 15: Musicians Unlimited @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 12 noon. £8.50. Xmas party feat. Musicians Unlimited + Customs House Big Band. SOLD OUT!
Sun 15: Paul Edis & Friends: A Jazzy Xmas @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 2:00pm.
Sun 15: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 15: Mitch Laddie Band @ Tyne Bar, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. Superb blues power trio.
Sun 15: Leeway @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 15: Tweed River Jazz Band @ Barrels Ale House, Berwick. 7:00pm. Free.
Sun 15: Paul Edis & Friends: A Jazzy Xmas @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm.
Sun 15: Alligator Gumbo @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 16: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 16: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Wheatsheaf, Benton Sq., Whitley Road, Palmersville NE12 9SU. Tel: 0191 266 8137. 12 noon. £9.95. ‘Festive Turkey Dinner’. Book now: 0191 266 8137.
Mon 16: Paul Edis & Friends: A Jazzy Xmas @ The Fire Station, Sunderland. 7:30pm.

Reviewers wanted

Whilst BSH attempts to cover as many gigs, festivals and albums as possible, to make the site even more comprehensive we need more 'boots on the ground' to cover the albums seeking review - a large percentage of which never get heard - report on gigs or just to air your views on anything jazz related. Interested? then please get in touch. Contact details are on the blog. Look forward to hearing from you. Lance

Friday, March 10, 2017

Great North Big Band Jazz Festival @ Park View Community Centre, Chester le Street. March 5 – Youth Section

(Review by Russell)
The final chorus of this year’s Great North Big Band Jazz Festival, the Youth Section. Saturday’s senior Open Section produced several hours of top class big band jazz, Sunday morning turned the spotlight on schools, now, to close, eight youth big bands, the ensembles which will produce the senior musicians of tomorrow.
Youth Section
Kirklees to Chester le Street, depart 10:15am, arrive in good time for a three o’clock performance. Musica Shelley Big Band arrived safely, tuned-up, and at MD Simon Mansfield’s command, hit the ground running with Randy Newman’s You’ve Got a Friend in Me. Sam Jones’ Unit 7 made a second appearance of the day and we heard some more from the pen of Big Phat master Gordon Goodwin – this time Backrow Politics. A sound start.
The award winning Dave Hignett returned to the scene of his earlier triumph to conduct the Tyne Valley Youth Big Band. A relatively small band (approx twenty!) by MD Hignett’s standards, four tunes in twenty minutes represented something of a leisurely set for the always motoring TVYBB. Planet Gibbous to the Adderley’s Tango Tango to Game of Thrones, Sam Armstrong on trumpet and Sophie Speed playing alto impressed, likewise trumpeters Ben Tanton and Emma Dunwell.

All seats on the Kirklees’  band bus were filled for the trip to Chester le Street. Following hot on the heels of Musica Shelley came MD Adam Kingham and Musica Youth Jazz. A twenty one piece outfit, four numbers, and a trumpet duet featuring Christie Smith and Rebecca Reddiough on a Neal Hefti chart – Duet (trans. Jon Harpin). The Hefti muted horns were a joy to listen to.  A prize winning performance? 

MD Shaune Eland works tirelessly with members of Durham County Youth Big Band. This 2017 edition of the band received the thumbs-up in advance from a keen observer of the big band scene (locally, nationally and internationally). The dynamic Children of Sanchez set the ball rolling with a sit-up-and-take-notice contribution by guitarist Emily Simpson. Burt Bacharach’s The Look of Love and A Child is Born featured alto saxophonist Beth Roberts and the closing number – Sunny – put Omar Shade, tenor, and guitarist Simpson in the spotlight.

Wakefield Youth Jazz Orchestra, conductors Stuart Wilkinson and Amanda Spalding, opted to start with Scrapple from the Apple. Classic material, a good start. The set list also included Richard Ingram’s remarkably titled The Krzysztof Skubiszewski and Alfred Hrdlicka Two-Step. Titles aside, the music was good! Lars Halle’s Funk Tank with Jessica Taylor, alto, closed the set.

Sage Gateshead’s Jambone big band has taken giant strides in recent months. Under the tutelage of conductor Paul Edis numbers have increased, confidence has been restored and there is every reason to believe that tangible success – ie silverware – is on the horizon. Two Edis’ compositions – The Coast and When All is Said and Done – featured reeds, brass and the rhythm section boys. Flautists Imogen Davies-Pugh and Megan Robinson impressed, similarly pianist Philip Grobe, guitarist Matthew Downey and bassist Alex Shipsey. Powerhouse drummer Dylan Thompson is one to watch – his solo on When All is Said and Done deservedly won applause and the ensemble acquitted itself admirably on Monk’s Bright Mississippi.

Top trumpeter and MD Ian Chalk arrived with the York Music Forum Jazz Orchestra. A four tune set comprising Gershwin, an Ian Chalk original and a Snarky Puppy chart looked promising and the band didn’t disappoint. Chalk said he thought that Strike Up the Band was a good way to start. Quite. A nod to Miles Davis – Chalk’s Signs of Achievement (For Miles) – featured Nathan Burroughs, alto, and baritone saxophonist Will Gibbon. Very impressive! Snarky Puppy’s bassist Michael League wrote Shofukan and the York-based band took a look at it. On this evidence, the possibility of some silverware heading to York couldn’t be discounted.

Last, but by no means least, conductor Nigel Blenkiron and Scarborough Music Centre EASY Jazz took to the stage…all thirty-five of them! Verging on symphonic proportions, Festival Director Bill Watson said this was by far the largest gathering to assemble at the Great North Big Band Jazz Festival. The stage crew – working out of Sunderland University – shoe-horned all thirty five of the Scarborough contingent onto the platform. Stevie Wonder to Dizzy Gillespie via the Pink Panther theme, this was a musical and visually stimulating set. Lewis Alder, trombone, impressed on the Mancini standard.

A long day, indeed a long weekend, was drawing to a close, but not before the awarding of several prizes and a vote of thanks to the many unsung workers behind the scenes. Bill Watson expressed his thanks once again to Sunderland University, to Chester le Street Rotary Club for their welcome financial assistance, Durham Freemasons and the presence of the Musicians Union.

Adjudicators Mick Donnelly and Adrian Tilbrook informed Bill Watson of their deliberations and the results were as follows:

Adjudicators’ Award: Christie Smith trumpet and Rebecca Reddiough trumpet, duet on Duet
(Musica Youth Jazz)

Adjudicators’ Award: Emily Simpson guitar (Durham County Youth Big Band)

Adjudicators’ Award: Lewis Alder trombone (Scarborough Music Centre EASY Jazz)

Best Programme: Musica Youth Jazz

Best Section: Rhythm section (York Music Forum Jazz Orchestra)

Best Soloist: Will Osborne trombone (pictured) (York Music Forum Jazz Orchestra)

Best Band: Durham County Youth Big Band (Pictured).
Russell

1 comment :

Anonymous said...

Thanks Russell- what a marathon of listening, note-taking,editing and posting- sure a special award is due?-Niall

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