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Bebop Spoken There

Ambrose Akinmusire: “ I am certainly always aware of what the masses are doing. And when I see too many people going one way, I'm going another way - even when I don't know what's over that way". DownBeat, March, 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

16287 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 16 years ago. 169 of them this year alone and, so far, 41 this month (Mar 18).

From This Moment On ...

March

Tue 19: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Michael Young, Paul Grainger, Tim Johnston.

Wed 20: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 20: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 20: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 21: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 21: Castillo Neuvo Trio + Conor Emery & His ‘Bones Band @ The Grove, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 7:30pm (7:00pm doors). £10.00. (£7.00. student).
Thu 21: Remi Banklyn + Chris Corcoran Trio @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.50. Chicago blues. An International Guitar Foundation promotion.
Thu 21: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Ragtime piano.
Thu 21: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm.

Fri 22: Vasilis Xenopoulos & Paul Edis @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. £8.00. SOLD OUT!
Fri 22: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 22: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 22: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 22: Nauta + Remy CB + Last Orders @ Hoochie Coochie, Newcastle. 8:30pm (7:30pm doors). Free.
Fri 22: Vasilis Xenopoulos-Paul Edis Quartet @ Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. £15.00. Opus 4 Jazz Club.
Fri 22: Redwell @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sat 23: Jambone @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 6:30pm. Free (ticketed). End of term performance in the Northern Rock Foundation Hall.
Sat 23: Milne-Glendinning Band @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 23: Red Kites Jazz @ Rowlands Gill Community Centre NE39 1JB. 7:00pm. Tickets: £12.00. (gibsidecommunityfarm@gmail.com). A ‘Build a Barn’ fundraiser. BYOB, tea/coffee available.
Sat 23: New Century Ragtime Orchestra @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £20.00. + bf (book in person at venue - no booking fee!). Featuring pianist Martin Litton.
Sat 23: Pete Tanton’s Cuba Libre @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 24: Musicians Unlimited @ Park Inn, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 24: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:30pm. Free.
Sun 24: Luis Verde @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm. Verde (alto sax); Joe Steels (guitar); John Pope (double bass); John Hirst (drums). Alto sax brilliance!
Sun 24: Elsie Franklin @ The Globe, Newcastle. 3:00pm. £10.00. Country blues. An International Guitar Foundation promotion.
Sun 24: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay Metro Station. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 24: Las Vegas Live with the Rat Pack @ The Forum, Billingham.
Sun 24: Ian Millar & Dominic Spencer @ Otterburn Memorial Hall. 7:30pm. £12.00.
Sun 24: Lindsay Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Note start time - 7:00pm.
Sun 24: Bold Big Band @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 25: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 25: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 6:30pm. Free.

Monday, April 24, 2017

Under the Moon of Love? Ruth Lambert Quartet @ Ushaw College – April 21.

Ruth Lambert, vocals; Paul Edis, piano; Andy Champion, bass; Rob Walker, drums.
(Review/photos by Jerry)
The gig began with No Moon at All (which was appropriate as it was stottin’ down outside and even a “supermoon” would have been invisible), revved up in the second set with That Old Devil Moon and ended with How High the Moon. Love was most definitely the theme of the evening as evidenced by Beautiful Love, a song which Ruth Lambert explained had featured in the 1932 film, The Mummy, when Karloff’s mummy pursued the beautiful Helen Grosvenor. The things you learn!
We had a slow, moody take on “living to love and muddling through” in I’m Glad There Is You followed by a rapid gallop through Mercer and Kern’s I’m Old Fashioned (“stay old fashioned with me”). Ruth said she “never tired of singing” the next number, Arlen’s I’ve Got the World on a String, (“what a life – I’m in love!”) while Ira Gershwin summed up the euphoria with ‘S Wonderful! Brother, George, wrote the notes, of course, and some of his other notes popped up, intriguingly, in the piano solo during West Coat Blues in which Wes Montgomery with his “suitcase full of sorrows” gave an alternative take on love. The first set closed with Jobim’s Agua de Beber, a beautiful bossa nova with very metaphorical lyrics (by de Moraes?) – “Your love is rain, my heart the flower…”. It could have reminded us of the world outside –“since the rain has to fall, let it fall on me” – but we were lost in the music by then….
……..and stayed lost in the music till the aforementioned How High the Moon. I’ve mentioned all the second set songs bar two very contrasting ones in terms of tone and tempo: A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square and Ellington’s Caravan. Although I am a bit of a birdwatcher, I’ve never heard a Nightingale (I doubt they sing a lot in Chester-le-Street!) but if I had, my comment would probably be, as per my notes at the gig: “a beautiful song, beautifully sung”. Caravan was memorable because it gave Rob Walker an opportunity to let off steam and gain much-deserved applause with a drum intro and the relentless driving rhythm of sticks on the rim of the drum (for which, I’m sure, there must be a technical term – rim-click, maybe?). I’d earlier appreciated his drumming with his hands on the bossa nova – I expect there’s a term for that, too!All four musicians were on top form. Ruth Lambert exercised her full vocal range (Agua de Beber finished on a very high note!) in a variety of moods from wistful (Nightingale) to giggly (I’m Old Fashioned). Before the second number she asked Paul Edis to do “something inventive and beautiful” as an intro and that pretty much summed up his solos all evening. Andy Champion was not to be left behind, either: my notes on ‘S Wonderful say “cracking piano solo matched by A.C.” and he was prominent on several other numbers such as West Coast Blues and I’m Old Fashioned where he gave us an amazingly energetic bowed solo!
So, this first in a new season of gigs at Ushaw (now well-established as a jazz venue and deservedly flourishing) set the bar high for the summer to come. With four top musicians mining the rich seams of the “Gasbook” you’d expect no less. Next up is the Strictly Smokin' Big Band, look out for details.
Jerry.

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