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Bebop Spoken There

Béla Fleck: “ And that's the great thing about live performances, you take people on a journey. It doesn't have to be like something else they've heard. It's not supposed to be". DownBeat, April, 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

Thu 28: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 28: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Gateshead Central Library, Gateshead. 2:30pm.
Thu 28: Richard Herdman Quartet @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 28: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm. Guests: Josh Bentham (alto sax); Alan Marshall (tenor sax); Neil Brodie (trumpet); Adrian Beadnell (bass); Graham Thompson (keys); Steve Hunter (drums).

Fri 29: FILM: Soul @ The Forum Cinema, Hexham. 12:30pm. Jazz-themed film animation.
Fri 29: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 29: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 29: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 29: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 6:00pm. Free. POSTPONED!
Fri 29: Thundercat @ Newcastle City Hall.
Fri 29: John Logan @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sat 30: Papa G’s Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sat 30: Pete Tanton’s Cuba Libre @ Whitley Bay Library, York Road, Whitley Bay. 8:00pm.

Sun 31: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay Metro Station. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 31: Ruth Lambert Trio @ Juke Shed, Union Quay, North Shields NE30 1HJ. 3:00pm. Free. Lambert, Alan Law & Paul Grainger.
Sun 31: Sid Jacobs & Tom Remon @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. USA/London jazz guitar duo.
Sun 31: Bellavana @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

April
Mon 01: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 02: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Dean Stockdale, Paul Grainger, Abbie Finn.

Wed 03: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 03: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 03: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Monday, May 08, 2017

Led Bib @ the Bridge Hotel May 5











Chris Williams, Pete Grogan (alto saxes); Toby McLaren (keyboards); Liran Donin (bass); Mark Holub (drums)
(Review by Steve H/Photos courtesy of Ken Drew).
Led Bib have been frequent visitors to Tyneside ever since JNE supremo Paul Bream heard them playing on a boat in London in 2005 and thought they were worth a punt. I have been lucky enough to see them several time over the years and have always thoroughly enjoyed them.  I reviewed their last gig in Newcastle, at The Jazz Café almost 18 months ago, very positively.  However, on Sunday night the band seemed to have taken a quantum leap such was the quality and level of their performance. I would say it was the best gig I had seen from a British based band in years. The capacity audience, some of whom had travelled from far and wide, seemed to be in agreement. The band always play thumping, raucous, rocking jazz but on Sunday the performance seemed more nuanced, taking us all on a marvellous, uplifting, exhilarating journey.
Although the individual members all played wonderful solos these were not the highlights of the gig, rather it was the feel of the ensemble playing which really took one’s breath away. The twin altos of Williams and Grogan certainly gave the music a certain original bounce, Donin’s bass playing was sensational and McLaren was wonderfully inventive on keyboards. The whole shooting match was driven by the relentless, powerhouse, creative drumming of bandleader Holub.
All the tunes played bar one were from their latest album Umbrella Weather. After the gig whilst purchasing the aforementioned CD I mentioned to the band that I was buying it despite the fact that my favourite piece of the evening was not even on it. They apologised but explained that they were not able to reproduce the work in the studio in the same inspirational way that they had managed to perform it for us that evening. Proving that the joy of attending live music is that you never know what you might get and that sometimes you are lucky enough to be euphorically swept away by a band at the top of their game.
Steve H

1 comment :

Steve T said...

I saw them at the Gala in Durham a few years ago, a gig at least one of them has forgotten. I know I liked it but I certainly don't remember them being this good.
I remember asking one of them how they felt about people walking out only to be embarrassed that they didn't know. Shows how perceptions of Jazz have changed in just a few short years.

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