Total Pageviews

Bebop Spoken There

Art Blakey: "You [Bobby Watson] don't want to play too long, because you don't know they're clapping because they're glad you finished!" - (JazzTimes, Nov. 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!"

Postage

15867 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 874 of them this year alone and, so far, 72 this month (Sept. 25).

From This Moment On ...

September

Thu 28: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 28: Alice Grace Quartet @ King's Hall, Newcastle University. 1:15pm. Free.
Thu 28: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Gateshead Central Library, Gateshead. 2:30pm. All welcome.
Thu 28: Faye MacCalman + Snape/Sankey @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 28: Zoe Rahman @ Jesmond United Reformed Church, Jesmond, Newcastle. 7:30pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Thu 28: '58 Jazz Collective @ Hops & Cheese, Hartlepool. 7:30pm.
Thu 28: Speakeasy @ Queen's Hall, Hexham. 7:30pm. £15.00. A Southpaw Dance Company presentation. Dance, audio-visuals, Count Basie, Benny Goodman, swing dancers etc.
Thu 28: Mick Cantwell Band @ Harbour View, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Ace blues band.
Thu 28: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 29: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 29: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 29: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.

Sat 30: John Pope Quintet + Late Girl + Shapeshifters @ Bobik's, Jesmond, Newcastle.
Sat 30: Papa G's Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

OCTOBER

Sun 01: Smokin' Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm.
Sun 01: Dulcie May Moreno sings Portrait of Sheila @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £10.00. Moreno sings Sheila Jordan with Giles Strong, Mick Shoulder & John Bradford.
Sun 01: Middlesbrough Jazz & Blues Orchestra @ Saltburn Community Hall. 2:00pm.
Sun 01: The Easy Rollers @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £13.70., £11.55.
Sun 01: Brand/Roberts/Champion/Sanders @ Blank Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Sun 01: Papa G's Troves @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 02: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Mon 02: FILM: Wattstax; 50th Anniversary @ Forum Cinema, Hexham. 8:00pm.

Tue 03: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 03: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. House trio: Michael Young (piano); Paul Grainger (double bass); Paul Wight (drums).

Wed 04: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 04: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 04: Paul Skerritt @ Vespa Italian Bar & Steakhouse, Primrose Hill, Jarrow. From 7:00pm. To book a table - 0191 483 3355.
Wed 04: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Monday, June 19, 2017

James Birkett & Bradley Johnston @ Blaydon Jazz Club - June 18

James Birkett (guitar) & Bradley Johnston (guitar)
(Review by Russell/Photos courtesy of Roly Veitch)
Doors leading to the Black Bull’s beer garden were open all evening in a futile attempt to circulate fresh air through the lounge. The air stilled, nothing was moving. This month’s jazz concert drew a good crowd, with many of those present no doubt aware that Blaydon Jazz Club had recently lost one of its most loyal supporters with the passing of Margaret Barnes. The guitar duo of Dr James Birkett and Bradley Johnston expressed their admiration for Margaret, known to all as a keen jazz fan, and, quite simply, a very nice lady.
Our duo began with Black Orpheus. Birkett’s Blues for BJ (for his six string partner), then a Lonnie Johnson/Eddie Lang classic – Blue Room – set the highest of standards. The Birkett-Johnston duo began as a master and pupil arrangement. Now, Johnston, the 1st Class Honours graduate, is the equal partner in this musical relationship. Luiz Bonfá’s Uma Prece held the audience spellbound, a magical All the Things You Are, and as Birkett suggested, the Gershwin’s Someone to Watch Over Me an appropriate tune for us to remember Margaret, this was jazz guitar playing par excellence.
A bumper raffle (no fewer than nine prizes), a Deuchar’s glass replenished, the still, balmy evening encouraged all present to listen intently to our magicians – Messrs Birkett and Johnston – at work. Jobim’s Wave, Metheny’s Farmer’s Market (there had to be a Metheny number!), Doxy – a familiar set list perhaps, yet this concert performance exceeded expectations. The arrangements, changes, solos, everything about the evening just seemed right. John Lewis’ Skating in Central Park, elegant to the last, a brilliant – yet not too quick! – Cherokee, Johnston’s James’ Waltz (for you know who), this Blaydon Jazz Club presentation will live long in the memory. To close, the duo’s party piece –  Chick Corea’s Spain. Long fuse, light the blue touch paper, slow burn, stand back, wait, watch the fireworks. It works every time. Encore…Bacharach’s Alfie. A memorable evening at Blaydon Jazz Club. Margaret would have loved it.
Russell
All proceeds from the evening will be donated in memory of Margaret Barnes to Marie Curie Cancer Care.                                 

No comments :

Blog Archive