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Bebop Spoken There

Billy Boy Arnold: “As long as you don't think old you're good.” - DownBeat, December, 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!"

Simon Spillett: A lovely review from the dean of jazz bloggers, Lance Liddle...

Postage

16051 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 1058 of them this year alone and, so far, 12 this month (Dec. 6).

From This Moment On ...

December

Fri 08: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 08: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 08: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 08: Giles Strong Quartet @ The Old Library, Auckland Castle. 1:00pm. £7.00.
Fri 08: Hayley's Little Big Band @ Woodland Village Hall, Bishop Auckland. 7:00pm. £12.00.
Fri 08: Sleep Suppressor + Redwell @ Head of Steam, Neville St., Newcastle. 8:00pm. £10.00. (£8.00. adv); £5.00. student.
Fri 08: Hot Club du Nord @ St Cuthbert's Church, Shadforth, Co. Durham.
Fri 08: Têtes de Pois + Nauta @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.00., £8.00.

Sat 09: Prudhoe Community Band @ Central Station, Newcastle. 10:00am - 12 noon. Charity fundraiser.
Sat 09: Durham Alumni Big Band @ Number One Bar, Skinnergate, Darlington. 1:00pm.
Sat 09: Castillo Nuevo Trio @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 5:30pm. Free.
Sat 09: Hayley's Little Big Band @ Middleton & Todridge Village Hall, Morpeth. 7:30pm. £12.00., £6.00.
Sat 09: Paul Skerritt @ Slaley Hall, Hexham NE47 0BX. 7:30pm. From £42.00.

Sun 10: Musicians Unlimited’s Xmas Party with Zoë Gilby Quartet @ Park Inn, Hartlepool. MU 1:00-3:00pm; Zoë Gilby Quartet 4:00-6:00pm. Tickets: £7.50.
Sun 10: Alan Law, Paul Grainger & Abbie Finn @ Darlington Market, Market Square, Darlington. 1:00pm. Free. A ‘Christmas Market’ outdoor gig. Wrap up warm!
Sun 10: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00-4:00pm. Free.
Sun 10: Funk Soul Sista @ Stack, Seaburn. 5:00-7:00pm. Free.
Sun 10: Beth Clarke @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 10: Hayley's Little Big Band @ Whittingham Memorial Institute, Alnwick. 7:30pm. £12.00., £10.00.
Sun 10: Tele-Port @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Line-up inc. Zhenya Strigalev.

Mon 11: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 11: Interim Final Recitals @ Newcastle University. Details TBC.

Tue 12: Stu Collingwood Organ Trio @ Forum Music Centre, Darlington. 7:00pm. £10.00.

Wed 13: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 13: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 13: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 13: Bold Big Band @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:30pm.
Wed 13: Giles Strong Quartet @ Alphabetti Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 14: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 14: Hot Fingers @ The Lubetkin Theatre, Peterlee. 7:00pm. £10.00.
Thu 14: After Hours Student Jazz Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 14: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. . Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 14: Niffi Osiyemi Trio @ Harbour View, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 14: Mo Scott ‘Little Mo’s Festive Appearance’ @ The Schooner, Gateshead. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 14: Tees Hot Club w. Kevin Eland, Josh Bentham, Garry Hadfield, Adrian Beadnell @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Saturday, June 24, 2017

Paul Skerritt Band @ Jazz Café - June 23

Paul Skerritt (vocal): James Harrison (piano); Anth Ord (bass guitar); Tom Chapman (drums).
(Review by Lance).
Skerritt has acquired a beard since the last time I saw him. He's also just come off his honeymoon so I guess shaving isn't his top priority in the mornings. In celebration of the nuptials, a tray of Rice Crispy based wedding cake was offered around and, it has to be said, it was the best Rice Crispy based wedding cake I've ever tasted bar none. Come to think of it, it's the only Rice Crispy based wedding cake I've ever tasted! It was still delicious - as was the music.
Putting on the Ritz got the party underway and it was quite a party. This band don't do subtle or maybe they do but perhaps it's so subtle only the most keenly attuned ears notice it and you don't get many keenly attuned ears in The Caff on a Friday night.

Georgia on my Mind (I'm never quite sure whether the lyric refers to a woman or the American state) had a semblance of subtlety, particularly in Harrison's fill-ins. They're often amusing but always relevant. He's a showboater but one who can certainly play. His technique and ideas constantly developing from gig to gig.
Hooray For Love, an out and out swinger, kept the feet a tapping and begged the question, "Who's this Curtis Stigers anyway?"
Black & Gold moved into more contemporary waters with an impressive blast from Ord. The two coke [cola] heads, Ord and Chapman were Gibraltar-like in support throughout. 
Misty featured more bass work whilst the opening line to the next number, What a day this has been, what a rare mood I'm in, why it's Almost Like Being in Love summed up the night so far and it was far from over. Harrison at the top of his game, a musical jack in a box, Skerritt, swinging and singing and ring-a-ding-dinging, Ord and Chapman firing on all cylinders - my kind of band.
Gregory Porter's Take me to the Alley took on a more serious note and caused me to reflect that the words could relate to some of the alleys not too far from Pink Lane.
Goody Goody, I'm sure Ann Alex could write about this tit for tat song of gloating. "You gave him your heart too, just as I gave mine to you, and he broke it in little pieces, now how do you do?"
Priceless!
Priceless too was the exchange of fours.
The set finished with a frantic version of Sway which saw a couple, who shall be nameless, tripping the light fantastic. Move over Fred and Ginger, meet George and Mary.
Time for the aforementioned wedding cake and more ale to be purchased.
The trio kicked the second set off with I Wish I Knew How it Felt to be Free before the most surprising number of the evening. Taylor Swift's Shake it Off. Harrison moved over to the upright and displayed his qualifications as a Ragtime Professor. Even Taylor Swift in a white tutu couldn't top this!
American Girl; Daft Punk's Get Lucky; Come Fly With me; Rodgers, Hart and Skerritt's Gentleman [Lady] is a Tramp and Have You Met Miss Jones? brought my evening to a close.
It had been quite an evening.
Lance.

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