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Bebop Spoken There

Wendell Brunious: "Because the blues is not 1,4 and 5 or 1,4,5,2,1. You could wake up with a flat tyre or a headache this morning, that's the blues, man" - (DownBeat, Oct. 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!"

Postage

15878 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 885 of them this year alone and, so far, 83 this month (Sept. 30).

From This Moment On ...

October

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); Sid White (drums). CANCELLED!

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.

Thu 05: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 05: Sound the Trumpets @ King's Hall, Newcastle University. 1:15pm. Free.
Thu 05: Hot Club du Nord @ The Lubetkin Theatre, Peterlee. 7:00pm. £10.00. POSTPONED!
Thu 05: Thursday Night Prayer Meeting @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.
Thu 05: Tommy Bentz Trio + Mark Croft Duo + George Shovlin & George Lamb @ The Harbour View, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Harbour View Speakeasy's USA blues double bill + Shovlin & Lamb!
Thu 05: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Ragtime piano. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.
Thu 05: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 06: Alcyona Mick @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Fri 06: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 06: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 06: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 06: WORKSHOP: Philosophy of Arts & Entertainment @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 2:00pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Fri 06: Balo @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 6:20pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Fri 06: Paul Skerritt @ 3Sixty Champagne Lounge, Hadrian’s Tower, Newcastle. From 7:00pm. To book a table - 0191 933 8591.
Fri 06: Lexer/Mayes/Noble + Semay Wu + Miman @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 7:20pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Fri 06: Dulcie May Moreno @ The Vault, Hexham. 7:30pm. £20.00. Book in advance. Moreno with Alan Law, Paul Grainger & John Bradford.
Fri 06: Dean Stockdale Quartet @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm. 'Celebrating Oscar'.
Fri 06: Nu Brass Sounds: Big Brass Bash @ Billy Bootlegger’s, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free.
Fri 06: King Bees @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Blind Pig Blues Club. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

Sat 07: WORKSHOP: Philosophy of Arts & Entertainment @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 10:15am. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Sat 07: Hot Club du Nord @ St Augustine's Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm.
Sat 07: Bugge & Niccols + Moore & Fairhall @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Sat 07: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. Tutor: Steve Glendinning - All the Things You Are. £25.00. Enrol at: www.jazz.coop.
Sat 07: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 6:00pm. Free.
Sat 07: Rie Nakajima @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 6:20pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Sat 07: Paul Skerritt @ 3Sixty Champagne Lounge, Hadrian’s Tower, Newcastle. From 7:00pm. To book a table - 0191 933 8591.
Sat 07: Samuel Blaser Trio + Toxvaerd & Zeeberg + Muramatsu & Welch @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 7:20pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Sat 07: Anth Purdy @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Sat 07: Rendezvous Jazz @ Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.

Sun 08: Zoë Gilby Quintet + Ubunye @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Line-up inc. Tony Kofi. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Sun 08: Tommy Bentz Band @ Tyne Bar, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. USA blues band.

Wednesday, July 19, 2017

Jam session @ The Jazz Café - July 18

(Review by Russell)
A jam session debut for Stuart Collingwood. Been there, done that, has Stuart, so this jam session held no fears. Ain’t Misbehavin’ (true, he wasn’t), A Foggy Day (anything but), Come Rain or Come Shine, proper piano playing, likewise bass and drums courtesy of Paul Grainger and Russ Morgan.   The evening’s ‘guests’ as Collingwood called them – the sitters-in – were rather thin on the ground, at least initially.
One such sitter-in who clocked-on early was Newton Aycliffe-based drummer Abbie Finn. On hearing the news that Ms Finn was in the house, one of the house rhythm section said: Oh, good! Finn played a few numbers, stood down, to return later. First Russ Morgan then Abbie Finn, a frighteningly high standard had been set. A glance around the room…Where had all this lot come from? Suddenly a thinly populated Jazz Café was now heaving. Why settle for two fabulous drummers when you can have four? The Matts had arrived.
First up M MacKellar. And, long time no see pianist Vince Webb gave Collingwood the chance to get to the bar as the ever-changing stand welcomed John Pope. A few tunes later – including But Not for Me – M MacKellar vacated the drum chair for M Fairhurst. A young man of (very) few words, Matt F is soon to depart for university. A mainstay of Dave Weisser and co at the Globe, he’ll be a big loss. On this session he got on board The A Train and knocked out a classy solo on The Sidewinder which, by this time, featured the one and only David Gray. A trombone player who plays with commitment and verve, Gray is made for a jam session*.

At some point – the timeline somewhat vague with the profusion of talent on show – our four young guns took over…James Metcalf, trumpet, Ben Lawrence, piano, Michael Dunlop, double bass, and Matt Mackellar, drums. Metcalf didn’t shirk, opting to take on Herbie Hancock’s Maiden Voyage. An impressive shot at a fiendishly difficult tune, Metcalf is getting there. Pianist Ben Lawrence, a sixth former, has all the makings, is he going to go to music school? Bassist Michael Dunlop is a year or two ahead of him, at the Guildhall, no less, and drummer Matt MacKellar’s immediate future (USA here he comes!) has been well documented. The median age of jam session participants seems to be getting lower and lower and it’s thanks to the likes of these lads.

JJ Johnson’s In Walked Horace shuffled the pack again. Collingwood returned, so too Abbie Finn, and, waiting in the wings (waiting at the bar, to be precise!), Ms Julija Jaicenaite. JJ wrung Cry Me a River dry, accompanied by Ms Faye MacCalman, tenor saxophone, and another Guildhall under graduate, the explosive trumpeter Jack ‘Banjo’ Courtney. Julija (JJ) went for One Note Samba and Collingwood played lots of them. To close an over-running night (the best nights do) we set off on a dizzying Caravan.

* Another top trombone player (Mr BC) was in the house. If he brings his trombone on 1 August…                        
Note the date of the final jam session of the summer – Tuesday 1 August.      
Russell

Stuart Collingwood (piano), Paul Grainger (double bass) & Russ Morgan (drums) + more or less in order of appearance: Abbie Finn (drums), Matt MacKellar (drums), Vince Webb (piano), Matt Fairhurst (drums), John Pope (double bass), David Gray (trombone), Faye MacCalman (tenor saxophone), Ben Lawrence (piano), Michael Dunlop (double bass), James Metcalf (trumpet), Julija Jaicenaite (vocals) & Jack ‘Banjo’ Courtney (trumpet)   

1 comment :

Steve T said...

Sadly (for us) Ben's been torn between music and maths but, being something of a mathematical genius, looks like he's going to opt for the latter, and who can blame him when he can play Jazz on evenings and weekends, and (hopefully) earn a fortune mon to fri.

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