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Bebop Spoken There

Spasmo Brown: “Jazz is an ice cream sandwich! It's the Fourth of July! It's a girl with a waterbed!”. (Syncopated Times, July, 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

17421 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 16 years ago. 695 of them this year alone and, so far, 100 this month (Sept. 30).

From This Moment On ...

October

Wed 09: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free. Wed 09: Jason Isaacs @ St James’ STACK, Newcastle. 5:00-7:00pm. Free.
Wed 09: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 09: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 09: The Tannery Jam Session @ The Tannery, Gilesgate, Hexham. 7:00-9:00pm. Free. A ‘second Wednesday in the month’ jam session.
Wed 09: Shunya, Dudù Kouate & Seb Rochford @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 8:30pm (7:30pm doors). £21.00.

Thu 10: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 10: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. ‘Collaborations - it happened all the time’.
Thu 10: Indigo Jazz Voices w. the Little Big Band @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:45pm. £5.00.
Thu 10: Side Cafe Orkestar @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
The 10: Classic Swing @ Carlisle Rugby Club, Warwick Rd., Carlisle. 8:30pm. £9.
Thu 10: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesborough. 8:30pm. With guests Donna Hewitt (sax); Bill Watson (trumpet); Graham Thompson (keys); Ron Smith (bass). Free.

Fri 11: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 11: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 11: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 11: Dulcie May Moreno @ The Old Library, Auckland Castle, Bishop Auckland. 1:00pm. £8.00.
Fri 11: The Jazz Quartet + Stratosphonic @ Tynedale Rugby Club, Corbridge. 7:00pm. £15.00. A Rotary Club of Hexham event. The Jazz Quartet (Jude Murphy & co), Stratosphonic (blues/rock). CANCELLED!
Fri 11: Joe Steels Trio @ The Pele, Market Place, Corbridge NE45 5AW. 7:30pm. Free.
Fri 11: Crooners @ Tyne Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm.
Fri 11: Mo Scott Band @ Blues Underground, Nelson St., Newcastle. 9:00pm. Free.

Sat 12: Milne-Glendinning Band @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 12: Michael Woods @ Victoria Tunnel, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £12.00. (£10.00. adv.). Country blues guitar & vocals.
Sat 12: Nauta @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £13.28, £11.16, £9.04. A two-track recording launch gig.
Sat 12: Stuart Turner @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Rockabilly, rhythm & blues etc. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sat 12: Lapwing Jazz Trio @ The Ship Inn, Low Newton. 8:00pm. Free. New trio: Paula Whitty, Richard Herdman, Jude Murphy.

Sun 13: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 13: Emma Wilson @ Tyne Bar, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. Blues.
Sun 13: Catfish Keith @ The Cluny. 7:00pm. Country blues.
Sun 13: Cath Stephens & Paul Grainger @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Stephens & Grainger, one third of a triple bill.
Sun 13: Dulcie May Moreno Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 14: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 14: Black is the Color of My Voice @ Hippodrome, Darlington. 7:30pm. Apphia Campbell’s one-woman show inspired by Nina Simone, performed by Nicholle Cherrie.

Tue 15: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Alan Law (piano), Paul Grainger (double bass), Bailey Rudd (drums).

Reviewers wanted

Whilst BSH attempts to cover as many gigs, festivals and albums as possible, to make the site even more comprehensive we need more 'boots on the ground' to cover the albums seeking review - a large percentage of which never get heard - report on gigs or just to air your views on anything jazz related. Interested? then please get in touch. Contact details are on the blog. Look forward to hearing from you. Lance

Wednesday, August 02, 2017

Jo Harrop @ the Gala Studio, Friday July 28

(Review & photos by Brian Ebbatson/Collage by Lance).
The Park and Ride bus at Sniperley pulled away without Jo as she was helping some European visitors buy tickets, but this was the only mishap of the day. Jo still arrived well in time to quickly rehearse the one number not on the programme with fellow musicians Paul Edis on piano, Andy Champion on double bass and Russ Morgan on drums, before taking a quick break as the Gala Studio filled up in anticipation of some sparkling summer afternoon jazz.
“Jo Harrop is a young jazz singer with a rich, captivating voice, who takes on classic jazz standards with ease” is how the Royal Albert Hall website describes Jo. Such is the range of her repertoire,
Jordi Jo (as she’s been known since her student days) only repeated two numbers from the previous gigs. Hearing familiar, less familiar, and one new number we were treated to yet another outstanding hour of music.
Andy opened Taking a Chance on Love, Jo’s voice and phrasing clear and precise, Paul’s lively solo backed by Andy’s tight bass notes and Russ’s smooth brushes, Andy also soloing before Jo brought the song to a close. Don’t Be That Way followed, Jo sounding like one of her inspirations, Peggy Lee. Another carefully built solo by Paul a foretaste of more to come - classic piano jazz - as the band settled in for the rest of the concert. Jo finished on a deep mellow tone as the band closed out.

Bossa Nova followed with Jobim’s Once I Loved. Jo’s voice starts light and clear as she warms into the song; the band is really working as a tight unit behind her. Andy’s solo is crisp and resonant, reminiscent of Charlie Haden behind his perspex screen, and Jo final chorus is deep and warm, at times almost husky, as she reaches the final lines: “Love is the saddest thing, when it goes away”.
Nat King Cole is another inspiration for Jo and the next number, Jerome Kern’s Pick Yourself Up, pays appropriate homage. Paul is clearly enjoying the space given him, Russ’s cymbals ringing behind him, leading to a great drum solo before Jo closes out.

The pace changes for April in Paris, taken faster than Ella and the Count, but no less precise in Jo’s phrasing and clarity of voice. Another sparkling piano solo, then Andy’s bass brings Jo back to the final verses and chorus …. “no-one can ever reprise …”.
End Of The Affair is a gem. Jo has recorded this song with composer-pianist Alex Webb’s Copasetics on their 2016 CD Call Me Lucky (see 7 July 2016 review on this site,). On first hearing, the song is Jobimesque, the opening almost sounding like Corcovado, but it quickly establishes its own identity, while keeping the light melodic touch of the Brazilian master’s compositions. Jo sings it with feeling and confidence and the band play as if it is just another familiar standard. It’s a tribute to Webb’s composition and Jo and the band’s interpretation that it fits so smoothly into an otherwise all-American programme. You can hear Jo singing it with Alex Webb on YouTube.

Jo and the band are now pushed to finish the programme, but still do justice to all the numbers. Paul starts an extended version of Ellington’s I Ain’t Got Nothing But The Blues as if it was Rockin’ In Rhythm’, stretching out to cover almost all the notes on his keyboard. Jo’s voice is deep into the blues and the band really in the groove behind her. The pace slows with Brandt and Haymes’ 1952 number That’s All. Jo sings the delicate melody and lyrics beautifully, “If you’re wondering what I ask in return dear, you’ll be glad to know that my demand is small – that’s all”. You Turned the Tables on Me follows. Jo’s sings the lyrics with feeling and sincerity - “You turned the tables on me. I can’t believe it’s true. … I got was coming to me”.
We’re all checking our watches and wondering if they’ll complete the programme, but now Jo treats us to another gem, the little known but beautiful You Taught My Heart To Sing by McCoy Tyner and Sammy Kahn, which Jo discovered on a Dianne Reeves CD. But not quite the end. As the clock ticks past the hour Jo, Paul, Andy and Russ launch into a high-paced rendering of Cole Porter’s I Get A Kick Out Of You, an appropriate finale whose message the 100-capacity audience enthusiastically reflect back to singer and band.
Brian E.

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