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Bebop Spoken There

Steve Fishwick: “I can’t get behind the attitude that new is always somehow better than old” - Jazz Journal, April 15, 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!"

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

Postage

16034 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 1041 of them this year alone and, so far, 73 this month (Nov. 27).

From This Moment On ...

November

Wed 29: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 29: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 29: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 30: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 30: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 7:30pm (7:00pm doors). Tickets: £25.00. inc. buffet. A Gatsby themed evening.
Thu 30: Jools Holland's R & B Orchestra @ Newcastle City Hall. 7:30pm.
Thu 30: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Ragtime piano. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.
Thu 30: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. Guest band night: Mark Toomey Quintet (Mark Toomey, sax; Paul Donnelly, guitar; Jeremy McMurray, keys; Peter Ayton, bass; Mark Robertson, drums). 9:00pm.

December
Fri 01: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 01: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 01: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 01: Paul Skerritt @ All Saints’ Church, Eastgate, Co. Durham. 7:00pm. Xmas Tree Fest.
Fri 01: Alligator Gumbo @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 01: Nu Sound Brass @ Billy Bootlegger’s, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free.
Fri 01: Struggle Buggy w. Jim Murray @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Blind Pig Blues Club. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sat 02: Paula Jackman's Jazz Masters @ St Augustine's Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. £10.00.
Sat 02: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. Tutor: Steve Glendinning. £25.00. Enrol at: www.jazz.coop.
Sat 02: Abbie Finn Trio @ Claypath Deli, Durham. 7:00pm.
Sat 02: Tenement Jazz Band @ John Marley Centre, Newcastle. Swing Tyne Winter Social. £8.00. + bf. Advance purchase only, no admission at the door. BYOB. Lindy hop workshop from 11:00am. £39.00.
Sat 02: Zoë Gilby Quartet @ The Masham, Hartburn Village, Stockton. 7:00pm. Feat. Noel Dennis.
Sat 02: Classic Swing @ The Nuthatch, 9 - 11 Bedford St, Middlesbrough TS1 2LL. 7:00-9:00pm. Classic Swing in trio format.
Sat 02: Paul Skerritt w. Danny Miller Big Band @ Westovian Theatre, South Shields. 7:30pm.
Sat 02: Vermont Big Band @ Whitley Bay FC. 7:30pm. £10.00. (inc. hot buffet). Tickets available from WBFC’s Seahorse pub club house.
Sat 02: Milne-Glendinning Band @ Ponteland Social Club, Northumberland. 7:30pm. £18.00 (inc. stotties & soup supper). A fundraiser for Hexham Constituency Labour Party.
Sat 02: Durham Dynamics & Basement Jazz @ Kingsgate Bar & Café, Durham Students’ Union. 7:30pm. £5.00. (£4.50. concs.). ‘Fab & Festive’. A cappella & jazz. Abba, Mariah Carey & more.
Sat 02: Tom Remon & Laurence Harrison @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sat 02: Rendezvous Jazz @ Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. Xmas party night inc. buffet & special raffle. £3.00.
Sat 02: Groovetrain @ The Unionist Club, Laygate, South Shields. 9:00pm.

Sun 03: The Central Bar Quartet @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £10.00. The Central Bar Quartet plays Lou Donaldson’s Gravy Train. Featuring Jamie Toms.
Sun 03: Paul Skerritt @ Smith’s Arms, Carlton, Stockton-on-Tees. 7:00pm.
Sun 03: Johnny Hunter Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Sun 03: Jam session @ The Schooner, Gateshead. 8:00pm. Free.

Mon 04: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Mon 04: Northern Monkey Brass Band @ People’s Kitchen, Bath Lane, Newcastle. From 5:30pm. On-street gig supporting the work of the People’s Kitchen charity. Wrap up warm! Donate!
Mon 04: Michael Young Trio w Lindsay Hannon @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 7:00pm. Free.
Mon 04: James Birkett Trio @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £8.00.
Mon 04: Durham University Jazz Orchestra + Durham University Big Band @ Durham Castle DH1 3RW. 8:30pm. £6.00.; £5.00. concs; £4.00. DSM. ‘Jazzy Christmas’.

Tue 05: Customs House Big Band @ All Saints Church, Cleadon. 7:00pm. Concert in the church hall. BYOB.
Tue 05: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Michael Young, Paul Grainger, Sid White. The best free show in town!

Wednesday, September 06, 2017

Alan Glen Trio @ The Fox Inn - September 5

Alan Glen (piano), John Pope (double bass) & Paul Wight (drums)
(Review by Russell)
Hexham Jazz Club at the Fox Inn. The kind of jazz gig that shouldn’t work but it does. A one room hostelry frequented by locals there to enjoy a quiet pint, a small (old school dimensions) television, sound muted, perched above the bar (Moldova v Wales), the food offer of the traditional variety…a packet of crisps or a bag of salted peanuts. A proper pub.

An easy going publican with a sympathetic ear for jazz, a determined hard core of jazz enthusiasts booking musicians on a monthly basis and that essential element, the belief that someone will turn up. Tonight’s bass player, Mr John Pope, almost didn’t. Turn up, that is. On social media JP posted a comment to the effect that he fancied going to a jam session in Newcastle. The jazz network let it be known that he had an engagement elsewhere…the Fox Inn, Hexham, 8:00pm. JP needs a diary secretary! Hang on a minute! Eight o’clock? Several phone calls later, eight o’clock was confirmed. Jazz gigs at the Fox always start at 9:00pm. The new time, news to some, almost caught out some including the bass player, John Pope. At about ten past eight, the evening’s star attraction, pianist Alan Glen, wondered out loud where JP could be. As if by magic, JP’s green mop top appeared as his bull fiddle led him through the front door. Master pianist Glen sat unperturbed enjoying a pint as drummer Paul Wight greeted JP offering to buy him a drink. JP: I’ll have a pint of beer. Oh, well.

Deuchar’s (the house beer), convivial company and, at twenty minutes past the hour, the Alan Glen Trio! Mr Glen doesn’t do announcements, Mr Glen plays piano. A pub quiz of sorts ensued: Guess the Tune! Glen’s modern jazz piano playing has held audiences rapt for many a year and his intros are forever foxing (ouch!) listeners. Love for Sale, Stella by Starlight, the blokes over at the bar (all blokes, it’s that kind of pub) were listening, heads nodding, as maestro Glen gave a masterclass.

Alan Glen observes the jazz piano trio format; verse, chorus upon chorus, bass solo, fours. Four as it happens led to a GAS book double delight…I Fall in Love Too Easily followed by Beautiful Love. A Deuchar’s refill as Woody ‘n’ You brought the first set to a close, interval chatter, the second set would be just as good.

The trio resumed with Solar. Glen’s improvisations never cease to amaze. Bass and drums – Pope and Wight – have been working long enough with the veteran modernist to know what he’s about. Pope’s solos frequently impressed, and Wight’s propulsive drumming spurred the trio onto greater heights. ‘Sid’ Wight’s brushwork on ‘S Wonderful perhaps makes the case for playing the majority of Glen’s set without sticks. Brushes work well in this format with sticks an option for the up tempo cookin’ numbers. Maestro Glen composes tunes and on this Hexham Jazz Club date chose to play Rolling Sid in memory of friend and band mate Ray Truscott, who, for many years, lived in this part of the world. Alan Glen’s next masterclass is scheduled for Sunday 15 October at the Jazz Co-op on Railway Street in Newcastle.                         

Russell

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