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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

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.

Fri 15: Paul Edis @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 15: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 15: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 15: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 15: Paul Skerritt @ Black Horse Inn, Crook. From 7:00pm.
Fri 15: Paul Edis: A Jazzy Christmas @ St Cuhtbert's Centre, Crook. 7:30pm. £15.00. SOLD OUT! Waiting list open.
Fri 15: Zoë Gilby Trio @ Seventeen Nineteen, Hendon, Sunderland. 7:30pm. £12.00. Fri 15: Strictly Smokin' Big Band @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 8:00pm. First night of two.
Fri 15: Darlington Big Band @ Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. £10.00. Opus 4 Jazz Club.
Fri 15: Baghdaddies @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £14.00.; £10.00.

Monday, September 18, 2017

Hand to Mouth @ Blaydon Jazz Club - September 17

Lindsay Hannon (vocals) & Bradley Johnston (guitar)
(Review by Russell)
Hand to Mouth – it could be a commentary on the precarious existence of many a jazz club. This Hand to Mouth is Lindsay Hannon and Bradley Johnston. Less than one year ago at Newcastle’s Jazz Café the duo produced a stunning debut performance. They followed up at the Lit and Phil, and now, a Blaydon Jazz Club engagement at the Black Bull.
Ella Fitzgerald recorded a series of late career duet albums with guitarist Joe Pass. Essentially a definitive take on the Great American Songbook (Ella garnered a Grammy award), the material is timeless, and here we are in the early years of the new century with Lindsay and Bradley looking afresh at the cannon. A couple from Take Love Easy (1973) for starters – the title track and Gee Baby, Ain’t I Good to You? Lindsay’s phrasing and recall of a lyric is nothing short of remarkable; not a lyric sheet in sight and a high stakes playfulness with the words. Bradley has studied online archive footage of the great Joe Pass. To hear the Wearside based guitarist recreate the master guitarist’s signature sound proved to be spellbinding.
Jobim’s Dindi and One Note Samba added rhythmic spice, the latter from Fitzgerald and Pass...
Again, Vernon Duke’s Autumn in New York a study in measured performance, similarly Bye Bye Blackbird. Lindsay’s textbook microphone technique is a lesson to any aspiring vocalist and Brad sets the volume levels ‘just so’ – now then, who was his tutor? Answers on a postcard!

More from Fitzgerald and Pass…Again – Sammy Fain’s That Old Feeling and a rousing I Ain’t Got Nothin’ but the Blues. Things were going well. Brad played the intro to…cue a big guffaw from one boisterous individual in the adjoining bar. Lindsay poised to sing, smiled, paused, and miraculously came in spot on singing In My Solitude. Ah, the perils – and joys! – of live jazz!

Stormy Weather gave us Blues in the Night, and My Funny Valentine could have been yet another perfunctory rendition of a much-loved tune but Hand to Mouth’s arrangement presented a different take with Lindsay’s stunning vocals a highlight of the evening.

Blaydon Jazz Club’s October concert promises to be a highlight of the year, that’s not simply at the Black Bull, but anywhere. Tenor saxophonist Vasilis Xenopoulos makes his now annual visit to the region to link up once more with Paul Edis. This year Vasilis will be bringing with him guitarist Nigel Price. That’s Vasilis, Nigel, Paul, and the incomparable bass and drums pairing of Andy Champion and Russ Morgan. You could be forgiven for thinking Christmas had arrived early! Sunday October 22nd is the date. Ink it in your diary, cancel that trip of a lifetime, rise from your sick bed, switch off the telly, and get to the Black Bull in time for an eight o’clock start. Thirty five days and counting… Russell.                    


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