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Bebop Spoken There

Art Blakey: "You [Bobby Watson] don't want to play too long, because you don't know they're clapping because they're glad you finished!" - (JazzTimes, Nov. 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!"

Postage

15867 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 874 of them this year alone and, so far, 72 this month (Sept. 25).

From This Moment On ...

September

Tue 26: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.

Wed 27: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 27: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 27: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 28: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 28: Alice Grace Quartet @ King's Hall, Newcastle University. 1:15pm. Free.
Thu 28: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Gateshead Central Library, Gateshead. 2:30pm. All welcome.
Thu 28: Faye MacCalman + Snape/Sankey @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 28: Zoe Rahman @ Jesmond United Reformed Church, Jesmond, Newcastle. 7:30pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Thu 28: '58 Jazz Collective @ Hops & Cheese, Hartlepool. 7:30pm.
Thu 28: Speakeasy @ Queen's Hall, Hexham. 7:30pm. £15.00. A Southpaw Dance Company presentation. Dance, audio-visuals, Count Basie, Benny Goodman, swing dancers etc.
Thu 28: Mick Cantwell Band @ Harbour View, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Ace blues band.
Thu 28: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 29: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 29: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 29: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.

Sat 30: John Pope Quintet + Late Girl + Shapeshifters @ Bobik's, Jesmond, Newcastle.
Sat 30: Papa G's Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

OCTOBER

Sun 01: Smokin' Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm.
Sun 01: Dulcie May Moreno sings Portrait of Sheila @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £10.00. Moreno sings Sheila Jordan with Giles Strong, Mick Shoulder & John Bradford.
Sun 01: Middlesbrough Jazz & Blues Orchestra @ Saltburn Community Hall. 2:00pm.
Sun 01: The Easy Rollers @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £13.70., £11.55.
Sun 01: Brand/Roberts/Champion/Sanders @ Blank Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Sun 01: Papa G's Troves @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 02: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Mon 02: FILM: Wattstax; 50th Anniversary @ Forum Cinema, Hexham. 8:00pm.

Friday, September 01, 2017

Tom Sharp Jazz Orchestra @ Ushaw Jazz Festival 2017 - August 27

(Review by Russell/Photos courtesy of John Cogan)
In 2016 the Leeds-based Tom Sharp Jazz Orchestra walked off with the National Glass Centre-commissioned trophy as winners of the Great North Big Band Jazz Festival. The adjudicators at the Sunderland University Students’ Union venue were in no doubt that the quality of the band’s performance was deserving of the coveted title. Eighteen months later Tom Sharp’s tremendous big band closed the 2017 Ushaw Jazz Festival.
Eighteen-strong, the orchestra assembled on the Exhibition Hall stage, stretching from right to left, rhythm section at one end, the five-strong saxophone section at the other. Bandleader Tom Sharp, cutting a debonair figure right out of a ’30s jazz orchestra, appeared business-like, ready to go to work. Sharp’s musicians are the crème de la crème of the burgeoning Leeds jazz scene. The sections boast familiar faces; local County Durham heroes Tom Hill and Will Howard, Ben Lowman (alto) erstwhile sideman to Matt Roberts, and Danny Barley, making a second visit in three days to Ushaw having proved a more than able trombone dep for Chris Hibbard with the Paul Edis Sextet.

A fast moving show featured an array of soloists (not a weak link in sight) working through a varied and entertaining pad. Illustrious arrangers, composers and musicians were in there; Bob Florence, Bill Holman, Rob McConnell, Lennie Niehaus, Gordon Goodwin, Harry James, Basie, to name just a few. Twist of the Wrist for starters, Basie’s Kid from Red Bank with barrelhouse piano from Chris Bland. Gordon Goodwin’s arrangement of Beauty and the Beast heard from Rose Perry, tenor, and Alex Fisher on baritone. Lennie Niehaus’ arrangement for Stan Kenton of I’ve Never Been in Love Before showcased the ’bones – Tom I’Anson, Chris Burge, Danny Barley and bass bone man Pat Martin.

Bandleader Tom Sharp stood out front for a bravura trumpet performance of Harry James’ theme tune Ciribiribin. Wow! Lots of technical stuff going on there! Time for our first singer of the evening.  Ms Helena Debono first convinced the hall that Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend before going on to claim My Heart Belongs to Daddy. More from Ms Debono later. Jack Chandler (alto) doubled up on baritone to feature on Bob Florence’s Pumpkinette followed by Bill Holman’s arrangement for Stan Kenton of Malaga which heard from bassist Sam Jackson.            

Second set there was no let up with a tumultuous West Side Story featuring drummer Josh Smart. Impressive, exhausting stuff! Time to introduce James Hudson. Tall, suave, a debut performance, Chaplin’s Smile by way of introduction. Fine and dandy until all hell broke loose as Sharp’s full-on fast and furious solo upped the tempo. Hudson departed singing Cheek to Cheek. We would hear more of JH later. Guitarist Will Powell stepped up, metaphorically, on McConnell’s arrangement of Horace Silver’s Strollin’ deservedly winning applause. Just Friends featured a slew of soloists; Tom I’Anson, trombone, Chris Bland, Perry on tenor and Lowman on alto, and to close it out, Tom Hill did what Tom Hill does, the trumpeter well and truly nailed it. Debono and Hudson returned to sing I Won’t Dance. Both vocalists were making their first appearance with the orchestra. You wouldn’t have known it. The Tom Sharp Jazz Orchestra made a big impression at the Ushaw Jazz Festival and Tom Kubis’ Alexander’s Big Time Band just about summed up this amazing big time band. 
Russell.                    
Tom Sharp Jazz Orchestra:
Trumpets: Tom Sharp (MD), Joe Roughton, Dan Coulthurst, Stuart Wilson, Tom Hill,
Saxophones: Ben Lowman (alto), Jack Chandler (alto & baritone), Rose Perry (tenor), Will Howard (tenor), Alex Fisher (baritone)
Trombones: Tom I’Anson, Chris Burge, Danny Barley, Pat Martin
Will Powell (guitar), Chris Bland (piano), Sam Jackson (bass), Josh Smart (drums)

Vocals: Helena Debono & James Hudson

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