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Bebop Spoken There

Abbie Finn: "Even though there's a lot of great work being done to promote women in jazz, I still come up against some attitudes! I pulled up at a recording session with my drums in the car and the studio owner said, 'I'm sorry, this space is reserved for the drummer!'" - (Jazzwise April 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

15245 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 264 of them this year alone and, so far, 77 this month (March 25).

From This Moment On ...

March

Sun 26: Musicians Unlimited @ Park Inn, Hartlepool. 1:00pm.
Sun 26: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 3:00pm.
Mar 26: Pop Jazz @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. 'Jazzified' tunes by the likes of Sylvester, Bowie, the Monkees etc., feat. Alan Law, David Gray, Richard Herdman & Jude Murphy.
Sun 26: Outlines @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. JNE promotion (upstairs).

Mon 27: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

Tue 28: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 28: Sanaz Lavasani Trio @ Black Swan, Newcastle Arts Centre. 8:00pm. £12.00 (£10.00. adv).

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: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 7:00pm.
Wed 29: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 30: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Gateshead Central Library. 2:30-4:30pm. £2.00. All welcome.
Thu 30: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. Back to 1:00pm stomp off. Free.
Thu 30: '58 Jazz Collective @ Hops & Cheese, Hartlepool. 7:30pm. Free.
Thu 30: Lindsay Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ Harbour View, Sunderland. 8:00pm.
Thu 30: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 31: Lewis Watson Quartet @ Bishop Auckland Town Hall. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 31: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 31: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 31: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm. CANCELLED! Back next week (April 7).
Fri 31: Jasmine Myra + Waclaw Zimpel @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Fri 31: The Revolutionaires @ The Shack, Boldon Colliery. 7:30pm. £10.00. The Revolutionaires' big band (horn section) line-up.
Fri 31: Andrew McCormack @ Maltings, Berwick. 8:00pm. £20.00.

April
Sat 01: The Big Easy @ St Augustine's Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm.
Sat 01: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. Tutor: Steve Glendinning - In a Minor Key. £25.00. Enrol at: www.jazz.coop.
Sat 01: Hot Club du Nord @ Pleased to Meet You, Bridge St., Morpeth. 8:00pm. £79.00. A charity fundraising event.
Sat 01: Boys of Brass @ Stack, Seaburn. 7:00-9:00pm.
Sat 01: Rendezvous Jazz @ Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00. RESCHEDULED to next week (Sat 08).

Friday, November 03, 2017

The Austerity Playbook @ Northern Stage - November 1

(Review by Russell)
Stage 3 at Northern Stage was, at one time, the foyer bar of the then University Theatre. Back then on this very spot on Sunday mornings, the legendary Newcastle Big Band played to full houses. On the very same spot, a then-unknown bass player, Gordon Sumner, played with the big band and an all-conquering Last Exit. Sumner, already known to all by his nickname, headed for the bright lights of London. The rest, as they say, is history. Sting was about to hit the big time.
Fast forward five minutes, in truth several decades. In this Age of Austerity, two academics working at Durham University and Newcastle University have developed a new musical. The Economic and  Social Research Council provided support and as part of Freedom City 2017 – commemorating the visit of Martin Luther King to Newcastle University – the Austerity Playbook took to the stage.
Doors opened on time. On entering the space it was as if time had stood still. Not quite déjà vu, but right there playing Have You Met Miss Jones?  was pianist Andrea Vicari and two familiar figures –  Andy Champion, double bass, and drummer Russ Morgan. Right there, where Cormac Loane and Nigel Stanger once stood, and Andy Hudson and Gerry Richardson, and Sting. The trio, wearing a natty line in bowlers, was at work, the music the soundtrack to the Austerity Playbook.

A cast of five, comic, politically incisive, at times a little too obvious in its message. What message? The Stage 3 audience didn’t need any help in appreciating the harmful effects of ‘austerity’ and the fictitious northern city of Burnside could represent just about anywhere you care to name. Andrea, Andy and Russ, bowlered throughout, went into Song for My Father. Audience seated, the sparse stage set, the Austerity Playbook’s pages turned introducing a cast of familiar characters; harassed council leader, dedicated librarian, disillusioned PCSO, affable immigrant. Andrea Vicari wrote the music and the trio played on throughout much of the action. Sheet music stretched across stands, any non-jazz fans present could well be persuaded to attend a local jazz gig. Musicianship of the highest order, the acting talents of the cast of the Austerity Playbook spoke to the converted.
The Austerity Playbook was written by Mark O’Thomas, directed by André Punk, music by Andrea Vicari. Professor Laurence Ferry, Durham University and Professor Ileana Steccoloini, Newcastle University researched material on poverty, its challenges and how to challenge it.
Russell                                      

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