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Bebop Spoken There

Quincy Jones: ''What's great about coming from a little town is that you're a big fish in a little pond and it gives you the confidence when you get to New York to be able to really compete''. (Jazzwise, December 2024/January 2025).

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

17562 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 16 years ago. 836 of them this year alone and, so far, 74 this month (Nov. 22).

From This Moment On ...

December

Sun 01: Smokin’ Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:15pm (12 noon doors). £7.50. Note earlier start.
Sun 01: Sax Choir @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 01: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 01: Ruth Lambert Trio @ The Juke Shed, Union Quay, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 01: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 01: Lindsay Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ Laurels, Whitley Road, Whitley Bay. 4:00pm. £10.00. SOLD OUT!
Sun 01: Martin Fletcher Band @ Tyne Bar, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. Blues.
Sun 01: Mark Williams Trio @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Album launch gig.
Sun 01: Christmas After Hours @ Fabio’s, Saddler St., Durham. 8:00pm. Free. A Durham University Jazz Society event. Six piece band.

Mon 02: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 02: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Wheatsheaf, Benton Sq., Whitley Road, Palmersville NE12 9SU. Tel: 0191 266 8137.1:00pm. Free.

Tue 03: Customs House Big Band @ The Masonic Hall, North St., Ferryhill DL17 8HX. 7:00pm. Free.
Tue 03: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Dean Stockdale, Paul Grainger, John Hirst.
Tue 03: Bold Big Band @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Wed 04: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 04: Jason Isaacs @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 2:30-4:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Wed 04: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 8:00pm. Concert. Free. .
Wed 04: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 04: Kat Eaton @ Hoochie Coochie, Newcastle. 8:15pm. Soulful vocals, excellent band.

Thu 05: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 05: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. ‘George - named musicians, vocalists & composers (Chisholm, Duke, Lewis, Shearing, Benson, Melly, Gershwin et al)’.
Thu 05: Jools Holland’s R & B Orchestra @ Newcastle City Hall. 7:30pm.
Thu 05: Indigo Jazz Voices @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:45pm. Free.
Thu 05: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesborough. Guest band special with the Middlesbrough Jazz and Blues Orchestra 8pm. Free.

Fri 06: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 06: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 06: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 06: Sue Ferris Quintet @ The Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. Opus 4 Jazz Club.

Sat 07: New Century Ragtime Orchestra @ St Augustine's Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. Darlington New Orleans Jazz Club.
Sat 07: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. £25.00. Tutor: Steve Glendinning. Enrol at: learning@jazz.coop.
Sat 07: Hot Club du Nord @ St. Cuthbert’s Church, Shadforth DH6 1LB. Tel: 01429 823400. 7:30pm. £15.00. (inc. refreshments).
Sat 07: NUJO Jazz Jam @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £3.00.
Sat 07: Bellavana @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 7:45-9:45pm. Free.
Sat 07: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.

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

Tuesday, December 12, 2017

Favourite Animals and Article XI @ The Bridge Hotel, Newcastle - December 10

(Review by Steve H/Photos courtesy of Ken Drew)
What a great end to the JNE year as a dectet and an undectet literally filled the stage on Sunday night at The Bridge Hotel.  A Venn diagram of the 2 bands would have shown 7 musicians in the intersection of the two groups. So in total, there were 14 different players rather than the 21 any keen mathematician might have calculated. Many of the 14 were familiar faces having visited Tyneside many times in one guise or another in recent years. In fact, I think I have seen Johnny Hunter on drums more than any other musician in Tyneside which is certainly no bad thing given his aff/ability. The idea of the 2 ensembles touring together came out of a crazy conversation between respective bandleaders Cath Roberts and Anton Hunter and Sunday night saw the culmination of the 4 date mini-tour. Don’t you just love it when a plan comes together?
Favourite Animals (pictured above) kicked off the evening with Confirm or Deny which was a bit of stop-start affair until a really powerful groove kicked in to get the crowd rocking on their chairs. The rest of the set had a very cinematic feel to it. Graham South on trumpet seemed to dominate Boiling Point and on their final piece Shreds Dee Byrne on alto and Graham South on trumpet once again featured strongly. There were some very interesting combinations of instruments in this ensemble particularly the twin flute and bass clarinet pairing of Julie Kjaer and Tom Ward. The music although improvised has a  far more contemporary classical feel to it than a bluesy jazz one but whatever the label everyone seemed to wholeheartedly enjoy the experience.
Article XI was formed by Anton Hunter as the result of a commission from the 2014 Manchester Jazz Festival and takes its name from the said article of the European Convention of Human Rights although the reason why this name was chosen was neither explained or discussed. 
Another interesting line up with a vast brass section featuring 2 trombones, 2 trumpets. 2 altos, a tenor and a baritone. The music is improvised around Hunters compositions with space given to the individual soloists to explore the framework constructed. The result produced a more jazz-like feel to the proceedings than maybe the previous band had. 
The set got off to a flying start with 2 tracks Munichcreation and Always a Fox which are actually not on their forthcoming eponymous debut album. The scene had been well and truly set great ensemble playing spiced up with imaginative solos. It is not often you say a song does just the opposite of what it says on the tin but Not the Kind of Jazz you Like did exactly that! 
It was hard to single out any soloist in such a large ensemble but one of the guys I had never seen before, Simon Prince on tenor and flute, really impressed and I hope we see him again soon in some format or another. 
The evening closed with what appeared to be a planned encore I Dreamed I Spat Out a Bee which began with the trio, Johnny Hunter on drums, Ollie Dover on alto and Seth Bennett on double bass , before the rest of the band joined in and brought this brilliant doubleheader to a triumphant close.
A marvellous evening my only regret being that we only got to see one set of each band. Given the nature of these groups, there was always so much going on that one tended to focus on selected sections of playing thereby missing out on the equally interesting parts of the others. Maybe the best thing to do is get the respective CD’s of both ensembles. That way you can make sure you don’t miss out on anything as you relisten to this fabulous music time and time again.
Steve H
FAVOURITE ANIMALS
Dee Byrne (alto sax); Sam Andreae (tenor sax); Cath Roberts (baritone sax); Tom Ward (flute & bass clarinet); Julie Kjaer (flute & bass clarinet); Graham South (trumpet); Tullis Rennie (trombone); Anton Hunter (guitar); Seth Bennett (bass); Johnny Hunter (drums)
ARTICLE XI
Sam Andreae (alto sax); Ollie Dover (alto sax); Simon Prince (tenor sax, flute); Cath Roberts (baritone sax); Graham South (trumpet); Nick Walters (trumpet); Tullis Rennie (trombone); Kieran McLeod (trombone); Anton Hunter (guitar); Seth Bennett (bass); Johnny Hunter (drums).

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