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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

Wed 06: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 06: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 8:00pm. Free. Note later start time, concert performance (open to the public).
Wed 06: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 07: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free CANCELLED!
Thu 07: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Spanish City, Whitley Bay, Newcastle. 12 noon - 4:00pm. £26.00 (inc 3-course meal in in St Mary's Lighthouse Suite). SOLD OUT!
Thu 07: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Gateshead Central Library, Gateshead. 2:30pm. All welcome.
Thu 07: Thursday Night Prayer Meeting @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.Donations. Feat. Mark Sanders. CANCELLED!
Thu 07: Indigo Jazz Voices @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:45pm. £5.00. Downstairs. CANCELLED!
Thu 07: Tees Hot Club: Just Friends @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. Guest band night w. Richie Emmerson, Ian Bosworth, Dave Archbold, Ron Smith, Mark Hawkins. 9:00pm.

Fri 08: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 08: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 08: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 08: Giles Strong Quartet @ The Old Library, Auckland Castle. 1:00pm. £7.00.
Fri 08: Hayley's Little Big Band @ Woodland Village Hall, Bishop Auckland. 7:00pm. £12.00.
Fri 08: Sleep Suppressor + Redwell @ Head of Steam, Neville St., Newcastle. 8:00pm. £10.00. (£8.00. adv); £5.00. student.
Fri 08: Hot Club du Nord @ St Cuthbert's Church, Shadforth, Co. Durham.
Fri 08: Têtes de Pois + Nauta @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.00., £8.00.

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 Zoe 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.

Monday, December 18, 2017

George MacDonald & James Birkett with the Roly Veitch Trio @ Blaydon Jazz Club - Dec 17

George MacDonald (clarinet), James Birkett (guitar), Roly Veitch (guitar), Paul Grainger (double bass) & David Francis (drums)
(Review by Russell/photos courtesy of Ken Rodham). 
As Humph would have said, Blaydon Jazz Club has been promoting ‘the very best in jazz’ for well over thirty years and the Christmas party’s legendary DIY buffet has long since assumed mythical status. This year’s festive feast more than lived up to expectations and the interval raffle assumed gigantic proportions with numerous prizes on offer. The icing on the Christmas cake was the jazz. It’s the reason fans turn up from one month to the next and the evening’s invited guests – George MacDonald and James Birkett – were making a welcome return visit.

The Black Bull on Bridge Street is a steadfast supporter of the jazz club and the room was set out in advance ready to accommodate the arrival of not only the ‘regulars’ but also a food mountain of sweet and hot seasonal goodies. If there is a more amiable group of musicians than those playing this Christmas party engagement then they are yet to visit Blaydon. Clarinetist George MacDonald is a life-long fan of Benny Goodman and can tell a story or two of the King of Swing’s days touring coast to coast in America. Master guitarist James Birkett is the ideal musical foil for Mr MacDonald, readily adapting to any given situation as the ex-pat Canadian suggests they play such and such. The house rhythm section for the evening, led by Blaydon Jazz Club’s long-serving promoter Roly Veitch, was well acquainted with the numbers in the set list and handled matters with ease; bassist Paul Grainger and drummer David Francis both knowing their way around the GASbook.

The affable MacDonald suggested Summertime and, sure enough, the quintet went for a leisurely stroll and on into autumn playing Joseph Kosma’s Autumn Leaves. Our clarinetist likes a bossa, a Jobim tune was a cert, so we heard Meditation. Gershwin was on the cards, the choice vast, what to play? On this occasion But Not for Me. Time for a blues, MacDonald suggesting ‘in F’. Blues, in a mellow tone, with Roly Veitch laying down a fine solo, followed by his friend and fellow guitarist, James Birkett crafting another exquisite solo. Mr MacDonald always listens to his fellow musicians, appreciative of their contribution, and at Dr Birkett’s suggestion, closed the first set with their ‘wild’ version (when the mood takes them they do a less wild version) of Lady Be Good. Fleet-fingered, the quintet worked up a collective appetite…the buffet beckoned.

Earlier, a party of four arrived, looked around the room with its few unoccupied seats, and enquired if they could sit behind (and within arm’s length of) the buffet table. On the understanding that they showed restraint (leaving the festive nibbles undisturbed until the interval!) the party duly took their seats. They were well placed to tuck in as an orderly queue formed and it can be reported that this year’s offering met with wide approval. No names, but more than one person went back for not only seconds, but thirds! ’Tis the season.

The second set began with some Benny Goodman but not before Veitch and Birkett played a duet. As glasses were recharged, our virtuoso guitar duo played All the Things You Are. From Goodman to Eubie Blake's Memories of You (lyrics Andy Razaf) to Edgar Sampson’s Stompin’ at the Savoy, Mr MacDonald was having a ball, after all, to him it’s all about his ‘main man’ – Benny Goodman.


Mr MacDonald can certainly evoke the mood. Either side of a stompin’ I Got Rhythm our clarinetist expertly conjured the flight of the Skylark and gazed into the middle distance somewhere Over the Rainbow. It was almost time to go but not before a swift take on One Note Samba featuring a solo from David Francis, the orchestra finally taking its bow on A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square

Russell

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