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Bebop Spoken There

Wendell Brunious: "Because the blues is not 1,4 and 5 or 1,4,5,2,1. You could wake up with a flat tyre or a headache this morning, that's the blues, man" - (DownBeat, Oct. 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

15878 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 885 of them this year alone and, so far, 83 this month (Sept. 30).

From This Moment On ...

October

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

Tue 03: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 03: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. House trio: Michael Young (piano); Paul Grainger (double bass); Sid White (drums). CANCELLED!

Wed 04: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 04: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 04: Paul Skerritt @ Vespa Italian Bar & Steakhouse, Primrose Hill, Jarrow. From 7:00pm. To book a table - 0191 483 3355.
Wed 04: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 05: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 05: Sound the Trumpets @ King's Hall, Newcastle University. 1:15pm. Free.
Thu 05: Hot Club du Nord @ The Lubetkin Theatre, Peterlee. 7:00pm. £10.00. POSTPONED!
Thu 05: Thursday Night Prayer Meeting @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.
Thu 05: Tommy Bentz Trio + Mark Croft Duo + George Shovlin & George Lamb @ The Harbour View, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Harbour View Speakeasy's USA blues double bill + Shovlin & Lamb!
Thu 05: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Ragtime piano. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.
Thu 05: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 06: Alcyona Mick @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Fri 06: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 06: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 06: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 06: WORKSHOP: Philosophy of Arts & Entertainment @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 2:00pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Fri 06: Balo @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 6:20pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Fri 06: Paul Skerritt @ 3Sixty Champagne Lounge, Hadrian’s Tower, Newcastle. From 7:00pm. To book a table - 0191 933 8591.
Fri 06: Lexer/Mayes/Noble + Semay Wu + Miman @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 7:20pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Fri 06: Dulcie May Moreno @ The Vault, Hexham. 7:30pm. £20.00. Book in advance. Moreno with Alan Law, Paul Grainger & John Bradford.
Fri 06: Dean Stockdale Quartet @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm. 'Celebrating Oscar'.
Fri 06: Nu Brass Sounds: Big Brass Bash @ Billy Bootlegger’s, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free.
Fri 06: TBC @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Blind Pig Blues Club. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

Sat 07: WORKSHOP: Philosophy of Arts & Entertainment @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 10:15am. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Sat 07: Hot Club du Nord @ St Augustine's Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm.
Sat 07: Bugge & Niccols + Moore & Fairhall @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Sat 07: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. Tutor: Steve Glendinning - All the Things You Are. £25.00. Enrol at: www.jazz.coop.
Sat 07: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 6:00pm. Free.
Sat 07: Rie Nakajima @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 6:20pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Sat 07: Paul Skerritt @ 3Sixty Champagne Lounge, Hadrian’s Tower, Newcastle. From 7:00pm. To book a table - 0191 933 8591.
Sat 07: Samuel Blaser Trio + Toxvaerd & Zeeberg + Muramatsu & Welch @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 7:20pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Sat 07: Anth Purdy @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Sat 07: Rendezvous Jazz @ Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.

Sun 08: Zoë Gilby Quintet + Ubunye @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Line-up inc. Tony Kofi. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Sun 08: Tommy Bentz Band @ Tyne Bar, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. USA blues band.

Saturday, December 02, 2017

Leo Richardson Quartet @ Opus 4 Jazz Club, Darlington - December 1

Leo Richardson (tenor saxophone), Rick Simpson (keyboards), Tim Thornton (double bass) & Ed Richardson (drums)
(Review by Russell)
Tenor saxophonist Leo Richardson has received rave reviews in the jazz media with his debut CD The Chase garnering 5-star awards. In demand on the London scene, sharp-suited Richardson is on the road with his quartet and he stopped off at Opus 4 Jazz Club. Darlington Jazz Festival has been ahead of the curve having already been treated to Richardson’s hard bop style in trumpeter Matt Roberts’ all-star band in 2016 and again this year. Would Richardson attract a crowd?


On the night other attractions in the region – Saltburn to the south and Ushaw to the north – made for a difficult choice…or, perhaps, not so difficult. Bebop Spoken Here was only going to be in one place and that was right here at the Traveller’s Rest. Portraits of legendary jazz figures hang from the walls in the upstairs room of the West Auckland Road hostelry and looking on with a particular interest this evening as Richardson took to the stage was the great Tubby Hayes. The Curve from The Chase opened the set followed by another cut from the album, Blues for Joe (Joe Henderson). Wow! Absolutely stunning hard bop! What a band! Ah, the band…Richardson introduced the man who needed no introduction whatsoever, Rick Simpson. A local lad, living and working in London, Leo playfully referred to Rick as the ‘Prodigal Son’. Bassist Tim Thornton, a man in possession of imperious technique, and the no-relation, stupendous young drummer Ed Richardson are as good as it gets.

Effing and Jeffing isn’t on the album but it could be on the next one. Richardson took it down just a touch, for a few bars only, then ‘bang!’ more killing bop. Demon E was inspired by Richardson’s wife. Bluesy, languid tenor playing, Mrs R must be some woman! Forty minutes in, forty glorious minutes of hard bop, it was time for a ballad. Elisha’s Song, named after Leo Richardson’s niece, featured the Prodigal Son. A new tune, The Demise, served as a commentary on the state of the world today, or rather, the state of so-called world leaders with Simpson yet again dazzling the on-side full house.  

Another new tune – Shake – suggests Richardson is writing material on a regular basis. Good, the second and third albums must be taking shape! The second set opener featured Leo’s namesake,  drummer Ed Richardson in a sharp exchange of fours. Richardson E was nothing short of amazing all night. Ed must surely be in the ‘first call’ category of drummers in the capital city. Martini Shuffle recalled Art Blakey’s insistent drive, with Tim Thornton’s bass solo as good as any heard by your correspondent – that’s anytime, anywhere, ever. Silver Lining, another of Leo’s compositions, the man Horace Silver the inspiration, produced one of those ‘how did they do that’ scenarios. Exactly Like You quoted fleetingly at breakneck tempo by Leo, the quote developed by Rick, amazing, just amazing, and the other Richardson Ed, was all over it. Live jazz, there’s nothing like it!

Mambo (it’s on the CD, buy it, just buy it!) featured more superlative bass playing from TT, with first Leo, then Rick referencing Footprints. Another original titled Peace (are you listening, yes, you, you ‘world leader’. Bah! Probably not), then the one tune they were yet to play…The Chase. Absolutely brilliant playing all round, including a blistering ‘just my tempo’ drum solo. Leo Richardson couldn’t have made a bigger impression. He’ll make a return visit, that’s for sure, and when he does, please be there! Gig of the Year? Yep.

Russell                                                

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