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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

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.

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); Paul Wight (drums).

Wednesday, December 20, 2017

Xmas Jam @ the Jazz Café - December 19

(Review by Lance).
Quite a night! Having been off the scene for a few months, I couldn't have wished for a better gig to write about. Or could I? Come closing time  I'd simply ran out of superlatives. The perfect Christmas party. No mince pies, Santa Claus outfits or carols (although Paul Gowland did throw in a few bars of God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen during a blistering exchange of fours). So much happening that to list everything would be pointless. It was all so good.
With Matt MacKellar home for Xmas from Berklee in Boston, Mass, the emphasis was naturally on drums. Matt's final solo of the evening was quite breathtaking. Not that this was the only percussive highlight. Dylan Thompson belied his tender years to indicate that he too is a contender. Tommy Claydon, part of the orchestra in one of the local pantomimes, sat in and proved that he is another outstanding skinman. Then there was Abbie Finn. Abbie would have been justified in saying that any one of the other three played pretty good for a man. The girl was inspired, particularly when driving tenorman Harry Keeble to a great solo on Autumn Leaves. My sources tell me they are an item which must prove something or other. Simply great.

Damian Cook is another pantomime performer and a regular on the local scene every festive season. No 'bah humbugs' when he starts to blow.
Likewise Paul Gowland, veteran of a 1000 JC jams, never fails to hold his own and must surely be an inspiration for fellow altoists Beth Roberts and Alex Thompson who set the early running.
The pace stepped up when Michael Lamb and David Gray added some brass to the front line. The roof was last seen heading towards the coast.
Stu Finden, sans saxophone, took over on bass to give Pope John a well-earned rest, Dave Weisser played cornet and Joel Brown and Philipp Grobe alternated on piano.
Oh yes, I almost forgot, the guitar section!
Steve Glendinning led the house trio and the opening Billie's Bounce was amazing even by his own high standards.  With Pope and Matt completing the trio it was put up or shut up. All three put up.
Bradley Johnston - it seems like only yesterday he was a promising student of James Birkett. Hear him now!
The same could also be said of Francis Tulip who is fast moving into rarified heights. He played a blinder and that's not all.
Tonight, Francis, Joel, Matt and bassist Michael Dunlop are at the Empty Shop in Durham. On Friday they are back at the Jazz Café and on January 9 are at The Fox in Hexham. Details of all these gigs can be found in the previous post by Russell.
Finally, although it was a great night, it was not without a touch of sadness as we were reminded that, on December 29, it will be 5 years since the former Jazz Café Supremo Keith Crombie passed away.
Most of us old enough to remember Keith no doubt shed a silent tear.
He'd have loved what he heard.
RIP.
Photo album.
Lance.
Steve Glendinning (guitar); John Pope (bass); Matthew MacKellar (drums) + Beth Roberts, Alex Thompson, Paul Gowland (alto); Damian Cook, Harry Keeble (tenor); David Gray (trombone); Michael Lamb (trumpet); Dave Weisser (cornet); Joel Brown, Philipp Grobe (piano); Francis Tulip, Bradley Johnston (guitar); Stuart Finden (bass); Dylan Thompson, Tommy Claydon, Abbie Finn (drums).

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