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Bebop Spoken There

Delfeayo Marsalis: "Slide Hampton once told me that it's not always the person that is playing the highest or playing the fastest that's making the greatest impact." - (DownBeat March 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

15229 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 248 of them this year alone and, so far, 61 this month (March 20).

From This Moment On ...

March

Mon 20: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Mon 20: Central Bar Quintet plays Wes Montgomery @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 7:30pm. Feat. Joe Steels.

Tue 21: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 21: Jam session @ Black Swan, Newcastle Arts Centre. 7:30pm. House trio: Jacob Egglestone (guitar); Jamie Watkins (bass guitar); Bailey Rudd (drums).

Wed 22: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 22: Darlington Big Band @ Traveller's Rest, Cockerton. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public). Note change of venue - this week only.
Wed 22: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 7:00pm.
Wed 22: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 23: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 4:00-6:00pm. Free.
Thu 23: NUJO Jazz Jam @ Bar Loco, Newcasatle. From 6:30pm 'til late. Free. Newcastle University Jazz Orchestra jam session. All welcome (students & non-students).
Thu 23: Kerrin Tatman + John Garner & John Pope @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 23: Sunna Gunnlaugs & Julia Hülsmann @ Sage Gateshead. 8:00pm. A two-piano gig. A Sage Gateshead-JNE promotion.
Thu 23: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Ragtime piano.
Thu 23: Sleep Suppressor @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £10.00., £8.00. adv. Upstairs.
Thu 23: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 24: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 24: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 24: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 24: FILM: Mo' Better Blues @ Forum Cinema, Hexham. 7:00pm.
Fri 24: Ian Millar & Dominic Spencer @ Scarth Hall, Staindrop, Co. Durham. 8:00pm. £10.00.
Fri 24: Archipelago + Bulbils @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.

Sat 25: Vermont Big Band @ Walker Community Centre, Walker, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Fundraiser for Benfield Juniours Football Club. Hot food available, BYOB.
Sat 25: John Logan & Friends @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Rat Pack, Motown etc. 8:00pm. Free (donations).

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.
Sun 26: Outlines @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. JNE promotion (upstairs).

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

Saturday, January 06, 2018

CD Review: Various Artists - Live at the Spotted Dog.

(Review by Steve T)
Got this just before Christmas but December was still taken over by Christmas Music - not Slade, Pogues and Wizzard I should point out - but Swamp Dogg, Ojays, Houston Person, Jimmy Smith and the like.
There are some serious musicians on this and it shows. Recorded at the Spotted Dog, one of the happening places in the Nation’s Second City, it sounds like it was an uproarious night, though I'm assured the venue is no stranger to great nights of Jazz.
Many will hear the first set as big band music, and there's plenty for lovers of the sound; great blasting ensemble playing and assured soloing from the horns as they take their turns. But, as a BB philistine, I elevate this to what I consider the higher status of orchestral jazz, more akin to Duke and Gil Evans and, as the liner notes point out, to Kenny Wheeler and John Taylor.

The next couple of tracks feature the sax, bass, drums line-up which so captured my imagination when I saw JD Bloom in London last year.
Janisch is a safe pair of hands on bass and I'd buy anything he plays on. Bain on drums is inventive throughout, following O’Gallagher as he weaves his alto through two long pieces, one by Janisch and one of his own.
Jonathan Silk's Fragment mixes the brilliant trumpet playing of Percy Pursglove with a string quartet and gradually a standard jazz rhythm section. There are many precedents for this type of thing and this is up there.
Guitarist Ben Lee takes the next one with his quintet featuring organ, alto and trombone. He demonstrates a flair for composition and some unusual influences as a guitarist which I found highly intriguing; quirky but serious.
He also plays on the final track (as he does on the first three) on another fine small group offering, this time by trumpeter Sean Gibbs, which features some fine piano soloing and comping from Andy Bunting on electric.
Plenty here for lovers of big band or small group jazz and particularly anyone who appreciates the variety.
Steve T.
Release Date: January 26.
Stan Sulzmann Big Band: (sax) Stan Sulzmann, Elliot Drew, Chris Young, Helena Kay, John Fleming, Colin Mills, (trumpet) Tom Walsh, Sean Gibbs, Mike Adlington, Aaron Diaz, (trombone) Kieran Mcleod, Richard Foote, Tom Dunnett, Yusuf Narkin, (guitar) Ben Lee, (piano) David Ferris, (bass) Nick Jurd, (drums) Jonathan Silk.

(John) O'Gallagher (alto), (Andrew) Bain (drums), (Michael) Janisch (bass).

Jonathan Silk's Fragment: Percy Pursgrove (trumpet), Emily Tyrell, Beth Bellis (violin), Victoria Studwick (viola), Katy Nagle (cello), Toby Boalch (piano), Nick Jurd (bass), Jonathan Silk (drums).

Ben Lee Quintet: Ben Lee (guitar), Chris Young (alto), Richard Foote (trombone), David Ferris (organ), Euan Palmer (drums).

Sean Gibbs' Fervour: Sean Gibbs (trumpet), Ben Lee (guitar), Andy Bunting (piano), Nick Jurd (bass), Euan Palmer (drums).    


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