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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

15848 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 855 of them this year alone and, so far, 53 this month (Sept. 18).

From This Moment On ...

September

Thu 21: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 21: La Malbec Orchestra @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Thu 21: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Ragtime piano. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.
Thu 21: Linsday Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ Harbour View, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 21: Ray Stubbs R & B All Stars @ The Schooner, Gateshead. 8:30pm. Free.
Thu 21: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 22: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 22: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 22: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 22: Brief Encounter @ Bardon Mill Village Hall, Northumberland. 7:00pm. Tickets: £10.00. adv from 07885 303166; £12.00. on the door. Chris & Veronica Perrin improvising to a screening of the 1929 'Jazz Age' silent film Piccadilly (Dir. Ewald André Dupont).
Fri 22: Paul Edis & Graeme Wilson + Three Tsuru Origami @ Jesmond United Reformed Church, Newcastle. 7:30pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Fri 22: Crooners @ Tyne Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm.
Fri 22: Abbie Finn's Finntet @ Traveller's Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. Opus 4 Jazz Club.

Sat 23: Tyne Valley Big Band @ Tanfield Railway, Gateshead. 2:00-4:00pm. Free. A '1940s Weekend' event.
Sat 23: Jason Isaacs @ Stack, Seaburn. 3:30-5:30pm. Free.
Sat 23: Andrew Porritt & Keith Barrett @ Cullercoats Watch House, Front St., Cullercoats NE30 4QB. 7:00pm.
Sat 23: Michael Woods @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig. Country blues.

Sun 24: Musicians Unlimited @ Park Inn, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 24: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.

Mon 25: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Mon 25: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 7:00pm.

Tue 26: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.

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.

Tuesday, January 23, 2018

Classic Swing @ The Ship, Monkseaton - January 23

Bob Wade (trumpet/flugel); Don Fairley (trombone); Paul Gowland (tenor); Colin Haikney (piano); Alan Rudd (bass); Tommy Graham (drums); Olive Rudd (vocals) + Gordon Solomon (trombone); Doris Fenn (banjo).
(Review by Lance/video by MaryB Jazz).
Front Street, in the Whitley Bay suburb of Monkseaton, may fall short of  52nd St. in its heyday but its three pubs have, over the years, all contributed to the lunchtime classic/vintage jazz scene. Two of them still do. On Fridays, Maureen Hall's Rendezvous Jazz are regulars at the Monkseaton Arms whilst, up the street at Ye Olde Ship (or 'The Ship' as most people call it), Bob Wade and Classic Swing play their brand of mainstream on Tuesdays. This was my first visit and it certainly won't be my last. Seats were at a premium and when they kicked off with It Don't Mean a Thing it was easy to understand why.
South African trumpet player Wade is rapidly carving a niche for himself on the local scene and justifiably so. His attacking style with its bravura runs and half-valve effects wouldn't be out of place at a 1930s club in Harlem. With Paul Gowland adjusting to the idiom on tenor and Don Fairley consolidating his position as top trombone, the band plays what it says on the tin - Classic Swing.
Adding Colin Haikney on piano - is there a more tasteful player? - Alan Rudd on bass and Tommy Graham on drums enables them to comfortably fill the gap 'twixt the New Orleans bands and the boppers.
A very palatable cake indeed - and that's before we add the icing!

I hadn't heard Olive Rudd since she sang with the Maine Street boys at Rosie's in South Shields a few years back. Well, let me tell you, folks, that, even with a cold, she's still got it! What's more, unlike at Rosie's, she's not restricted to a couple of numbers each set.
My only complaint is that she didn't sing I Wished on the Moon or How'd Ya Like to Love me?  Still, a minor quibble compared to what she did sing.
It Don't Mean a Thing: Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man of Mine (he was on bass); The Gipsy; I Got Rhythm; Make me a Pallet on the Floor; 'S Wonderful; When You're Smiling and Tuxedo Junction.

The big surprise of the afternoon was the arrival of trombonist Gordon Solomon. Gordon, former leader of the River City Jazzmen, the Phoenix Jazzmen and member of various other bands including the Newcastle Big Band confided that, owing to ill-health, he hadn't played for ten years but was hoping to sit in.
Sit in he did!
A spirited Rosetta* with Doris Fenn on banjo revealed that the old magic hadn't gone and his duet with Don Fairley on Sweet Georgia Brown absolutely brought the house down - J & K ride again!

Paul Gowland played Darn That Dream and dreamy it was. I've heard Paul play like Coltrane, Parker, Shorter but this afternoon he was closer to Hawkins, Webster maybe Chu (not Chuck!) Berry. Such is the man's versatility.

Let's not forget the rhythm section.
The trio had the spotlight for Surrey With the Fringe on Top. It was even tastier than my cheese and onion toastie and rivalled my pint of Jennings' Cumberland Ale.
A most enjoyable afternoon.
Lance.

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