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Bebop Spoken There

Béla Fleck: “ And that's the great thing about live performances, you take people on a journey. It doesn't have to be like something else they've heard. It's not supposed to be". DownBeat, April, 2024.

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...

Josh Weir: I love the writing on bebop spoken here... I think the work you are doing is amazing.

Postage

16287 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 16 years ago. 169 of them this year alone and, so far, 41 this month (Mar 18).

From This Moment On ...

March

Thu 28: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 28: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Gateshead Central Library, Gateshead. 2:30pm.
Thu 28: Richard Herdman Quartet @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 28: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm. Guests: Josh Bentham (alto sax); Alan Marshall (tenor sax); Neil Brodie (trumpet); Adrian Beadnell (bass); Graham Thompson (keys); Steve Hunter (drums).

Fri 29: FILM: Soul @ The Forum Cinema, Hexham. 12:30pm. Jazz-themed film animation.
Fri 29: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 29: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 29: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 29: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 6:00pm. Free. POSTPONED!
Fri 29: Thundercat @ Newcastle City Hall.
Fri 29: John Logan @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sat 30: Papa G’s Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sat 30: Pete Tanton’s Cuba Libre @ Whitley Bay Library, York Road, Whitley Bay. 8:00pm.

Sun 31: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay Metro Station. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 31: Ruth Lambert Trio @ Juke Shed, Union Quay, North Shields NE30 1HJ. 3:00pm. Free. Lambert, Alan Law & Paul Grainger.
Sun 31: Sid Jacobs & Tom Remon @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. USA/London jazz guitar duo.
Sun 31: Bellavana @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

April
Mon 01: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 02: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Dean Stockdale, Paul Grainger, Abbie Finn.

Wed 03: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 03: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 03: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Saturday, January 06, 2018

Northern Monkey Brass Band @ Gala Theatre, Durham – Jan 5

Graham Hardy (trumpet), Ben Chinnery (trumpet), Jamie Toms (tenor saxophone), David Gray (trombone), Jason Holcomb (trombone), Phil Rosier (tuba), Adam Sinclair (snare drum) & Brendan Murphy (bass drum)
(Review by Russell). 
Durham is riding the wave. Jazz can be found, and heard, at every turn. Within a slide trombone of Durham Cathedral regular promotions occur at Dunelm House, Empty Shop, the Gala Theatre and at many enterprising independent venues around town. Last year’s inaugural DJazz: Durham Jazz Festival proved hugely popular. An annual county-wide brass festival attracts thousands, Ushaw is on the jazz map thanks to its festival and concert series, Bishop Auckland Town Hall presents jazz on a monthly basis, St Cuthbert’s in Crook offers regular sessions, and Darlington boasts no fewer than three thriving clubs and an established festival. It, therefore, came as no surprise that a sellout gig launched the Gala Theatre’s 2018 monthly lunchtime concert series.

Trumpeter Graham Hardy’s Northern Monkey Brass Band is, to quote the band’s publicity: a deeply funky collective of the finest drum and brass players in the North East of England. The ‘collective’ is a ‘who’s who’ of the jazz scene. The Gala’s patrons were in for a treat. The Northern Monkey Brass Band dispersed casually to the left, right and behind the audience. Promoter Paul Edis read out the usual parish notices and then, to the surprise of those yet to hear the NMBB, the horns, one by one evoked the spirit of Buddy Bolden, a sound carrying across the Mississippi River (more realistically the River Wear down below). Hardy’s Loose in the Banana Patch segued into The A Team as band members slowly assembled in front of the capacity audience – horns blazing with the incomparable rhythm boys, snare master Adam Sinclair and bass drum demon Brendan Murphy, marching to the New Orleans beat.

The Rebirth, the Dirty Dozen, the Youngbloods, America’s finest, in part the inspiration for the Horn Dogs, later to become known as the Northern Monkey Brass Band. Flash (see it’s a brass fantasy!) followed by The Sly Capuchin (comp. G. Hardy), Water of Tyne (comp. trad) with the band opening in respectful manner until the second liners kicked N’Awlins’ ass. At this point, if anyone didn’t get it, perhaps they should have been looking for their nearest country and western gig. Another G Hardy tune, the lip-smackin’ Monkey Blood, then Iko Iko compelling one or two to dance surreptitiously in the standing-room-only shadows. The Northern Monkey Brass Band is a band comprising soloists of repute deferring to the collective sound until they’re let off the leash for a blast and this Gala gig heard loud and clear from the irrepressible David Gray, not once, not twice, but several times. DG’s trombone sidekick Jason Holcomb wasn’t to be outdone, Jamie Toms on tenor ripped it up on The tune with no name whose working title will suffice until someone (it could be you!) thinks of a better title and Phil Rosier stepped forward, literally, on Funky Pie to coax more than a tune from his tuba. A party piece for sure. Of course, there was an encore (Theme from Star Wars) and Graham Hardy has more of this stuff lined-up during a big, bold ‘n’ brassy 2018. 
Russell                                                       

1 comment :

Patti (on F/b) said...

Funkydoodles - this band is tops - I couldn't make it to this gig, but must see 'em again soon!

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