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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.

Monday, January 08, 2018

Smokin’ Spitfires @ The Cluny - Jan 7

Neil Hunter (vocals), Steve McGarvie (alto saxophone & vocals), Alan Thompson (tenor saxophone), Terry O’Hern (trombone & vocals), Mike Hepple (Hammond organ & vocals), Bob Garrington (guitar), Ian Rigby (bass & vocals) & Gary Cain (drums)
(Review by Russell) 
The idea was that the Smokin’ Spitfires would play a one-off charity gig. That was a few years ago and now, in the first week of 2018, the band’s regular first Sunday in the month lunchtime gig goes from strength to strength having chalked up dozens of appearances and it’s still all for charity. The eight-piece band emerged phoenix-like from the embers of the legendary Eastside Torpedoes and it continues to attract a loyal following with many fans undoubtedly there from the beginning.

The Smokin’ Spitfires mine the glory years of the Atlantic and Stax record labels adding one or two of their own soul-stirring originals to the set list. Founding members of the Eastside Torpedoes Neil Hunter and Terry O’Hern are at the helm; Hunter these days sporting a geet big Santa Claus beard hasn’t lost any of his considerable vocal power, and O’Hern’s arrangements guarantee the Spitfires fire on all cylinders from note one. Jumpin’ in the Spotlight, Kissin’ in the Rain (it wasn’t, raining that is), a typically rip-roaring start. The Temptations’ Can’t Get Next to You, the Wilson Pickett chart hit 634-5789 (comp. Eddie Floyd and Steve Cropper), the horns killing on Move On Up, bona fide soul classics, all with Hunter’s ‘wake the dead’ vocals. The horn players are well known on the regional jazz scene; Alan Thompson (tenor) and Steve McGarvie (alto sax) are members of the Jazztones, although McGarvie plays keyboards in the latter outfit, and, along with Terry O’Hern, are fixtures in the award-winning Durham Alumni Big Band. Playing this stuff with the Smokin’ Spitfires must be a blast!


Arthur Conley’s Sweet Soul Music heard McGarvie, O’Hern, Mike Hepple and Ian Rigby supplying  the ‘Yeah, Yeah’ backing vocals to Hunter – and the audience! – singing the tongue-twisting lyrics, and finally, Sam and Dave insisted Hold On, I’m Comin’. The Smokin’ Spitfires are great fun, never do they seem to tire of the set list, the rhythm section – Hepple on Hammond organ, bassist Rigby and drummer Gary Cain – lays down a rock steady foundation upon which Hunter, the horns, and guitarist Bob Garrington deliver the goods time and again.
Russell                       

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