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Bebop Spoken There

James Brandon Lewis: "Sometimes I'm not thinking about anything other than blowing the paint off the walls, and other times I'm narrating a story about my life." - (DownBeat June 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

15516 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 536 of them this year alone and, so far, 25 this month (June 7).

From This Moment On ...

Sat 10: Miners' Picnic @ Woodhorn, Ashington. Music inc. Northern Monkey Brass Band (3:00-3:50pm); New York Brass Band (4:00-4:55pm).
Sat 10: Jeffrey Hewer @ The Vault, Darlington Covered Market, Darlington. 6:00-8:00pm. Free.
Sat 10: Front Porch Three @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. Americana, blues, jazz etc.
Sat 10: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

Sun 11: WORKSHOP: Tim Richards' Jazz Piano Workshop @ JG Windows, Newcastle. Time TBC. Further details tel. 0191 232 1356.
Sun 11: Jeremy McMurray's Pocket Jazz Orchestra @ Ropner Park, Stockton TS18 4EF. 2:00-4:00pm. Free.
Sun 11: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:30pm. Free.
Sun 11: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 3:00pm.
Sun 11: Groovetrain @ Innisfree Sports & Social Club, Longbenton NE12 8TY. Doors 6:30pm. £15.00 (£7.00. under 16).
Sun 11: Jeffrey Hewer Collective @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Sun 11: Jam No. 19 @ Fabio's Bar, Saddler Street, Durham. 8:00pm. Free. All welcome. A Durham University Jazz Society event.

Mon 12: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

Tue 13: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 13: Infusion Trio @ Forum Music Centre, Darlington. 7:30pm.
Tue 13: Alice Grace & Pawel Jedrzejewski @ Black Swan, Newcastle Arts Centre. 8:00pm. £12.00 (£10.00. adv.).

Wed 14: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 14: NUJO Final Jazz Jam @ Bar Loco, Newcastle. 6:30pm. Free. Newcastle University Jazz Orchestra's final jam session of the academic year. All welcome.
Wed 14: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 14: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 7:00pm.
Wed 14: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 15: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 15: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Gateshead Central Library. 2:30-4:30pm. £2.00. All welcome.
Thu 15: Castillo Nuevo @ Revolución de Cuba, Newcastle. 5:30-8:30pm.
Thu 15: Alexander Ord Trio @ Tynedale Beer & Cider Festival, Tynedale Rugby Club, Corbridge. Evening, time TBC.
Thu 15: Têtes de Pois + Nauta @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. Time TBC.
Thu 15: Indigo Jazz Voices @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:45pm. £5.00.

Fri 16: Sue Ferris Quintet @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 16: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 16: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 16: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 16: Stu Collingwood @ Baltic, Gateshead. 7:00pm. £15.75. A Let's Caper event featuring exhibitions, food, music etc.
Fri 16: Steve Beresford-Hannah Marshall-John Butcher @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 7:30pm. JNE promotion.
Fri 16: James Taylor Quartet @ Fire Station, Sunderland. 7:30pm.
Fri 16: Customs House Big Band @ Customs House, South Shields. 7:30pm.
Fri 16: Sue Ferris Quintet @ Traveller's Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm.
Fri 16: New Orleans Brass Band @ Billy Bootlegger's, Arch 2, Stepney Bank, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. NOBB directed by Jason Holcomb.

Monday, February 19, 2018

Postmodern Jukebox @ Sage Gateshead - Feb 18

(Review by Russell).
The phenomenon that is Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox rocked up at Sage Gateshead to play the third date of an extensive European tour. Sage One’s near-capacity audience loved the fast-paced two-hour show, the band playing straight through without a break. Simultaneously Post Modern Jukebox (PMJ) was touring coast to coast in America. How could this be? Simple, Scott Bradlee’s roster of musicians has grown to such proportions that it is possible to organise itineraries on two continents!

Charismatic frontman ‘Cunio’ (Michael Cunio) bounded onto the stage; shaven head, shiny suit,  shiny black Rat Pack cabaret shoes (no socks!). Our MC for the evening came right out with it… this was his debut tour with PMJ! The band cruising, Cunio produced all the moves, screaming, falsetto vocals, a touch of James Brown. Get on down, the revue was well and truly underway, non-stop action, the singers on and off stage, left and right, the band cruising.
Earlier in the month West End star Emma Hatton (Evita) went into rehearsals for this PMJ show and would feature extensively alongside fellow vocalists Dani Armstrong (aka Jack Dani), Brielle von Hugel and the larger than life Mario Jose. The PMJ’s setlist would be drawn from the huge pad of tunes amassed by Bradlee. Would we hear Miley Cyrus, Lady Gaga, Justin Timberlake?

Bradlee’s winning formula is in reworking popular tunes, presenting them in Jazz Age and swing era styles, with, at times, the familiar cleverly disguised, often until the hook. The band – rhythm section and horns – couldn’t have been tighter. Clearly rehearsed to the nth degree, solo spots were few and far between as this Sage Gateshead show was all about the singers, themselves submitting to first class choreography. Backstage costume changes were many with Jack, Emma and Brielle in and out of one slinky number after another as the band played on. Jack sang Sia’s From the Chandelier bringing the house, if not the ornate light fitting, down. Brielle von Hugel’s vocals on PMJ’s All About That Bass YouTube hit just about won a standing ovation from Sage Gateshead’s by now jumping crowd.      

Chloe Feoranzo, all of five feet nothing, blew great tenor and clarinet from behind her PMJ Jazz Age music stand, and, on one number, sang like an angel! Fellow horn player, Berklee graduate,  trombonist Lemar Guillory, matched Feoranzo’s abilities as the pair of them had a ball. The duo’s feature spot found the horns stepping down into the packed stalls, blowing as they walked up the aisles. As Chloe approached row P your reviewer’s companion for the evening engaged in brief conversation with our dancing saxophonist. They had met at a jazz festival in America and here they were (almost) high-fiving at Sage Gateshead!

You Give Love a Bad Name (Bon Jovi), Seven Nation Army (The White Stripes), some Maroon 5, Cab ‘Hi De Ho’ Calloway segueing into a searing Thriller, throw in a jazz tap masterclass from Lee Howard, PMJ had the audience in the palm of its twelve-strong collective hand. And, you say, just where was the Main Man, Mr Scott Bradlee? Probably home in the US of A, quite possibly on tour with his many other Post Modern Jukebox musicians. Bradlee or not this Sage Gateshead concert was a show and a half. Cunio and co promised to return and when they do, be sure to be there.     
Russell

Michael Cunio (MD, vocals); Dani Armstrong (vocals); Emma Hatton (vocals); Mario Jose (vocals); Brielle von Hugel (vocals); Chloe Feoranzo (tenor saxophone, clarinet & vocals); Lemar Guillory (trombone); ? (guitar & banjo); ? (piano); ? (double bass & bass guitar); Martin Diller (drums) & Lee Howard (jazz tap dancing)     

                 

3 comments :

Lance said...

Seems like they had an apres gig jam at the Prohibition Bar!

Patti said...

Maybe if any of the Blog readers were lucky enough to catch this jam session, they can post comments for us!! I bet it was a fantastic night ..... and I'm still kicking myself that I missed it!

Lance said...

You can check it out on Prohibition Bar's Facebook page.

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