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Bebop Spoken There

Billy Boy Arnold: “As long as you don't think old you're good.” - DownBeat, December, 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!"

Simon Spillett: A lovely review from the dean of jazz bloggers, Lance Liddle...

Postage

16034 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 1041 of them this year alone and, so far, 73 this month (Nov. 27).

From This Moment On ...

December

Sun 03: Smokin’ Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:30pm. £7.50.
Sun 03: The Central Bar Quartet @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £10.00. The Central Bar Quartet plays Lou Donaldson’s Gravy Train. Featuring Jamie Toms.
Sun 03: Revolutionaires @ The Water House, North Road, Durham. 4:00pm. Rock 'n' roll excellence! Line-up inc. Pete Tanton.
Sun 03: Paul Skerritt @ Smith’s Arms, Carlton, Stockton-on-Tees. 7:00pm.
Sun 03: Johnny Hunter Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Sun 03: Jam session @ The Schooner, Gateshead. 8:00pm. Free.

Mon 04: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Mon 04: Northern Monkey Brass Band @ People’s Kitchen, Bath Lane, Newcastle. From 5:30pm. On-street gig supporting the work of the People’s Kitchen charity. Wrap up warm! Donate!
Mon 04: Michael Young Trio w Lindsay Hannon @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 7:00pm. Free.
Mon 04: James Birkett Trio @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £8.00.
Mon 04: Durham University Jazz Orchestra + Durham University Big Band @ Durham Castle DH1 3RW. 8:30pm. £6.00.; £5.00. concs; £4.00. DSM. ‘Jazzy Christmas’.

Tue 05: Customs House Big Band @ All Saints Church, Cleadon. 7:00pm. Concert in the church hall. BYOB.
Tue 05: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Michael Young, Paul Grainger, Sid White. The best free show in town!

Wed 06: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 06: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 8:00pm. Free. Note later start time, concert performance (open to the public).
Wed 06: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 07: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free CANCELLED!
Thu 07: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Spanish City, Whitley Bay, Newcastle. 12 noon - 4:00pm. £26.00 (inc 3-course meal in in St Mary's Lighthouse Suite). SOLD OUT!
Thu 07: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Gateshead Central Library, Gateshead. 2:30pm. All welcome.
Thu 07: Thursday Night Prayer Meeting @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.Donations. Feat. Mark Sanders. CANCELLED!
Thu 07: Indigo Jazz Voices @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:45pm. £5.00. Downstairs.
Thu 07: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 08: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 08: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 08: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 08: Hayley's Little Big Band @ Woodland Village Hall, Bishop Auckland. 7:00pm. £12.00.
Fri 08: Sleep Suppressor + Redwell @ Head of Steam, Neville St., Newcastle. 8:00pm. £10.00. (£8.00. adv); £5.00. student.
Fri 08: Hot Club du Nord @ St Cuthbert's Church, Shadforth, Co. Durham.
Fri 08: Têtes de Pois + Nauta @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.00., £8.00.

Sat 09: Castillo Nuevo Trio @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 5:30pm. Free.
Sat 09: Abbie Finn Trio @ Claypath Deli, Durham. 7:00pm.
Sat 09: Hayley's Little Big Band @ Middleton & Todridge Village Hall, Morpeth. 7:30pm. £12.00., £6.00.
Sat 09: Paul Skerritt @ Slaley Hall, Hexham NE47 0BX. 7:30pm. From £42.00.

Saturday, April 28, 2018

CD Review: Dave Manington’s Riff Raff - Challenger Deep

Brigitte Beraha (vocals); Tomas Challenger (tenor saxophone); Ivo Neame (Fender Rhodes, mellotron, Hammond organ); Rob Updegraff (guitar); Dave Manington (double bass); Tim Giles (drums, percussion)
(Review by Russell)
Challenger Deep is Dave Manington’s third album as a bandleader and the second from his Riff Raff sextet. The line-up has remained remarkably stable and perhaps this is a key element in the consistently high-quality music heard on this Loop Collective album. All six musicians are busy in other bands, touring and recording yet make time to sustain Riff Raff’s creative momentum.

 Nine tracks across seventy plus generous minutes comprise Brigitte Beraha’s lyrics on four tunes and her horn-like, wordless vocals on several others. Manington infuses his CD liner notes with gentle humour, poking fun at Tom Challenger in thinking the album was named after him! As one should know Challenger Deep is the deepest ocean trench in the world and Manington expresses wonderment as to what exactly is living down there 11km below the surface. The title track makes one think that drummer Tim Giles has been down there such are the convincing knocking sounds the submariner would expect to make or, spookily, hear on the exterior of a submersible.

Beraha’s light, floating vocals complement, respond to and ignite Tom Challenger’s sinewy tenor lines; similarly on Random Acts of Kindness wordless vocals swirl and swoop, capture, then free guitarist Rob Updegraff to create his own stunning, fluent lines until Beraha turns her attention to Challenger’s tenor once more, voices in unison.

From time to time the sextet works up a head of steam. The elegance remains intact but when the gloves are off (the band name – Riff Raff – tells you all you need to know about these ruffians) the change of gear is quite exhilarating; Prime Numbers and Dangerpig are the two tracks on the CD which best illustrate their collective inclination to dive into uncharted depths and survive to tell the tale. The penultimate track – Thagomizer…ask your kids, it’s to do with dinosaurs – involves free, or freeish sections, more so than Manington’s eight other compositions. Willow Tree closes a fine album which reveals hidden depths the more one listens to it.
Russell
Challenger Deep by Dave Manington’s Riff Raff is released on the Loop Collective label (cat no. 1030) on May 11 with an album launch gig at London’s Vortex on May 12.        

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