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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 ...

Fri 09: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 09: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 09: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 09: Castillo Nuevo @ Revolución de Cuba, Newcastle. 5:30-8:30pm.
Fri 09: Emma Rawicz @ Sage Gateshead. 8:00pm.

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.

Thursday, April 19, 2018

Community Hall New Orleans Band @ Springwell Village Community Venue - April 18

Mick Hill (trumpet, vocals); Liz Bacon (clarinet); Jim Blenkin (trombone, vocals); Ian Wynne (piano, vocals); Dave Rae (guitar, banjo, vocals); John Robinson (double bass); Paul Bacon (drums) + Mac Rae (trumpet, vocals) third set
(Review by Russell)
Recent Arctic weather has, unsurprisingly, affected audience numbers across the region. Resident bands have played to fewer listeners - Springwell Village Community Venue’s Wednesday evening session being one example of winter’s chill wind decimating numbers. Springwell’s Community Hall New Orleans Band, resident for many a year, in many guises – the Rae Brothers NOJB, then Dave Rae’s Levee Ramblers – kept on going, flying the Crescent City flag. The band’s perseverance was rewarded last night with a capacity audience there to welcome home local hero Ian Wynne.

As a young man pianist Ian Wynne played with the Rae Brothers, later going on to study music and relocate to Paris. What a life! Last night the sun shone, Brown Ale flowed, the band played great as Ian Wynne’s dazzling ragtime to stride piano playing held the audience in its thrall. The gig wasn’t a ‘band plus guest gig’ – well, not until Wynne’s short solo set! – rather a band playing New Orleans’ jazz, in the style with solos, such as they were, succinct, to the point. I like it like that sang guitarist and classy banjo player Dave Rae. The all seated frontline included the veteran trumpeter Mick Hill who featured playing muted trumpet on Carolina Moon. Either side of Hill were stalwarts Liz Bacon on clarinet and Jim Blenkin, trombone. The boys in the engine room – John Robinson, double bass (make that ‘string bass’ in this context) and drummer Paul Bacon – set the tone for the evening; the least obtrusive, yet incisive rhythm support one could wish for on this Springwell/Mississippi paddle steamer.

Time for the unassuming Ian Wynne to step up; Professor Longhair’s Mardi Gras. Piano and vocals to die for, Wynne singing Well I’m goin’ to New Orleans…I wanna see the Mardi Gras. Wynne sang side on to the upright, clipping the lyric Well I’m goin’ to New Orlean, purposely omitting the letter s from Orleans to great effect. Dave Rae sang with feeling and on this date contributed several tunes including Make Me a Pallet On Your Floor and, switching to banjo, When I Move to the Sky.

Another bottle of Brown Ale (a trusted friend in a non-real ale environment!) came with a schooner, yes, a schooner! Jazz economy raffle tickets purchased (subsequently filed under ‘bin’!), and it was time for the second of three sets. Guest star Ian Wynne played a short solo set. We knew he would play solo – he didn’t travel from Paris not to play a few tunes! – and twenty minutes later some got to their feet to lead the well-deserved applause. First Mule Walk Stomp (James P Johnson), Echoes of Spring (Willie ‘The Lion’ Smith) followed, then Wynne’s set piece, Meade Lux Lewis’ Honky Tonk Train Blues. For the record, this was piano playing of the highest order. Regional promoters could do worse than offer Wynne a gig, here’s hoping! And our star guest wasn’t finished yet. Fats Waller followed and Wynne closed his set with a tune readily associated with Muddy Waters, Got My Mojo Working playing piano and singing. An ‘I was there’ occasion.   
 

Mac Rae belatedly joined the band for a third and final set playing trumpet alongside Mick Hill and singing a couple of numbers. Wynne resumed his role as an equal among New Orleans’ equals. It was a fine evening of New Orleans jazz, and, weather-wise, it was ‘such a lovely day’ to travel out to Springwell Village. Next week the Community Hall New Orleans Band welcomes another guest. Ex-pat trombonist Roy Rubenstein flies in from Chicago. All roads lead to Springwell, Wednesday 25 April. 8:15 start, three quid at the door. Recommended.  
Russell.                                                          

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