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Bebop Spoken There

Branford Marsalis: "As ignorance often forces us to do, you make a generalisation about a musician based on one specific record or one moment in time." - (Jazzwise 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

15491 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 512 of them this year alone and, so far, 133 this month (May 31).

From This Moment On ...

Tue 06: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 06: Jam session @ Black Swan, Newcastle Arts Centre. 7:30pm. House trio: Stu Collingwood (piano); Paul Grainger (double bass); Sid White (drums).

Wed 07: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 07: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 07: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 7:00pm.
Wed 07: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 08: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free. CANCELLED! BACK ON JUNE 15.
Thu 08: Easington Colliery Brass Band @ The Lubetkin Theatre, Peterlee. 7:00pm. £10.00.
Thu 08: Faye MacCalman + Blue Dust Archive @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 08: Dilutey Juice + Ceramic @ The Ampitheatre, Sea Road, South Shields. 7:00pm. Free. A South Tyneside Festival event.
Thu 08: Lara Jones w. Vigilance State @ Lubber Fiend, Blandford Square, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 08: Michael Littlefield @ the Harbour View, Roker, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Country blues.
Thu 08: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

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: 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.

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

Tuesday, April 10, 2018

GIJF Day 3: Sheila Jordan with the Pete Churchill Trio & RNS string quartet/ Zoe Gilby & Andy Champion – Sage Gateshead, April 8.

Sheila Jordan (vocals); Pete Churchill (piano); Duncan Hopkins (bass); Mark Fletcher (drums) + a string quartet from the Royal Northern Sinfonia
(Review by Ann Alex pictured w. Sheila Jordan/On stage photos courtesy of Ken Drew) anyone who didn’t thoroughly enjoy this concert should see a doctor urgently! This will take some beating not to turn out to be my Gig of the Year. Not only is Sheila Jordan a superb interpreter of jazz songs, especially bebop style, but she is a totally entertaining raconteur. If she didn’t do music, she could have earned her living as a comedienne and a very charming one. And the trio played along well ('I’d like you for my son’) said Sheila to Pete Churchill at one point, complemented by appropriately effective arrangements from the strings on some of the songs.
All Or Nothing At All opened the set, with solos from both the piano and the quartet, then a song new to me, My Haunted Heart, followed by Sail Away, with a long flowing piano break, and Pete Churchill working hard as he had to conduct the quartet as well as playing. Don’t Give Up was followed by a song I hardly recognised because Sheila made it so much her own. It turned out to be a rather moving version of Look For The Silver Lining, a grand way to round off the first half. 

The second half opened with How Deep Is The Ocean, and a chance for piano, quartet, and Sheila herself to conduct a round of 4’s. Then Sheila humorously told us about how, aged 8, she had to be rescued by a passing stranger when her brother tried to drown her. The whole performance was peppered by lively stories from our singer’s life. She first heard the music of Charlie Parker when she was in her teens and was immediately hooked on Bebop. She told us how she had to register for something official, and when she gave her profession as ‘singer’ they told her that that wasn’t a profession, they meant doctor or lawyer. They obviously hadn’t heard her sing.

 The songs and stories continued, I Concentrate On You; Inchworm, paired with The Caterpillar Song; then the amusing Dat Dere, a song about a child asking lots of questions. Autumn In New York was introduced as a tribute to remember 9/11, ‘when we were so brave’ said Sheila.  Next came a bebop song which I think was an original by our singer; then What’ll I Do; and a call and response duet with Pete Churchill on The Touch Of Your Lips. Then came a short account of Sheila’s life in song – how many other jazz singers would dare to do this? It was rather like the exercise that we had done in the masterclass when we had to sing a few bars about where we came from. The final song was Heart’s Desire, after which this lady wished us well, then touched her toes, before leaving the stage. Well done, at the age of 89! No time to lose, I hurried out to get my copy of the limited edition CD, which includes most of the songs we’d just heard.  

Zoe Gilby (vocals) Andy Champion (bass)
The concert had begun with a short set from these two well-known performers. Zoe has been inspired by the encouragement of Sheila Jordan, and Zoe herself has a natural, friendly line of chat, ‘We like to do stuff with just the two of us, it saves on petrol, we just use 1 car (or similar words), said Zoe. Nice Work if You Can Get It was the first song to a steady riff from Andy, then Weaver Of Dreams, sung to a slinky bass. Monk’s Straight No Chaser, not an easy song, but no problem to Zoe, finishing with Paul Simon’s Graceland, and a percussive bass.
Nice one!
Ann Alex

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