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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

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: Just Friends @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. Guest band night w. Richie Emmerson, Ian Bosworth, Dave Archbold, Ron Smith, Mark Hawkins. 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: Giles Strong Quartet @ The Old Library, Auckland Castle. 1:00pm. £7.00.
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: Prudhoe Community Band @ Central Station, Newcastle. 10:00am - 12 noon. Charity fundraiser.
Sat 09: Durham Alumni Big Band @ Number One Bar, Skinnergate, Darlington. 1:00pm.
Sat 09: Castillo Nuevo Trio @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 5:30pm. Free.
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.

Sun 10: Musicians Unlimited’s Xmas Party with Zoe Gilby Quartet @ Park Inn, Hartlepool. MU 1:00-3:00pm; Zoë Gilby Quartet 4:00-6:00pm. Tickets: £7.50.
Sun 10: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00-4:00pm. Free.
Sun 10: Funk Soul Sista @ Stack, Seaburn. 5:00-7:00pm. Free.
Sun 10: Beth Clarke @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 10: Hayley's Little Big Band @ Whittingham Memorial Institute, Alnwick. 7:30pm. £12.00., £10.00.
Sun 10: Tele-Port @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Line-up inc. Zhenya Strigalev.

Mon 11: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 11: Interim Final Recitals @ Newcastle University. Details TBC.

Tue 12: Stu Collingwood Organ Trio @ Forum Music Centre, Darlington. 7:00pm. £10.00.

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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