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Bebop Spoken There

David Hadju: "It was kind of a lightning bolt [seeing a photo of a hi-fi store that's now occupied by a phone store]. Everyone had hi-fi systems, now everyone has a phone" - (DownBeat May 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

15478 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 499 of them this year alone and, so far, 120 this month (May 27).

From This Moment On ...

May 2023

Sun 28: Bradley Creswick's Western Swingfonia @ Whitley Bay Carnival. Free. Plaza Arena stage. 12 noon.
Sun 28: MSK @ Whitley Bay Carnival. 12:15pm. Free. Marquee stage. MSK - Steve Glendinning, Katy Trigger, Martin Douglas.
Sun 28: Musicians Unlimited @ The Park Inn, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 28: Back Chat Brass @ Whitley Bay Carnival. 1:30pm. Free. Marquee stage.
Sun 28: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 28: Tim Kliphuis Trio @ St Mary's Church, Wooler NE71 6BZ. 3:00pm. £15.00 standard; £5.00 student/unwaged; free under 18. Afternoon Cocktail, a Wooler Summer Arts' concert promotion. Kliphuis (violin); Nigel Clark (guitar); Roy Percy (double bass).
Sun 28: Back Chat Brass @ Whitley Bay Carnival. 3:00pm. Free. Plaza Arena stage.
Sun 28: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 3:00pm.
Sun 28: King Bees @ The Delaval Arms, Old Hartley NE26 4RL. 5:00pm. Free. Chicago blues at its best!
Sun 28: Matt Anderson Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Anderson (saxophones); Jamil Sheriff (piano); Andy Champion (double bass); Dave Walsh (drums).

Mon 29: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

Tue 30: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 30: Big Chris Barber Band @ Whitley Bay Playhouse. 7:30pm.

Wed 31: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 31: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 31: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 7:00pm.
Wed 31: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

June
Thu 01: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 01: Thursday Night Prayer Meeting @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Donations.
Thu 01: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Ragtime piano. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.
Thu 01: Jake Leg Jug Band @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Thu 01: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 02: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 02: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 02: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 02: Joseph Carville Trio @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm.
Fri 02: Claire Martin & Her Trio @ The Witham, Barnard Castle. 7:30pm. £25.00., £20.00. Feat. Jim Mullen, Alex Garnett & Jeremy Brown.
Fri 02: Guy Davis + Michael Littlefield & Scott Taylor @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. Doors 7:30pm. Blues double bill.
Fri 02: Anders Ingram @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Blind Pig Blues Club. Country blues. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

Sat 03: Newcastle Record Fair @ Northumbria University, Newcastle NE8 8SB. 10:00am-3:00pm. Admission: £2.00.
Sat 03: Pedigree Jazz Band @ St Augustine's Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm.
Sat 03: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. Tutor: Sue Ferris. £25.00. Enrol at: www.jazz.coop.
Sat 03: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 6:00pm. Free.
Sat 03: Rendezvous Jazz @ Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.
Sat 03: Papa G's Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

Saturday, April 14, 2018

King Bees @ Newcastle Beer & Cider Festival - April 13

Michael Littlefield (guitar, vocals); Scott Taylor (harmonica, vocals); Dominic Hornsby (piano, guitar, vocals); Simon Hedley (double bass); Giles Holt (drums) + lots of beer!
(Review by Russell)
The blues band of the moment, a Friday night out at the 42nd Newcastle Beer and Cider Festival, you can’t go wrong, can you? A raised corner stage, a modest PA system, the crowd drinking like there was no tomorrow and with WWIII likely to break out at any time what better way to go?! The King Bees took to the stage with commemorative festival beer glasses in hand (a drinking band – hurrah!) ready to play the best South Side Chicago blues east of, well, Chicago!

I don’t know, man, I just don’t know sang harmonica frontman Scott Taylor with resignation. Yeah! This is the band of the moment. A young band keeping the blues’ flame burning, these guys have the thing down; sharp and not so sharp suits, the hardware (see photo of Scott Taylor’s harmonica case), a detached, distracted look, all the while playing the blues as it should be played. My Babe, Jimmy Rogers’ Walking by Myself with Michael Littlefield’s spot-on guitar playing, the Northumbria Students’ Union venue packed with beer-ticking imbibing souls, it didn’t take long for some of them to turn an ear to what was going down in the far corner of the hall.

Kansas City got them up dancing, Caldonia kept them dancing. Phew! Time for a break, time for a refill. Breweries from all parts were represented at this year’s festival; Cornwall’s brews went down well, as did several others, but the top beer, as far as your blues correspondent is concerned, was brewed nearby at Newcastle University’s student run microbrewery. The informative notes read ‘A pale amber colour, bursting with Citra, Centennial, Chinook, and three types of Cascade including hops we grew ourselves at the University.’ The beer – Cascade Diagram (5.5%) from Stu Brew.

Beer in hand, back to the blues. Otis Rush, with Scott Taylor imploring Sit Down Baby. The tune of the night, sung by Taylor, was Tight Dress. From one harmonica player to another, this was Taylor tipping his hat to George ‘Harmonica’ Smith. Taylor’s mean-eyed vocals hit the bull’s eye:   

Hey you, you with the tight dress on. Hey you, you with the tight dress on.
Well, you’re a fine looking woman, don’t make me leave my home.                    

The temptation was there. King Bees closed their set with Got My Mojo Working. They’re the band of the moment, catch them at Billy Bootleggers, first Friday in the month, on stage nine o’clock and it’s free admission.
Russell        

   

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