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Bebop Spoken There

Art Blakey: "You [Bobby Watson] don't want to play too long, because you don't know they're clapping because they're glad you finished!" - (JazzTimes, Nov. 2019)..

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

15867 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 874 of them this year alone and, so far, 72 this month (Sept. 25).

From This Moment On ...

September

Tue 26: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.

Wed 27: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 27: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 27: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 28: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 28: Alice Grace Quartet @ King's Hall, Newcastle University. 1:15pm. Free.
Thu 28: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Gateshead Central Library, Gateshead. 2:30pm. All welcome.
Thu 28: Faye MacCalman + Snape/Sankey @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 28: Zoe Rahman @ Jesmond United Reformed Church, Jesmond, Newcastle. 7:30pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Thu 28: '58 Jazz Collective @ Hops & Cheese, Hartlepool. 7:30pm.
Thu 28: Speakeasy @ Queen's Hall, Hexham. 7:30pm. £15.00. A Southpaw Dance Company presentation. Dance, audio-visuals, Count Basie, Benny Goodman, swing dancers etc.
Thu 28: Mick Cantwell Band @ Harbour View, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Ace blues band.
Thu 28: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 29: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 29: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 29: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.

Sat 30: John Pope Quintet + Late Girl + Shapeshifters @ Bobik's, Jesmond, Newcastle.
Sat 30: Papa G's Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

OCTOBER

Sun 01: Smokin' Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm.
Sun 01: Dulcie May Moreno sings Portrait of Sheila @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £10.00. Moreno sings Sheila Jordan with Giles Strong, Mick Shoulder & John Bradford.
Sun 01: Middlesbrough Jazz & Blues Orchestra @ Saltburn Community Hall. 2:00pm.
Sun 01: The Easy Rollers @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £13.70., £11.55.
Sun 01: Brand/Roberts/Champion/Sanders @ Blank Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Sun 01: Papa G's Troves @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 02: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Mon 02: FILM: Wattstax; 50th Anniversary @ Forum Cinema, Hexham. 8:00pm.

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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