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Bebop Spoken There

Abbie Finn: "Even though there's a lot of great work being done to promote women in jazz, I still come up against some attitudes! I pulled up at a recording session with my drums in the car and the studio owner said, 'I'm sorry, this space is reserved for the drummer!'" - (Jazzwise April 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

15229 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 248 of them this year alone and, so far, 61 this month (March 20).

From This Moment On ...

March

Thu 23: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 4:00-6:00pm. Free.
Thu 23: NUJO Jazz Jam @ Bar Loco, Newcasatle. From 6:30pm 'til late. Free. Newcastle University Jazz Orchestra jam session. All welcome (students & non-students).
Thu 23: Kerrin Tatman + John Garner & John Pope @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 23: Sunna Gunnlaugs & Julia Hülsmann @ Sage Gateshead. 8:00pm. A two-piano gig. A Sage Gateshead-JNE promotion.
Thu 23: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Ragtime piano.
Thu 23: Sleep Suppressor @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £10.00., £8.00. adv. Upstairs.
Thu 23: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 24: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 24: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 24: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 24: FILM: Mo' Better Blues @ Forum Cinema, Hexham. 7:00pm.
Fri 24: Ian Millar & Dominic Spencer @ Scarth Hall, Staindrop, Co. Durham. 8:00pm. £10.00.
Fri 24: Archipelago + Bulbils @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.

Sat 25: Vermont Big Band @ Walker Community Centre, Walker, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Fundraiser for Benfield Juniours Football Club. Hot food available, BYOB.
Sat 25: John Logan & Friends @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Rat Pack, Motown etc. 8:00pm. Free (donations).

Sun 26: Musicians Unlimited @ Park Inn, Hartlepool. 1:00pm.
Sun 26: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 3:00pm.
Sun 26: Outlines @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. JNE promotion (upstairs).

Mon 27: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

Tue 28: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 28: Sanaz Lavasani Trio @ Black Swan, Newcastle Arts Centre. 8:00pm. £12.00 (£10.00. adv).

Wed 29: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 29: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 29: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 7:00pm.
Wed 29: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Wednesday, May 09, 2018

Nigel Kennedy @ Cheltenham Jazz Festival, Town Hall, May 3.

(Review by Steve T)
I saw Nigel Kennedy at Scarborough a few years back and he did a set of Django - more or less - and a set of Hendrix - more or less. The former was great but the latter was immense.
I generally go to Cheltenham if there are two acts close together in the schedule. The early announcements met that, but the addition of Nigel Kennedy doing Hendrix meant doing more or less the whole festival for the first time ever became a Thing.
£25 membership later and my bass fingers doing the walking at the allotted time, what could possibly go wrong? Initially, there was a suggestion that I may not be telling the whole truth, but once proven by telephone records, my big mistake became that I rang at precisely the moment the tickets went on sale - precisely what I was aiming for - three times. You couldn't make it up but it's their boast that they don't even have a preference for fairness.
As I arrived at the venue I was livid at the sight of literally hundreds and hundreds of people in front of me who phoned the box office after me. But others were livid that he was no longer doing Hendrix; others that he kept swearing, which I hadn't realised was a secret; and others because the audience kept interrupting their concentration by applauding during pieces, though mainly when encouraged from the stage.
The musicianship was extraordinarily, mind-bogglingly stunning, as you'd expect. He makes his violin talk, sing and dance and no doubt, when we're not there, eat, sleep and drink. It seems that any sound imaginable and many unimaginable can come forth from this little man and his little instrument.
Nor does he need to hang out with mediocre musicians; two brilliant guitarists, mostly playing in a Gypsy style, with just a little slide to distinguish between the two; a brilliant upright bass player, and a brilliant cellist duetting with the violin on many of the melodies.
Bach to open, from him unaccompanied, followed by an extended piece from his second favourite composer, surely Vivaldi but no, Kennedy.
He closed the first set with the first from Gershwin – They Can't Take that Away From Me -beginning on piano and he's every bit as good as you'd expect him to be.
Gershwin dominated the second set and would include Rhapsody in (claret) Blue, which I took to be a secret word amongst the rest of the audience, indicating the daft North East lad who rang the Box Office bang on one o’clock and got seats with restricted viewing.
Porgy and Bess I couldn't quite identify, but he described it as a Thing, and Summertime was taken at a slow pace, described as less is less, though the coda hinted at Hendrix.
Lady be Good found them firmly in Gypsy Jazz territory, continued into the encore of Swing 39 morphing into Minor Swing right at the end.
For the second encore, some of us shouted for Hendrix, but they went down a folkie route with a Southern Irish folk tune followed by Danny Boy, some reduced to tears but everybody on their feet for rapturous applause. He left the stage playing I Could Have Danced All Night but returned for more applause.
He's a very special musician. 
Steve T.

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