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Bebop Spoken There

Ambrose Akinmusire: “ I am certainly always aware of what the masses are doing. And when I see too many people going one way, I'm going another way - even when I don't know what's over that way". DownBeat, March, 2024.

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...

Josh Weir: I love the writing on bebop spoken here... I think the work you are doing is amazing.

Postage

16287 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 16 years ago. 169 of them this year alone and, so far, 41 this month (Mar 18).

From This Moment On ...

March

Tue 19: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Michael Young, Paul Grainger, Tim Johnston.

Wed 20: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 20: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 20: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 21: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 21: Castillo Neuvo Trio + Conor Emery & His ‘Bones Band @ The Grove, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 7:30pm (7:00pm doors). £10.00. (£7.00. student).
Thu 21: Remi Banklyn + Chris Corcoran Trio @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.50. Chicago blues. An International Guitar Foundation promotion.
Thu 21: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Ragtime piano.
Thu 21: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm.

Fri 22: Vasilis Xenopoulos & Paul Edis @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. £8.00. SOLD OUT!
Fri 22: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 22: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 22: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 22: Nauta + Remy CB + Last Orders @ Hoochie Coochie, Newcastle. 8:30pm (7:30pm doors). Free.
Fri 22: Vasilis Xenopoulos-Paul Edis Quartet @ Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. £15.00. Opus 4 Jazz Club.
Fri 22: Redwell @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sat 23: Jambone @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 6:30pm. Free (ticketed). End of term performance in the Northern Rock Foundation Hall.
Sat 23: Milne-Glendinning Band @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 23: Red Kites Jazz @ Rowlands Gill Community Centre NE39 1JB. 7:00pm. Tickets: £12.00. (gibsidecommunityfarm@gmail.com). A ‘Build a Barn’ fundraiser. BYOB, tea/coffee available.
Sat 23: New Century Ragtime Orchestra @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £20.00. + bf (book in person at venue - no booking fee!). Featuring pianist Martin Litton.
Sat 23: Pete Tanton’s Cuba Libre @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 24: Musicians Unlimited @ Park Inn, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 24: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:30pm. Free.
Sun 24: Luis Verde @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm. Verde (alto sax); Joe Steels (guitar); John Pope (double bass); John Hirst (drums). Alto sax brilliance!
Sun 24: Elsie Franklin @ The Globe, Newcastle. 3:00pm. £10.00. Country blues. An International Guitar Foundation promotion.
Sun 24: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay Metro Station. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 24: Las Vegas Live with the Rat Pack @ The Forum, Billingham.
Sun 24: Ian Millar & Dominic Spencer @ Otterburn Memorial Hall. 7:30pm. £12.00.
Sun 24: Lindsay Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Note start time - 7:00pm.
Sun 24: Bold Big Band @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 25: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 25: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 6:30pm. Free.

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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