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Bebop Spoken There

Béla Fleck: “ And that's the great thing about live performances, you take people on a journey. It doesn't have to be like something else they've heard. It's not supposed to be". DownBeat, April, 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

Thu 28: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 28: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Gateshead Central Library, Gateshead. 2:30pm.
Thu 28: Richard Herdman Quartet @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 28: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm. Guests: Josh Bentham (alto sax); Alan Marshall (tenor sax); Neil Brodie (trumpet); Adrian Beadnell (bass); Graham Thompson (keys); Steve Hunter (drums).

Fri 29: FILM: Soul @ The Forum Cinema, Hexham. 12:30pm. Jazz-themed film animation.
Fri 29: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 29: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 29: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 29: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 6:00pm. Free. POSTPONED!
Fri 29: Thundercat @ Newcastle City Hall.
Fri 29: John Logan @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sat 30: Papa G’s Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sat 30: Pete Tanton’s Cuba Libre @ Whitley Bay Library, York Road, Whitley Bay. 8:00pm.

Sun 31: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay Metro Station. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 31: Ruth Lambert Trio @ Juke Shed, Union Quay, North Shields NE30 1HJ. 3:00pm. Free. Lambert, Alan Law & Paul Grainger.
Sun 31: Sid Jacobs & Tom Remon @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. USA/London jazz guitar duo.
Sun 31: Bellavana @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

April
Mon 01: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 01: Ray Stubbs R&B All Stars @ Billy Bootlegger’s, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 3:00pm. Free.

Tue 02: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Dean Stockdale, Paul Grainger, Abbie Finn.

Wed 03: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 03: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 03: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Sunday, May 13, 2018

Tower of Power @ Cheltenham Jazz Festival, Town Hall - May 6.

(Review by Steve T)
I've said it before and hopefully, I'll say it a few more times, there's nothing quite like a classic funk band live. I've been lucky and I've seen many of them, including many of the greats, but there's a couple from the frontline I'm probably never going to see.
If I'm honest, Tower of Power are third-rate, which puts them round about the Average White Band and the Blackbyrds, which is still pretty awesome, and puts them ahead of most everything else, at least live.
They're best known for having one of the most awesome horn sections in funk; most of the bands had three or four players, they've always had five.
Like the first full-on funk band, Sly and the Family Stone, they're from California - Oakland to be specific - and this has been reflected in their multi-cultural membership throughout their fifty years.
There are at least two original members and possibly four. I've tried to identify the nominal leader, saxophonist and occasional singer and think it's most likely Emilio Castillo, with Steve Kupka on baritone, known as the funky doctor, the only other certain original.
As well as the horns, they're famous for launching Lenny Williams solo career, their singer during funk's heyday in the early/mid-seventies. Castillo introduced their new singer Marcus Scott as one of the best they've ever had and he looks and sounds just like Williams.
The polite sit-down venue of Christian McBride just a few hours earlier had been transformed into a raucous all-standing, all-dancing veritable nightclub, chocker to the rafters.
The band was hot from the off, the horn players dancing like vocal harmony groups, loads of real Hammond and rock guitar. All their funky hits, with some new ones and they haven't missed a beat in forty years. Scott was wooing the ladies on the slow ones and showed his moves to I'll still be Diggin' on James Brown, turning into I got the Feeling and back.
What is Hip? predictably provided the finale, turning into Soul Power, the chant turning into 'tower of power' and then back to What is Hip?
A remarkable end to a remarkable day.   
Steve T.

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