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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

15245 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 264 of them this year alone and, so far, 77 this month (March 25).

From This Moment On ...

March

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 + Abbie Finn @ 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.

Thu 30: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Gateshead Central Library. 2:30-4:30pm. £2.00. All welcome.
Thu 30: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. Back to 1:00pm stomp off. Free.
Thu 30: Castillo Nuevo @ Revolución de Cuba, Newcastle. 5:30-8:30pm.
Thu 30: '58 Jazz Collective @ Hops & Cheese, Hartlepool. 7:30pm. Free.
Thu 30: Lindsay Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ Harbour View, Sunderland. 8:00pm.
Thu 30: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 31: Lewis Watson Quartet @ Bishop Auckland Town Hall. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 31: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 31: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 31: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm. CANCELLED! Back next week (April 7).
Fri 31: Castillo Nuevo @ Revolución de Cuba, Newcastle. 5:30-8:30pm.
Fri 31: Jasmine Myra + Waclaw Zimpel @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Fri 31: The Revolutionaires @ The Shack, Boldon Colliery. 7:30pm. £10.00. The Revolutionaires' big band (horn section) line-up.
Fri 31: Andrew McCormack @ Maltings, Berwick. 8:00pm. £20.00.

April
Sat 01: The Big Easy @ St Augustine's Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm.
Sat 01: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. Tutor: Steve Glendinning - In a Minor Key. £25.00. Enrol at: www.jazz.coop.
Sat 01: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington Covered Market, Darlington DL1 5PN. 6:00pm. New venue, live jazz!
Sat 01: Boys of Brass @ Stack, Seaburn. 7:00-9:00pm.
Sat 01: Hot Club du Nord @ Pleased to Meet You, Bridge St., Morpeth. 8:00pm. £79.00. A charity fundraising event.
Sat 01: Rendezvous Jazz @ Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00. RESCHEDULED to next week (Sat 08).

Sun 02: Smokin' Spitfires @ The Cluny. 12:45pm.
Sun 02: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 3:00pm.

Mon 03: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

Monday, August 06, 2018

Francis Tulip Quartet @ The Globe & Stu Collingwood Trio @ Charts - August 5

Francis Tulip (guitar); Joel Brown (piano); Michael Dunlop (bass guitar); Matt MacKellar (drums).
(Review by Lance).
Much has been posted on BSH about the above musicians, charting their progress as some of them set out on their way with Jambone at Sage Gateshead, others consolidating their technique at local jam sessions before finally emerging in full bloom as a band to be reckoned with at any level.
The crowded bar at the Jazz Coop HQ took me back maybe 50 years to a time when Newcastle really was a 'jazz town'.
The Beatles may have ousted jazz from The Cavern in Liverpool but, in Newcastle, Jazz North East was about to begin the rollercoaster ride that continues to this day producing jazz across the spectrum from home and abroad. The New Orleans Club was open 6/7 nights a week whilst across town, the Down Beat club gave birth to the Emcee 5 - a modern jazz quintet that, in its short life, achieved legendary status before the musicians moved south to become cult figures in their own right. 
The two clubs also spawned The Animals, the bluesiest of the '60s rock groups and one of the few bands to challenge the then Merseyside dominance. To get an idea of the scene at the time, Abi Lewis' portrayal of the late Keith Crombie and the Jazz Café in her filmed documentary Geordie Jazzman is essential viewing (August 18, Tyneside Cinema).
Over the years, the Emcee 5 has become the yardstick by which northeast bands are judged. With the exception of a few such as the occasionally assembled ACV and the Paul Edis Sextet, most have been found wanting.
All that changed last night at the Globe.
There was a buzz about the place that took me back to those halcyon days. The hot weather outside, the warm beer inside, the cool music on stage. All that was missing was the sometimes pungent aroma of cigarette smoke.
Make no mistake, everything that has been written about the FTQ in these pages is no exaggeration and even though it is a band still in its infancy, that infancy is way way higher than many well-known bands' maturity.
However, like the Emcee 5, this could be an ephemeral moment. Already personnel changes are afoot and, as one of the warmest summers on record draws to a close, so the band members will disperse to their various pursuits both home and abroad and gigs like last night will become a rarity so be sure to catch them when you can or live a life of regret*.
----- 
Prior to the above session, I had a pleasant stroll along Newcastle Quayside enjoying the 'scenery' before calling into Charts for a cooling draught of ale.
The Stu Collingwood Trio were laying down some fine jazz. Advertised as a Jazz Social which is another word for a Jam Session or, as Dave Weisser prefers, a Jazz Workshop, the potential was there for a super Sunday which is a current void in the Tyneside jazz calendar. Over the years, going back to the 1960s, maybe even earlier, Sunday lunchtime sessions pulled the crowds. 
The Bluebell in Felling, The Baracuda Band at one of the bars on Westgate Rd., The Newcastle Big Band, Last Exit, The East Side Torpedoes, the Steve Brown Band - all at the University Theatre (now Newcastle Playhouse), the Ronnie Young Band at the City Vaults in the Bigg Market were just some of the Sunday lunchtime sessions that served as an aperitif to your roast beef and two Yorkshires.
Charts is situated in a prime location. The Quayside market, particularly during the summer months, draws the crowds and with  Stu Collingwood on keys, Russ Morgan on drums and Andy, the still undefeated, Champion, on bass, who could ask for anything more?
 So surely the time is right for a revival.
All it needs is for a horn player or six to drop by and it will escalate.
Plus, no need to miss your Sunday dinner as it's a late afternoon start (4pm-7pm are the advertised times but this is jazz so they may not be exact.)
Well worth a visit or two/three/four etc.
Lance.
(Charts photo by Russell)  
*Stop press: The word is out that the Francis Tulip Quartet has booked some studio time so it looks as though there could be a CD in the offing. 

1 comment :

Russell said...

Steve Brown played piano at the University Theatre...all these years later son Joel is a chip off the old block playing piano with Francis Tulip!

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