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Bebop Spoken There

Billy Boy Arnold: “As long as you don't think old you're good.” - DownBeat, December, 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!"

Simon Spillett: A lovely review from the dean of jazz bloggers, Lance Liddle...

Postage

16051 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 1058 of them this year alone and, so far, 12 this month (Dec. 6).

From This Moment On ...

December

Sat 09: Prudhoe Community Band @ Central Station, Newcastle. 10:00am - 12 noon. Charity fundraiser.
Sat 09: Durham Alumni Big Band @ Number One Bar, Skinnergate, Darlington. 1:00pm.
Sat 09: Castillo Nuevo Trio @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 5:30pm. Free.
Sat 09: Hayley's Little Big Band @ Middleton & Todridge Village Hall, Morpeth. 7:30pm. £12.00., £6.00.
Sat 09: Paul Skerritt @ Slaley Hall, Hexham NE47 0BX. 7:30pm. From £42.00.

Sun 10: Musicians Unlimited’s Xmas Party with Zoë Gilby Quartet @ Park Inn, Hartlepool. MU 1:00-3:00pm; Zoë Gilby Quartet 4:00-6:00pm. Tickets: £7.50.
Sun 10: Alan Law, Paul Grainger & Abbie Finn @ Darlington Market, Market Square, Darlington. 1:00pm. Free. A ‘Christmas Market’ outdoor gig. Wrap up warm!
Sun 10: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00-4:00pm. Free.
Sun 10: Funk Soul Sista @ Stack, Seaburn. 5:00-7:00pm. Free.
Sun 10: Beth Clarke @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 10: Hayley's Little Big Band @ Whittingham Memorial Institute, Alnwick. 7:30pm. £12.00., £10.00.
Sun 10: Tele-Port @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Line-up inc. Zhenya Strigalev.

Mon 11: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 11: Interim Final Recitals @ Newcastle University. Details TBC.

Tue 12: Stu Collingwood Organ Trio @ Forum Music Centre, Darlington. 7:00pm. £10.00.

Wed 13: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 13: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 13: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 13: Bold Big Band @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:30pm.
Wed 13: Giles Strong Quartet @ Alphabetti Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 14: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 14: Hot Fingers @ The Lubetkin Theatre, Peterlee. 7:00pm. £10.00.
Thu 14: After Hours Student Jazz Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 14: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. . Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 14: Niffi Osiyemi Trio @ Harbour View, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 14: Mo Scott ‘Little Mo’s Festive Appearance’ @ The Schooner, Gateshead. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 14: Tees Hot Club w. Kevin Eland, Josh Bentham, Garry Hadfield, Adrian Beadnell @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 15: Paul Edis @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 15: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 15: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 15: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 15: Paul Skerritt @ Black Horse Inn, Crook. From 7:00pm.
Fri 15: Paul Edis: A Jazzy Christmas @ St Cuhtbert's Centre, Crook. 7:30pm. £15.00. SOLD OUT! Waiting list open.
Fri 15: Zoë Gilby Trio @ Seventeen Nineteen, Hendon, Sunderland. 7:30pm. £12.00. POSTPONED!
Fri 15: Strictly Smokin' Big Band @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 8:00pm. First night of two.
Fri 15: Darlington Big Band @ Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. £10.00. Opus 4 Jazz Club.
Fri 15: Baghdaddies @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £14.00.; £10.00.

Sunday, September 30, 2018

Harry Greene Quartet @ Hexham Abbey Festival of Music and Arts 2018. Late Night Jazz – Sept. 29.

Harry Greene (tenor); Matt Carter (keys); Seth Tackaberry (bass); Joel Barford (Drums).
(Review by Hugh)
After last year’s inaugural Late Night Jazz session in the Great Hall featuring Nikki Iles and Stan Sulzmann, the question was, how to follow that up this year?  At the recommendation of Nikki Iles, the Harry Greene Quartet was invited.  These four fresh-faced college lads (all trained on the Jazz Course at The Royal Academy of Music) were smartly suited and booted for the occasion.  Harry Greene brought together a new quartet for what was to be their first gig – with a specially curated programme to celebrate the music and musicians of the Blue Note label - focussing on the output of the 1950s and 60s.

Dexter Gordon’s Cheesecake got the evening off to a swinging start.  The format for most of the evening was set – Harry Greene took the first solo blowing his striking gold on black lacquer horn, followed by the first of many skillful and sensitive piano solos by Matt Carter, proceeding to bass and/or drum solos, with ensemble playing in between.  The up-tempo beat was continued in Hank Mobley’s Soul Station - Seth Tackaberry’s walking bass and Joel Barford’s drumming propelled the piece with purposeful strides.  John Coltrane’s arrangement of I’m Old Fashioned calmed the room with its balladic qualities – Greene’s beautiful saxophone tone was to the fore, with sensitive brushwork from Joel Barford.  The calm was short-lived – Herbie Hancock’s Driftin’ woke us up again with dextrous fingering by Greene on saxophone.  A second (composed later) Hancock number, Maiden Voyage followed, where Joel Barford was let loose to enjoy his drum kit.  This closed the first set after almost one hour’s music.  A scheduled interval ensued, during which replenishment of reviewer’s refreshment was obtained (fit for the occasion) - Allendale Brewery’s 674 – brewed to commemorate the year of the founding of Hexham Abbey.
 The second half commenced with Tammy’s Breeze by Gene Harris, then the familiar, Groove Merchant by Harry Richardson.  During the bass solo, in his eagerness to demonstrate the stratospheric (well for bass, anyway) notes obtainable by concentrating attention to the very bottom of the fingerboard, Seth Tackaberry (and his bass) almost fell onto the music stand in front!  The groove merchants came to a-rockin'(am I allowed to use that word in this context?) climax. 

A sobering five-minute warning was issued from the back of the room.  The final piece was Moment’s Notice (John Coltrane) played at breakneck speed, with blistering performances from all quartet members.  Time for one more?  The bandleader asked.  But it was not to be – the licensing curfew was absolute.  No more music – “you’ll just have to invite us again”, quipped Green.

This was a cracking gig, full of melody with bravura performances by all four members of the quartet.  The receptive audience helped make the gig a success.  These guys have started a journey on a long and productive road.  Who says jazz is the preserve of the older generation? – the enthusiasm and already excellent musicianship of this young quartet augur well for the future of the music.  They have picked up and are already running with the baton.

Hugh C.

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