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Bebop Spoken There

Branford Marsalis: "As ignorance often forces us to do, you make a generalisation about a musician based on one specific record or one moment in time." - (Jazzwise June 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

15491 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 512 of them this year alone and, so far, 133 this month (May 31).

From This Moment On ...

Tue 06: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 06: Jam session @ Black Swan, Newcastle Arts Centre. 7:30pm. House trio: Stu Collingwood (piano); Paul Grainger (double bass); Sid White (drums).

Wed 07: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 07: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 07: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 7:00pm.
Wed 07: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 08: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free. CANCELLED! BACK ON JUNE 15.
Thu 08: Easington Colliery Brass Band @ The Lubetkin Theatre, Peterlee. 7:00pm. £10.00.
Thu 08: Faye MacCalman + Blue Dust Archive @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 08: Dilutey Juice + Ceramic @ The Ampitheatre, Sea Road, South Shields. 7:00pm. Free. A South Tyneside Festival event.
Thu 08: Lara Jones w. Vigilance State @ Lubber Fiend, Blandford Square, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 08: Michael Littlefield @ the Harbour View, Roker, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Country blues.
Thu 08: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 09: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 09: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 09: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 09: Castillo Nuevo @ Revolución de Cuba, Newcastle. 5:30-8:30pm.
Fri 09: Emma Rawicz @ Sage Gateshead. 8:00pm.

Sat 10: Miners' Picnic @ Woodhorn, Ashington. Music inc. Northern Monkey Brass Band (3:00-3:50pm); New York Brass Band (4:00-4:55pm).
Sat 10: Front Porch Three @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. Americana, blues, jazz etc.
Sat 10: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

Sun 11: WORKSHOP: Tim Richards' Jazz Piano Workshop @ JG Windows, Newcastle. Time TBC. Further details tel. 0191 232 1356.
Sun 11: Jeremy McMurray's Pocket Jazz Orchestra @ Ropner Park, Stockton TS18 4EF. 2:00-4:00pm. Free.
Sun 11: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:30pm. Free.
Sun 11: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 3:00pm.
Sun 11: Groovetrain @ Innisfree Sports & Social Club, Longbenton NE12 8TY. Doors 6:30pm. £15.00 (£7.00. under 16).
Sun 11: Jeffrey Hewer Collective @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 12: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

Tuesday, October 23, 2018

Middlesbrough Jazz Weekender 2018: Big Chris Barber Band @ Middlesbrough Town Hall - October 20

Big Chris Barber Band: Chris Barber (trombone, vocals); Bob Hunt (trombone, trumpet, arrangements); Mike Henry (trumpet, cornet); Pete Rudeforth (trumpet, vocals); Nick White (saxophones, clarinet); Ian Killoran (saxophones, clarinet); Bert Brandsma (saxophones); Joe Farler (banjo, guitar); John Day (double bass); John Watson (drums)
(Review by Russell) 


The man was there at 'Newport' Middlesbrough. That was back in 1978. Down the years the trombone-playing band leader has given concerts in the town but this 'Jazz Weekender' engagement acknowledged that historic occasion forty years ago and signalled the prospect, the possibility, of an annual Middlesbrough jazz festival for the twenty-first century. 

Chris Barber, eighty-eight years young, took to the stage with his ten-piece band to play the music he's been playing for something like seven decades. The line-up has changed, likewise the programme with a significant element of Ellington and small group swing numbers. One thing hasn't changed - Chris Barber's obvious love of the music. 


From the opening Bourbon Street Parade to the closing When the Saints Go Marching in, Barber was in his element, hunched over his instrument, blowing good, taking his cue for his in-between-numbers announcements from loyal sidekick Bob Hunt. Rent Party BluesJubilee Stomp, Ellingtonia vied with N'Awlins' favourites in a packed set list. 

A little like a Duracell battery powered toy, Barber would, given the chance, keep going all night. Precious Lord, take my hand sang the band leader, the phrasing that of the American jazz and blues singers Barber so reveres. Goin' Home sang Barber. Ah, not quite, Mr Barber, the boys in the band weren't heading home, they were going to play more Duke - East St Louis Toodle-oo and Merry-Go-Round - then head to the bar for an interval drink! 

A bottle of Black Sheep or some other backstage tipple then the Big Chris Barber Band returned to the stage. Black and Tan Fantasy featured Barber, C Jam Blues won huge applause, the band leader led a chorus of Cornbread, Peas and Black Molasses - a tasty selection. 

Barber's legendary mumbled announcements were reassuringly intact: Thank you, mmm, now, mmm, the Harlem Hamfats, yes, mmm, Kansas Joe, Papa Charlie, mmm, good, What You Gonna Do? Thankfully, Barber's band knew the running order and so it was - What You Gonna Do? Ah, the band...first class, that's the band. Fellow 'bone man Bob Hunt takes care of the arrangements and the seven-strong frontline - long-serving Mike Henry alongside Pete Rudeforth blew some great trumpet, and to their right the reedsmen, Dutchman Bert Brandsma, Scotsman Ian Killoran and on the end of the line, multi-reeds wizard Nick White - took it in turn to bask in the limelight. The rhythm section boys had their moments too - Joe Farler strumming banjo then guitar, string bass man John Day (ex Acker Bilk) and the immaculate (musically speaking) John Watson (drums). 

For those who hadn't heard the Big Chris Barber Band for a while, it perhaps came as a surprise to hear All Blues. One thing is for sure, Miles wouldn't have been other than complimentary. Rockin' in Rhythm brought the show to a close save for The Saints and an inevitable, and fully deserved, encore.     

Russell 

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