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Bebop Spoken There

Spasmo Brown: “Jazz is an ice cream sandwich! It's the Fourth of July! It's a girl with a waterbed!”. (Syncopated Times, July, 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

17372 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 16 years ago. 656 of them this year alone and, so far, 61 this month (Sept. 17).

From This Moment On ...

September

Wed 18: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 18: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 18: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 18: Hot Club of Heaton @ Elder Beer, Heaton, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘third Wednesday in the month’ session.

Thu 19: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 19: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Ragtime piano. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 19: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesborough. 8:30pm. Free. THC with guests Kevin Eland, Dan Johnson, Jeremy McMurray, Ron Smith.

Fri 20: Lindsay Hannon’s Tom Waits for No Man @ Gala Theatre, Durham. 1:00pm. £8.00.
Fri 20: Rob Hall & Chick Lyall @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Free (donations). SOLD OUT!
Fri 20: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 20: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 20: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 20: Leeway @ 1719, Hendon, Sunderland. 7:30pm. The Old Black Cat Jazz Club. CANCELLED!
Fri 20: Gaz Hughes Trio @ Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. Opus 4 Jazz Club.

Sat 21: Jason Isaacs @ Seaburn STACK, Seaburn. 1:00-2:45pm. Free.
Sat 21: Vieux Carré Hot Four @ The Beehive, Hartley Lane, Earsdon Whitley Bay NE25 0SZ. 4:30pm-6:30pm.
Sat 21: Baghdaddies @ Two by Two, Albion Row, Byker, Newcastle NE6 1RQ. 6:00pm.
Sat 21: Jude Murphy & Alan Law @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 22: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 22: Jason Isaacs @ St James’ STACK, Newcastle. 2:30-4:30pm. Free.
Sun 22: Dulcie May Moreno Quartet @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm.
Sun 22: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 22: Richard Herdman @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 22: Remy CB Band @ Blues Underground, Nelson St., Newcastle. 8:30pm. Free. Remi, 2024 Newcastle Uni graduate, superb soul/blues voice!

Mon 23: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 23: Paul Booth with the Paul Edis Trio @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00. A Blaydon Jazz Club 40th anniversary concert! SOLD OUT!

Tue 24: Dulcie May Moreno Quartet @ Newcastle House Hotel, Rothbury. 7:30pm. £12.00. (£10.00. adv. from Tully’s of Rothbury). Coquetdale Jazz.
Tue 24: Sarah Gillespie @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £16.50. Duo performance with Chris Montague.

Friday, October 12, 2018

Tiptoe @ Gosforth Civic Theatre - October 11

Alice Higgins (vocals); Will Blackstone (trumpet/snare drum); Conall Mulvenna (guitar/backing vocals); Roz MacDonald (double bass). 
(Review by Lance).
It was one of those nights that you wanted to share with the world. But unfortunately, tonight was a rare night when our immediate world i.e. Newcastle/Gateshead was spoilt for choice when it came to quality singers.
Caro Emerald at Sage Gateshead, Paul Skerritt at the Jazz Café and of course the Indigo Jazz Voices down in Globeland.
Oh yes, and then there was Alice Higgins at Gosforth Jazz Club - was there not!
Remember that name and remember the name of the band - Tiptoe.
An appropriate name, for the four musicians do indeed tread softly which, given that the quartet includes trumpet and Fender Strat, two instruments rarely given to delicacy, is an achievement in itself.
The band got together at Leeds and have since received support via the Jazz Northern Line touring scheme and deservedly so (not always the case!)
Alice handles the vocals stylishly and with much musical acumen. Pitching and phrasing are impeccable.

Blackstone is nearer to Chet Baker than Kenny Baker opting for the terrestrial as opposed to the celestial register blowing lyrical, mostly open horn and, when not doing that, applying brushes to a snare drum.
Mulvenna is Irish and appears to be the nominal leader, doing the announcing, telling the jokes and playing a tasteful mix of single string and chordal solos.
Oh yes, and then there was Roz MacDonald - was there not!
One of the most melodic bassists I've heard. A clean sound and a clear conception of the changes (if she had an iPad I shudder to think where it was hidden) with solos that made sense.
The material was sound.
A Sleepin' Bee; Tea For Two (not done à la Anita thank goodness!); I Didn't Know What Time it Was; Tuesday Heartbreak (Stevie Wonder); I'm Beginning to See the Light (bass solo!!!); Mr Magic (music by Grover Washington Jr. lyric by Amy Winehouse); Sleepwalker (Emily King); September in the Rain.
Thus endeth the first set. A good mix of the old and the new. There weren't many of us present but no one made signs of leaving - how could they?
Eat your heart out Caro!
The second set began with the Basie classic Shiny Stockings with more than a hint of Ella.
You'd be so Nice to Come Home To; If I Were a Bell; How Do I Know? (band original); April in Paris; Rocket Love (Stevie Wonder); Mean to Me and My Lonely Days Are Gone.
Some may class it as Dinner Jazz but I prefer Banquet Jazz such was the musical feast set before the chosen few.
This was one of those rare occasions when I was disappointed that the band wasn't hawking CDs.
Photos.
Lance.

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