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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

17421 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 16 years ago. 695 of them this year alone and, so far, 100 this month (Sept. 30).

From This Moment On ...

October

Mon 07: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 07: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 6:30-8:30pm. Free.

Tue 08: ???

Wed 09: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free. Wed 09: Jason Isaacs @ St James’ STACK, Newcastle. 5:00-7:00pm. Free.
Wed 09: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 09: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 09: The Tannery Jam Session @ The Tannery, Gilesgate, Hexham. 7:00-9:00pm. Free. A ‘second Wednesday in the month’ jam session.
Wed 09: Shunya, Dudù Kouate & Seb Rochford @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 8:30pm (7:30pm doors). £21.00.

Thu 10: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 10: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. ‘Collaborations - it happened all the time’.
Thu 10: Indigo Jazz Voices w. the Little Big Band @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:45pm. £5.00.
Thu 10: Side Cafe Orkestar @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 10: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesborough. 8:30pm. With guests Donna Hewitt (sax); Bill Watson (trumpet); Graham Thompson (keys); Ron Smith (bass). Free.

Fri 11: Dulcie May Moreno @ The Old Library, Auckland Castle, Bishop Auckland. 1:00pm. £8.00.
Fri 11: The Jazz Quartet + Stratosphonic @ Tynedale Rugby Club, Corbridge. 7:00pm. £15.00. A Rotary Club of Hexham event. The Jazz Quartet (Jude Murphy & co), Stratosphonic (blues/rock).
Fri 11: Joe Steels Trio @ The Pele, Market Place, Corbridge NE45 5AW. 7:30pm. Free.
Fri 11: Crooners @ Tyne Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm.
Fri 11: Mo Scott Band @ Blues Underground, Nelson St., Newcastle. 9:00pm. Free.

Sat 12: Milne-Glendinning Band @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 12: Michael Woods @ Victoria Tunnel, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £12.00. (£10.00. adv.). Country blues guitar & vocals.
Sat 12: Nauta @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £13.28, £11.16, £9.04. A two-track recording launch gig.
Sat 12: Stuart Turner @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Rockabilly, rhythm & blues etc. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sat 12: Lapwing Jazz Trio @ The Ship Inn, Low Newton. 8:00pm. Free. New trio: Paula Whitty, Richard Herdman, Jude Murphy.

Sun 13: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 13: Emma Wilson @ Tyne Bar, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. Blues.
Sun 13: Catfish Keith @ The Cluny. 7:00pm. Country blues.
Sun 13: Cath Stephens & Paul Grainger @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Stephens & Grainger, one third of a triple bill.
Sun 13: Dulcie May Moreno Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Reviewers wanted

Whilst BSH attempts to cover as many gigs, festivals and albums as possible, to make the site even more comprehensive we need more 'boots on the ground' to cover the albums seeking review - a large percentage of which never get heard - report on gigs or just to air your views on anything jazz related. Interested? then please get in touch. Contact details are on the blog. Look forward to hearing from you. Lance

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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