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Bebop Spoken There

Art Blakey: "You [Bobby Watson] don't want to play too long, because you don't know they're clapping because they're glad you finished!" - (JazzTimes, Nov. 2019)..

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

15867 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 874 of them this year alone and, so far, 72 this month (Sept. 25).

From This Moment On ...

September

Mon 25: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Mon 25: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 7:00pm.

Tue 26: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.

Wed 27: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 27: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 27: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 28: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 28: Alice Grace Quartet @ King's Hall, Newcastle University. 1:15pm. Free.
Thu 28: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Gateshead Central Library, Gateshead. 2:30pm. All welcome.
Thu 28: Faye MacCalman + Snape/Sankey @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 28: Zoe Rahman @ Jesmond United Reformed Church, Jesmond, Newcastle. 7:30pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Thu 28: '58 Jazz Collective @ Hops & Cheese, Hartlepool. 7:30pm.
Thu 28: Speakeasy @ Queen's Hall, Hexham. 7:30pm. £15.00. A Southpaw Dance Company presentation. Dance, audio-visuals, Count Basie, Benny Goodman, swing dancers etc.
Thu 28: Mick Cantwell Band @ Harbour View, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Ace blues band.
Thu 28: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 29: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 29: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 29: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.

Sat 30: John Pope Quintet + Late Girl + Shapeshifters @ Bobik's, Jesmond, Newcastle.
Sat 30: Papa G's Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

OCTOBER

Sun 01: Smokin' Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm.
Sun 01: Dulcie May Moreno sings Portrait of Sheila @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £10.00. Moreno sings Sheila Jordan with Giles Strong, Mick Shoulder & John Bradford.
Sun 01: Middlesbrough Jazz & Blues Orchestra @ Saltburn Community Hall. 2:00pm.
Sun 01: The Easy Rollers @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £13.70., £11.55.
Sun 01: Brand/Roberts/Champion/Sanders @ Blank Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Sun 01: Papa G's Troves @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 02: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Mon 02: FILM: Wattstax; 50th Anniversary @ Forum Cinema, Hexham. 8:00pm.

Thursday, November 29, 2018

The Manfreds and Georgie Fame @ Sage Gateshead - Nov. 28

Paul Jones (vocals/harmonica); Mike D'Abo (keys/vocals); Tom McGuinness (guitar/vocals); Mike Hugg (piano/vocals/perc.); Marcus Cliffe (bass guitar/vocals); Rob Townsend (drums/vocals); Simon Currie (tenor sax/soprano sax/flute/vocals) + GEORGIE FAME (keys/vocals).
(Review by Lance).

I'd already seen Georgie Fame twice this year but those gigs were at the GIJF in the same hall and at Ronnie Scott's. Both sessions were with the Guy Barker Big Band so I assumed that last night, with the Manfreds, would be poppier and less jazzier.

Well, yes and no. Yes, he did concentrate more on his "this reached number one in 1964" songs but the treatment was longer and no less jazz/blues influenced. The same could be said for the Manfreds who also rolled out the hits but blew the jazz on the solos.

"It's 1962 and we're at the Marquee Club in London" proclaimed the voice from the unlit stage. Then the lights came on and the voice was that of Paul Jones who, with his fellow Manfreds, immediately launched into Smokestack Lightning. He sang the blues, wailed on harp before giving space to Currie, Hogg and McGuinness.
Then it was time for the hits: 5-4-3-2-1; Just Like a Woman; Semi-Detached Suburban Mr James; One in the Middle; Malt and Barley Blues (feature for McGuinness) and Oh No Not My Baby. This latter number had Mike Hugg playing Killer Joe for the intro and featured Currie on soprano. Currie was a tower of strength in the ensembles and blew some (though not enough) cutting edge solos on tenor as well as his more delicate flute-playing. Fox on the Run; Pretty Flamingo and Sha La La kept the 1960s teenagers happy until, suddenly, I was back in a damp downstairs flat listening to Radio Caroline and Georgie Fame. 

Tonight he could have been Geordie Fame with references to the Club Agogo, Alan Price and somehow incorporating Blaydon Races into Georgia on my Mind! A Floyd Dixon blues led to Yeh Yeh (the number that inspired the formation of Radio Caroline) and Getaway followed by the aforementioned  Georgia brought the 65 minutes first set to a close.

A dash to the bar for a Farne Island fix then back to Row F in time for a solo rendition of Bonnie and Clyde. My favourite GF number although I seem to recall him saying at one time that it was his least favourite! I just love the lyrics - "Bonnie and Clyde advanced their reputation, and made their graduation into the banking business. Reach for the sky sweet talking Clyde would holler while Bonnie loaded dollars into a dewlap bag".

The Manfreds returned for Handbags and Gladrags composed by D'Abo followed by Watermelon Man with solos by all and vocal choruses from Jones, D'Abo and Fame.
GF came back for, among others, Wide-Eyed and Legless; a Moondance that incorporated Blue Moon and a reference to Clifford Brown which probably passed over the heads of most.

Ha Ha Said the Clown; Come Tomorrow; Build me up Buttercup; When I'm Dead and Gone; The Mighty Quinn and the inevitable Do Wah Diddy - we all sang along. That's the thing about the Manfred Mann songbook there's no big words to remember - in most cases not even proper words just sha la las and do wah diddys! But it was a fun evening and even though the jazz was kept bubbling just below the surface, it was never far away.

Georgie came back to join the band for the encore. I didn't bother noting it down as I knew I wouldn't forget it and, guess what? I forgot it!
Lance.

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