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Bebop Spoken There

Abbie Finn: "Even though there's a lot of great work being done to promote women in jazz, I still come up against some attitudes! I pulled up at a recording session with my drums in the car and the studio owner said, 'I'm sorry, this space is reserved for the drummer!'" - (Jazzwise April 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

15229 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 248 of them this year alone and, so far, 61 this month (March 20).

From This Moment On ...

March

Wed 22: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 22: Darlington Big Band @ Traveller's Rest, Cockerton. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public). Note change of venue - this week only.
Wed 22: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 7:00pm.
Wed 22: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 23: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 4:00-6:00pm. Free.
Thu 23: NUJO Jazz Jam @ Bar Loco, Newcasatle. From 6:30pm 'til late. Free. Newcastle University Jazz Orchestra jam session. All welcome (students & non-students).
Thu 23: Kerrin Tatman + John Garner & John Pope @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 23: Sunna Gunnlaugs & Julia Hülsmann @ Sage Gateshead. 8:00pm. A two-piano gig. A Sage Gateshead-JNE promotion.
Thu 23: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Ragtime piano.
Thu 23: Sleep Suppressor @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £10.00., £8.00. adv. Upstairs.
Thu 23: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 24: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 24: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 24: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 24: FILM: Mo' Better Blues @ Forum Cinema, Hexham. 7:00pm.
Fri 24: Ian Millar & Dominic Spencer @ Scarth Hall, Staindrop, Co. Durham. 8:00pm. £10.00.
Fri 24: Archipelago + Bulbils @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.

Sat 25: Vermont Big Band @ Walker Community Centre, Walker, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Fundraiser for Benfield Juniours Football Club. Hot food available, BYOB.
Sat 25: John Logan & Friends @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Rat Pack, Motown etc. 8:00pm. Free (donations).

Sun 26: Musicians Unlimited @ Park Inn, Hartlepool. 1:00pm.
Sun 26: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 3:00pm.
Sun 26: Outlines @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. JNE promotion (upstairs).

Mon 27: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

Tue 28: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 28: Sanaz Lavasani Trio @ Black Swan, Newcastle Arts Centre. 8:00pm. £12.00 (£10.00. adv).

Monday, December 10, 2018

RIP BMus @ Sage Gateshead.

Paul Edis has reminded me that tomorrow, and Wednesday, there are performances by (very sadly) the final ever cohort of the BMus students at Sage, Gateshead.

The BMus course has been around, Paul reminds me, since before he was born, and many of the musicians featured on BSH were schooled by Birkett/Sinclair/Richardson or have some connection to it. 

As well as jazz, over the next two days, there are all sorts of musical interests and disciplines on display reflecting the diversity of the students. Also, in amongst the student bands, there are cameos from Paul Grainger, Bradley Johnston and Thomas Dixon amongst others... 

This is so so sad and poses a question: Will the northeast ever again have such a justifiably proud facility for producing so many fine jazz musicians?

It also poses another question someone brought up at a local jazz jam after a young student revealed that, whilst music and jazz would forever be his passion, his future lay as a doctor/lawyer/Indian Chief etc and that a degree in jazz was the equivalent of becoming a graduate in Everyday Latin.

What colleges did Armstrong, Parker, Coltrane attend? Their Alma Mater was the street, the club, the bar - would they have been greater if they'd attended music school? No, but they'd probably have made it a lot sooner if they had had the access to today's educational facilities!

So let's show our appreciation of the work done by the tutors past and present at Sage Gateshead by attending some of the student gigs and - who knows? - maybe a peaceful demonstration of some sort?
Lance.
PS: Whilst bemoaning the demise of the above the real cause of the problem is the decline in musical education in schools. In many state schools, even the recorder is passe so what chance the saxophone? This means that real musical education is open only to the middle/upper classes.
Views, please.

5 comments :

James Harrison (on F/b) said...

That course will definitely not rest in peace. Not if I have anything to do with it! 😂

Michael said...

The course has produced some exceptional talent over the years. Such a shame to see it go! As a peripatetic drum teacher I know all about the decline of music education all too well. When a school says GCSE music will cease to exist due to lack of interest you know there's a problem. Here's hoping the new wave of jazz and pop bands (Vulfpeck, The 1975, Snarky Puppy etc) will inspire more people to take up a careeer in music and not look to just please their parents by becoming lawyers and doctors. Otherwise that would be a great tragedy indeed.

Kim Robson (on F/b) said...

Sad times! Hope all goes well 👍

Diane Jones (on F/b) said...

Well said Lance.

TJ said...

Music for all ? .... not these days! Learning an instrument has become unaffordable for many parents in the present 'jam' (pardon the pun!) society most folk find themselves in with a squeeze on everything (and errrr don't mention Brexit!!!) combined with the fact that music as a subject is being ever increasingly marginalised in schools. To quote the General Secretary of the musicians union Horace Trubridge "We may well only be hearing the songs and sounds of the affluent in the years to come" ...god forbid!

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