Total Pageviews

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

15245 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 264 of them this year alone and, so far, 77 this month (March 25).

From This Moment On ...

March

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.
Mar 26: Pop Jazz @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. 'Jazzified' tunes by the likes of Sylvester, Bowie, the Monkees etc., feat. Alan Law, David Gray, Richard Herdman & Jude Murphy.
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).

Wed 29: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 29: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 29: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 7:00pm.
Wed 29: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 30: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Gateshead Central Library. 2:30-4:30pm. £2.00. All welcome.
Thu 30: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. Back to 1:00pm stomp off. Free.
Thu 30: '58 Jazz Collective @ Hops & Cheese, Hartlepool. 7:30pm. Free.
Thu 30: Lindsay Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ Harbour View, Sunderland. 8:00pm.
Thu 30: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 31: Lewis Watson Quartet @ Bishop Auckland Town Hall. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 31: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 31: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 31: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm. CANCELLED! Back next week (April 7).
Fri 31: Jasmine Myra + Waclaw Zimpel @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Fri 31: The Revolutionaires @ The Shack, Boldon Colliery. 7:30pm. £10.00. The Revolutionaires' big band (horn section) line-up.
Fri 31: Andrew McCormack @ Maltings, Berwick. 8:00pm. £20.00.

April
Sat 01: The Big Easy @ St Augustine's Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm.
Sat 01: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. Tutor: Steve Glendinning - In a Minor Key. £25.00. Enrol at: www.jazz.coop.
Sat 01: Hot Club du Nord @ Pleased to Meet You, Bridge St., Morpeth. 8:00pm. £79.00. A charity fundraising event.
Sat 01: Boys of Brass @ Stack, Seaburn. 7:00-9:00pm.
Sat 01: Rendezvous Jazz @ Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00. RESCHEDULED to next week (Sat 08).

Wednesday, December 26, 2018

Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Spanish City - Dec 26

Brian Bennett (banjo); Jim McBriarty (clarinet, vocals); Phil Smith (double bass); Fred Thompson (drums, vocals) + John Broddle (vocals)
(Review by Russell)

Boxing Day, the day after the Big Day. Time to get out and about. A bright, sunny day, Metro running, let's go down to the coast. The North Sea resembled a mill pond, promenaders were eating ice cream - yes, ice cream! - on this very mild winter's day.

The Spanish City is an oddity. The Alhambra it ain't but nevertheless, the north east coastal landmark pulls 'em in, not least since a long overdue multi-million pounds' refurbishment. An added Boxing Day attraction (for some) was a festive appearance by the Vieux Carré Hot 4. 

Brian Bennett's portable quartet - the bandleader could pick 'em up, put 'em in his waistcoat pocket and roam around Whitley Bay's iconic building - popped up first in Valerie's Tea Room before moving into the adjacent Trencher's Restaurant. The Champagne Bar up on the first floor would be the Vieux Carré's third and final stop on a Pied Piper tour of the Dome (aka Spanish City).

Three sets, the third with its own interval, found the Vieux Carré in good form; Runnin' WildI Get the Blues When it RainsHoneysuckle Rose - familiar material but none the worse for another airing. The Hot 4's line-up today comprised Bennett with his ever-trusty banjo, multi-reeds maestro Jim McBriarty, as ever singing a few numbers, regular sidekick Fred Thompson playing a single Gretsch snare drum throughout with brushes, and erstwhile Vieux Carré Jazzman Phil Smith helping out on string bass. 
Darktown Strutter's Ball, McBriarty crooning Walkin' My Baby Back Home, a seasonal Winter Wonderland with sleigh bells accompaniment by a youthful friend of the Hot 4, the afternoon flew by as patrons exited doors, belongings in hand, in pursuit of/attempting to escape from the on-the-move Vieux Carré.

Coffee and walnut cake in Valerie's Tea Room, Trencher's fish and chips declined, then on to the sea view splendour of the Champagne Bar. No fizz on this occasion, a hand-pulled pint of the Whitley Bay Brewing Company's Spanish City (ABV 4.2%) the better option. My Honey's Lovin' Arms, then in walked John Broddle to join the band for a couple numbers including If I Had You.

The band's regular singers sang Margie (McBriarty) and Lonesome Road (Thompson) and as McBriarty insisted The Alcoholic Blues didn't pertain to him it was fast approaching three o'clock and time to go but not before MC Bennett acceded to Bebop Spoken Here's request to hear Muskrat Ramble. The Vieux Carré Hot 4 can be heard Sundays, from noon, at the Spanish City. 
Russell.

No comments :

Blog Archive