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Bebop Spoken There

Billy Boy Arnold: “As long as you don't think old you're good.” - DownBeat, December, 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!"

Simon Spillett: A lovely review from the dean of jazz bloggers, Lance Liddle...

Postage

16051 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 1058 of them this year alone and, so far, 12 this month (Dec. 6).

From This Moment On ...

December

Mon 11: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 11: Interim Final Recitals @ Newcastle University. Details TBC.

Tue 12: Stu Collingwood Organ Trio @ Forum Music Centre, Darlington. 7:00pm. £10.00.

Wed 13: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 13: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 13: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 13: Bold Big Band @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:30pm.
Wed 13: Giles Strong Quartet @ Alphabetti Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 14: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 14: Hot Fingers @ The Lubetkin Theatre, Peterlee. 7:00pm. £10.00.
Thu 14: After Hours Student Jazz Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 14: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. . Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 14: Niffi Osiyemi Trio @ Harbour View, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 14: Mo Scott ‘Little Mo’s Festive Appearance’ @ The Schooner, Gateshead. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 14: Tees Hot Club w. Kevin Eland, Josh Bentham, Garry Hadfield, Adrian Beadnell @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 15: Paul Edis @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 15: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 15: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 15: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 15: Paul Skerritt @ Black Horse Inn, Crook. From 7:00pm.
Fri 15: Paul Edis: A Jazzy Christmas @ St Cuhtbert's Centre, Crook. 7:30pm. £15.00. SOLD OUT! Waiting list open.
Fri 15: Zoë Gilby Trio @ Seventeen Nineteen, Hendon, Sunderland. 7:30pm. £12.00. POSTPONED!
Fri 15: Strictly Smokin' Big Band @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 8:00pm. First night of two. SOLD OUT!
Fri 15: Darlington Big Band @ Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. £10.00. Opus 4 Jazz Club.
Fri 15: Baghdaddies @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £14.00.; £10.00.

Sat 16: Paul Edis: A Jazzy Christmas @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 2:00pm. A Jazzy Christmas + Jambone.
Sat 16: Porritt & Barrett & Friends Xmas Special @ Cullercoats Watch House. 7:00pm. £4.00.
Sat 16: Milne-Glendinning Band @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 16: Red Kites Jazz Band @ The Staithes Café, Gateshead. 7:00pm--9:00pm.
Sat 16: Hayley's Little Big Band @ Ellingham Village Hall, Chathill. 7:30pm. £12.00., £8.00.
Sat 16: Paul Edis: A Jazzy Christmas @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm.
Sat 16: Strictly Smokin' Big Band @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Second night of two.

Sun 17: Red Kites Jazz Band @ Gibside Chapel, nr. Rowlands Gill. 1:00-2:30pm.
Sun 17: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm.
Sun 17: Revolutionaires @ Tyne Bar, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. Rock ‘n’ roll excellence!
Sun 17: Tweed River Jazz Band @ Barrels Alehouse, Berwick. 7:00pm. Free.
Sun 17: The Globe Xmas Party @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. Multi-bill inc. David Gray’s Flextet + jam session.
Sun 17: Paul Edis: A Jazzy Christmas @ Queen's Hall, Hexham. 7:30pm. £17.00., £15.00.
Sun 17: Hayley's Little Big Band @ Amble Parish Hall. 7:30pm. £12.00., £6.00.
Sun 17: Snake Davis Trio @ St John’s Hall, Snods Edge, Shotley Bridge DH8 9TJ. 7:30pm. £15.00. from 07766 037893.

Saturday, January 19, 2019

R-E-S-P-E-C-T! Hand to Mouth @ Bishop Auckland Town Hall: Jan. 18

Bradley Johnston (guitar); Lindsay Hannon ( vocals).
(Review by Jerry)

The headline sums up my reaction to two musicians who can so ably perform great standards with their amazing tunes and even better words! It also links in to my only gripe about this otherwise excellent lunchtime gig which I’ll get out of the way up front. Lindsay Hannon, while introducing Gee, Baby Ain’t I Good to You, recalled her anxiety at a past gig when performing Aretha’s trademark song: would she get the spelling right when it came to the R-E-S-P-E-C-T bit? It was a good intro but it was almost the only one – leaving the less clued-up audience members (mainly me!) to work out titles etc. for themselves. Lindsay has an engaging personality and clearly a good sense of humour: I’m sure even clued-up audiences would appreciate seeing more of both. Gripe over!

Ray Noble’s, The Very Thought of You, was first up – a poppy tune with fairly conventional lyrics e.g. “I see your face in every flower, your eyes in stars above”. This contrasted with several other tunes on the set-list which were categorised as “anti-Valentine’s songs”. Rodgers and Hart’s I Wish I Were in Love Again states that “When love congeals, it soon reveals,/the faint aroma of performing seals”; Billy Strayhorn’s Lush Life with its girls with “sad and sullen grey faces” and Arlen’s brilliant rejection of  “moon and June and rainbows’ ends” in Down With Love!
That I was able to appreciate genius lyrics throughout the gig was down to Lindsay’s perfect enunciation and sensitive phrasing. I had not heard her sing before and look forward to doing so again. Soon! Her voice ranges from quirky high notes on I Can’t Give You Anything but Love (a delight from its a cappella opening to its snap ending) to dark, deep and husky (sometimes with quite a bluesy rasp) on Gee Baby… on Ain’t Got Nothin’ but the Blues and on All Too Soon.
The names, Ellington, Fitzgerald and Pass featured often throughout (understandable given the duo’s shared love of such music) but there were others: Hamilton and Hale, for example, gave us You’re Blasé which, believe it or not, I’d never heard before. Nice rhymes here, too: chasm/enthusiasm for example! And there was Jobim – bossa to go with the blues –with Dindi and with One Note Samba. On the latter, Hand to Mouth became just that as Lindsay popped and Bradley blew some improvised rhythm in the intro – and also ended the tune with a pop! Good fun!
In October, I commented on how far Bradley Johnston has come in a few short years: I would echo that comment after this gig. Where Lindsay helped us all with the genius lyrics, Bradley did the business with the “amazing tunes” which I mentioned earlier – not only with gently accompanying the lyrics but also with seductive intros and intricate solos exploring the tunes themselves. He was equally comfortable with ballads, blues, bossa and samba and played almost a “walking bass” riff which particularly caught the ear on the up-tempo rendering of Down With Love.
And finally an unsolicited plug for Bishop Auckland: Mick Shoulder is bringing some great acts there for those who like the lunchtime format, and
also a plug for the town itself – it really is a town on the up. It can be reached on a single bus (X21) from Newcastle – a bit of an odyssey, I know, but there’s enough there to make a day out with the Mining Art Museum, Auckland Park (and Wetherspoon’s for lunch) not to mention the Spanish Gallery which is due to open this year. Pick a jazz Friday and you have the perfect bus-pass adventure!
Jerry

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