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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 - CANCELLED CEILING COLLAPSED!
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).

Sunday, March 31, 2019

JRR & J to Z @ Free Thinking Festival, Sage Gateshead - March 30

(Review & sign picture by RussellMusician PHOTOS courtesy of Malcolm Sinclair)

It was an opportunity to think, freely, for free. For those who couldn't be bothered to think others were on hand to do it for them, for free. The eggheads came in all shapes and sizes...the traditional egghead, the jolly, the cool and then there was the audience...the egghead, the jolly, the vacant and, for two and a half hours at least, the cool, 'cool' because it was jazz time here at Sage Gateshead.

BBC Radio 3's annual pilgrimage north of the Watford Gap conjures an image of a deserted Broadcasting House as presenters, producers, assistants and assistants to assistants enjoy a 'jolly', sorry, work extremely hard, shining a Free Thinking light on the banks of the Tyne. Saturday afternoon offered two jazz programmes, back-to-back, broadcast live from Sage Gateshead to Radio 3's nationwide audience. 

Alyn Shipton is a welcome visitor returning once again to present Jazz Record Requests (4:00pm, as usual) followed by J to Z presented by the ebullient Jumoké Fashola. Of course there was plenty of 'up north' content across the two and a half hours and a half - not any old stuff, you understand, but the crème de la crème. JRR's usual format applied - Shipton introduced a listener's request, we, the audience, listened to it, Shipton introduced another request...simple but brilliant! 

Today's edition of your weekly appointment with JRR included live jazz from Jo Harrop, Paul Edis and Shipton himself - no mean bass player is Mr S! Cheek to Cheek sang Jo accompanied by the brilliant Edis, piano, and the multi-tasking Shipton reading the dots and reading his cues. Jo chose a track - Nancy Wilson singing Never Let Me Go with the Gerald Wilson Orchestra, Paul dedicated the Benny Green Trio's live (Village Vanguard) take on Don't Be 'Shamed to Ushaw College's Roger Kelly, and, to close the programme, the award-winning jazz blog editor of this BSH parish, LL (cue applause!), stepped up to request Jo, Paul and Alyn play I Wished on the Moon.    

Free Thinking eggheads contributed - Lisa Appignanesi requested Bessie Smith singing Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out, the Bard of Barnsley, Ian McMillan  selected The Peddlers' Lockshen Pudding (bassist Tab Martin hailed from Tyneside) and Jambone trumpet player Lucien Guest spoke to Mr Shipton about the region's music education scene in introducing Jo Harrop and Paul Edis performing Rome Wasn't Built in a Day.
 
Free Thinking headphones were available for those wishing to listen, without distraction, to the conversation emanating from Radio 3's pop-up studio. 

Mr Shipton negotiated a seamless hand-over as Jumoké Fashola took up the reins. Bang on five o'clock Sage Gateshead's Free Thinking audience emoted: Yeah! Are you listening out there in Radioland? Get this - the Graeme Wilson Quartet! Profane Drawings of Trees (check out James Hogg),  After School (Wilson dedicated the number to today's birthday girl, Isabel, two today!) and The Bold Sammy (check out the criminally neglected James Kelman) showcased one of the best bands on today's European jazz scene. 

Multi-reedsman Graeme Wilson made the trip from Edinburgh to his former Tyneside base to reunite with the A-Team  - Messrs Paul Edis (piano, keyboards, flute), Andy Champion (double bass, bass guitar, flute) and, your correspondent's favourite drummer (and percussionist!) Adam Sinclair. The quartet's performance was razor-sharp, solos top notch, Radio 3's listening millions couldn't have been other than impressed. Today's three numbers were taken from Graeme Wilson's latest recording Abscondit (www.gigmit.com/graeme-wilson-quartet).  

Tyneside works hard at promoting the best it has to offer and this afternoon's live broadcasts didn't do any harm at all. The sun shone, Sage Gateshead looked a picture, the place packed and, hopefully, BBC Radio 3's Free Thinking Festival will return next year. This year's theme was 'Emotion', next year - who knows? One thing is for certain, Tyneside will be up for it.  

Russell

2 comments :

Liz said...

I loved it, especially the deserved mention for BSH! Jo delighted in Lance's request, great Saturday afternoon listening for those of us who couldn't actually be there.

Jerry said...

Wonderful afternoon!
Great pictures, Malcolm: thanks, Russell for the tips on Messrs. Kelman and Hogg - Graeme's enigmatic titles begin to make more sense (and I have added to my summer reading list in the process).
JERRY

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