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Bebop Spoken There

Spasmo Brown: “Jazz is an ice cream sandwich! It's the Fourth of July! It's a girl with a waterbed!”. (Syncopated Times, July, 2024).

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...

Josh Weir: I love the writing on bebop spoken here... I think the work you are doing is amazing.

Postage

17421 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 16 years ago. 695 of them this year alone and, so far, 100 this month (Sept. 30).

From This Moment On ...

October

Thu 10: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 10: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. ‘Collaborations - it happened all the time’.
Thu 10: Indigo Jazz Voices w. the Little Big Band @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:45pm. £5.00.
Thu 10: Side Cafe Orkestar @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
The 10: Classic Swing @ Carlisle Rugby Club, Warwick Rd., Carlisle. 8:30pm. £9.
Thu 10: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesborough. 8:30pm. With guests Donna Hewitt (sax); Bill Watson (trumpet); Graham Thompson (keys); Ron Smith (bass). Free.

Fri 11: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 11: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 11: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 11: Dulcie May Moreno @ The Old Library, Auckland Castle, Bishop Auckland. 1:00pm. £8.00.
Fri 11: The Jazz Quartet + Stratosphonic @ Tynedale Rugby Club, Corbridge. 7:00pm. £15.00. A Rotary Club of Hexham event. The Jazz Quartet (Jude Murphy & co), Stratosphonic (blues/rock). CANCELLED!
Fri 11: Joe Steels Trio @ The Pele, Market Place, Corbridge NE45 5AW. 7:30pm. Free.
Fri 11: Crooners @ Tyne Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm.
Fri 11: Mo Scott Band @ Blues Underground, Nelson St., Newcastle. 9:00pm. Free.

Sat 12: Milne-Glendinning Band @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 12: Michael Woods @ Victoria Tunnel, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £12.00. (£10.00. adv.). Country blues guitar & vocals.
Sat 12: Nauta @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £13.28, £11.16, £9.04. A two-track recording launch gig.
Sat 12: Stuart Turner @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Rockabilly, rhythm & blues etc. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sat 12: Lapwing Jazz Trio @ The Ship Inn, Low Newton. 8:00pm. Free. New trio: Paula Whitty, Richard Herdman, Jude Murphy.

Sun 13: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 13: Emma Wilson @ Tyne Bar, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. Blues.
Sun 13: Catfish Keith @ The Cluny. 7:00pm. Country blues.
Sun 13: Cath Stephens & Paul Grainger @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Stephens & Grainger, one third of a triple bill.
Sun 13: Dulcie May Moreno Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 14: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 14: Black is the Color of My Voice @ Hippodrome, Darlington. 7:30pm. Apphia Campbell’s one-woman show inspired by Nina Simone, performed by Nicholle Cherrie.

Tue 15: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Alan Law (piano), Paul Grainger (double bass), Bailey Rudd (drums).

Wed 16: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 16: Cath Stephens’ improvisation workshop @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 4:30-6:00pm. Collaborative group focusing on vocal improvisations.
Wed 16: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 16: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Reviewers wanted

Whilst BSH attempts to cover as many gigs, festivals and albums as possible, to make the site even more comprehensive we need more 'boots on the ground' to cover the albums seeking review - a large percentage of which never get heard - report on gigs or just to air your views on anything jazz related. Interested? then please get in touch. Contact details are on the blog. Look forward to hearing from you. Lance

Monday, March 04, 2019

Postmodern Jukebox @ Sage Gateshead - March 3

Breathless! That's how I felt after Scott Bradlee's all-action, pot-boiling extravaganza, Postmodern Jukebox, reached its climactic conclusion. "Phew!" I said to no one in particular. There was no other word to describe the heat generated from the stage to the audience and back.

It wasn't as jazzy as I'd expected although every single performer had jazz chops to spare the name of the game was entertainment in the form of a hypnotic blend of jazz, soul and rock 'n' roll. It was no surprise that tickets had sold well - they'd been here before!
I didn't know many of the songs although, Shout, Africa, I Will Survive and Is There Life on Mars? struck a chord with me. Nor did I catch the names of all the participants - this was one show where that relic of the past - a programme - wouldn't have gone amiss.

LaVance Colley who emceed the show has a vocal range Charlotte Church could only dream about his falsetto high notes would have cracked glasses had there been any in the hall.

Dancer Kenny (Alex MacDonald?) clogged it like Bojangles might have done had he hung out in Haarlem instead of Harlem.

The girls were 'bootiful' the hemlines rising with every costume change - what's not to like about that? And they can sing! Hannah Gill's scat exchanges with tenor and trombone on Katy Perry's Last Friday Night possibly the jazz highlight of the evening.

Newcomer Tia Simone out-souled the whole of Philly and Detroit combined whilst Olivia Kuper Harris, described as a mix of Ella Fitz, Sarah Vaughan and Peggy Lee excelled on Sunday Morning and many other numbers.

Audience/band interaction was immediate and, by the third number, we had standing ovations and dancing in the aisles. Not by everyone but most certainly by the lady seated (occasionally) in front of me - Gerri, I gather, was her name.

I didn't catch the names of all of the musicians. The tenor/clarinet/flute player may have been Ben, the trombone player may have been King and the guitarist's name sounded like Lou Pino but I could be wrong. The drummer was definitely Dave Tedeschi, piano Todd Schroeder and bassist/bandleader Adam Kubota. 

My apologies if this review seems somewhat sketchy but, with so much going on at both sides of 'the footlights' taking notes was impossible - I needed my hands for applauding!

Over in Sage Two Laura Jurd was playing leaving me with a feeling of guilt at having to miss her but you can't be in two places at once! But, isn't it wonderful that we can have two choices in the one building other than at a jazz festival? Full marks to Sage Gateshead.
Full marks also to Scott Bradlee (wherever he was last night) for turning his dream into a worldwide phenomenon. 
Lance.

2 comments :

Anonymous said...

Lance we were there last night as well. Agree entirely with you to . Your review sums it up perfectly
We had a great night seeing the PMJ.
If pushed we thought Nina Simone kusj took the cake. A big star in the making. Brilliant.
Ron Ainsborough

Lance said...

Well, there I was, still wallowing in the joy of last night, whilst enjoying a pint of Abbott Ale in my local hostelry and, at the same time, reading André Previn's 'No Minor Chords' when a guy asks me what I'm reading. I mutter, "A book by André Previn" thinking that that will shut him up and avoid a discussion on the merits or otherwise of Stephen King.
To my amazement, he says, "I was at a great concert at The Sage last night. You've probably never heard of them but..." I interrupted him - "Postmodern Jukebox, I was there!"
We then discovered he was sitting but a couple of rows in front of me - ships that pass in the night!
If you read this Gary, nice to have met you and, if you like Julie London, check out a CD review a couple of posts down.

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