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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

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).

Tuesday, March 19, 2019

Tenement Jazz Band @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle - March 18

Patrick 'Paddy' Darley (trombone); Charles 'Chuck' Dearness (trumpet); Lachlan Fotheringham (clarinet/soprano); Simon Toner (bass); John Youngs (banjo/vocals).
(Review by Lance).

Sunday night I was truckin' on down 5th Avenue - or was it Central Avenue? Last night the action had moved to Basin St. or was it State St., that great street? No, it was Pink Lane, the new home of the Prohibition Bar and the setting for some great Dixieland/New Orleans - call it what you will - jazz by the Edinburgh based Tenement Jazz Band. If you think that the music of yesteryear and the year before that is only played by doddery old men with wavering vibratos then think again. Like our local equivalent, The House of the Black Gardenia, this is a relatively young band who've certainly picked up the essence of the old masters of jazz.

The room was sardine can packed with the swing-dance crowd that support these events. I was surprised to see none of our local traddies in attendance. Just as well as there wouldn't have been much room for them inside the small bar.

The music was in the mould of the early pioneers with the emphasis as much on the polyphonic ensembles as it was on the solos which were short and succinct in accordance with the restrictions of the original Gennett, Okeh and Victor 78s that much of the band's repertoire is based upon. Paradoxically, they also included a Sun Ra composition titled Chocolate Avenue inspired by the site of the original Hershey Bar factory in Pennsylvania.

Without drums, guitar or piano the onus was on the bass and banjo to lay down a firm foundation which Toner and Youngs did admirably. Out front, trumpet, trombone and clarinet were as tight as Siamese triplets. Dearness,  full of Bixian promise by way of, say, Tommy Ladnier and Lee Collins. Darley knew his Ory, Jim Robinson and Turk Murphy whilst Fotheringham not only displayed a Pee Wee Russell-like quirkiness in his clarinet solos but also wore odd socks!

Darley, I'm told, works behind the bar of the venue or did I get that wrong? Seems a long way to travel, whilst Fotheringham, who was depping, is a Newcastle doctor. It would be good to see them livening up the Tyneside scene.

Programme included: Dusty Rag; Meat on the Table; South; Blue Drag; Algiers Strut; Big Chief Battle Axe; New Orleans Bump; Since My Best Gal Turned Me Down; Tailgate Stomp; New Orleans Rag; Strut Miss Lizzie*; She's Crying For Me; Chocolate Avenue; Milenberg Joys; Deep Bayou Moon; Hindustan; Savoy Blues**; Willie the Weeper; Shake it and Break it; Cushion Foot Stomp and others.

This could oust Postmodern Jukebox as my Gig of the Month! And if you regret not going the good news is that they're provisionally back here on June 17. Put it in your diary. Incidentally, the next 'classic jazz' gig on Monday, April 1 features the all-female Red Hot Rhythm Makers playing tunes by or associated with early female jazz and blues composers/performers. Another must-see event but get there early to grab a seat before the Lindies descend!
Lance.

* First time I'd heard Strut Miss Lizzie for years. Sid Phillips had a great arrangement of it that all the local dance bands used to play.
** Based, I think, on the Ory/Mutt Carey recording as opposed to the Ory/Teddy Buckner concert recording.

3 comments :

Patti (on F/b) said...

This is one hot band!
Hide or report this

John Youngs said...

Hi!

What a great review, really glad you enjoyed the gig!

The band are back at Prohibition Cafe on Monday 17th June, 2019, from 9pm-11pm

It's Pay What You Feel once more, so any Bebop Spoken Here readers will be very welcome!

We'll be playing new tunes, and touring debut parts of our summer Edinburgh Festival Fringe show - The Red Hot Roots of Jazz.

See you then!

Patti said...

Excellent! We can't wait - we're hot to trot!

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