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Bebop Spoken There

Branford Marsalis: "As ignorance often forces us to do, you make a generalisation about a musician based on one specific record or one moment in time." - (Jazzwise June 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

15491 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 512 of them this year alone and, so far, 133 this month (May 31).

From This Moment On ...

Mon 05: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

Tue 06: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 06: Jam session @ Black Swan, Newcastle Arts Centre. 7:30pm. House trio: Stu Collingwood (piano); Paul Grainger (double bass); Sid White (drums).

Wed 07: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 07: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 07: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 7:00pm.
Wed 07: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 08: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free. CANCELLED! BACK ON JUNE 15.
Thu 08: Easington Colliery Brass Band @ The Lubetkin Theatre, Peterlee. 7:00pm. £10.00.
Thu 08: Faye MacCalman + Blue Dust Archive @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 08: Dilutey Juice + Ceramic @ The Ampitheatre, Sea Road, South Shields. 7:00pm. Free. A South Tyneside Festival event.
Thu 08: Lara Jones w. Vigilance State @ Lubber Fiend, Blandford Square, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 08: Michael Littlefield @ the Harbour View, Roker, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Country blues.
Thu 08: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 09: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 09: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 09: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 09: Castillo Nuevo @ Revolución de Cuba, Newcastle. 5:30-8:30pm.
Fri 09: Emma Rawicz @ Sage Gateshead. 8:00pm.

Sat 10: Front Porch Three @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. Americana, blues, jazz etc.
Sat 10: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

Sun 11: WORKSHOP: Tim Richards' Jazz Piano Workshop @ JG Windows, Newcastle. Time TBC. Further details tel. 0191 232 1356.
Sun 11: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:30pm. Free.
Sun 11: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 3:00pm.
Sun 11: Groovetrain @ Innisfree Sports & Social Club, Longbenton NE12 8TY. Doors 6:30pm. £15.00 (£7.00. under 16).
Sun 11: Jeffrey Hewer Collective @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 12: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

Sunday, April 21, 2019

A Great Day in Harlem: Strictly Smokin' Big Band @ Gosforth Civic Theatre - April 20

(Review/PHOTOS by Lance)

This was quite an occasion, indeed a unique one, not to mention a historic one! 

A Great Day in Harlem we've seen the photo, read about the background to it in books and magazines (anyone got a copy of the 1959 Esquire magazine the photo first appeared in?), there have been tv programmes and recordings and now a live tribute to Art Kane and the guys and girls (all 3 of them) that he herded together on that amazing morning on 126th St., NYC.
The concept was well thought out. The photo projected onto a screen behind the band with the images changing according to the iconic figure being acknowledged.  Each band member would say a few words about the artists i.e. Dizzy, Basie, Mary Lou, Rollins, Blakey, Hawkins, Lester, Jo Jones, Monk etc. before paying their own tribute on a number associated with their chosen legend.
The evening opened and closed with a recording of Basie's Avenue C that had the SSBB seamlessly taking over. First the rhythm section then les tout ensemble with ne'er a join in sight.

Alice Grace was a bizarre choice to represent Jimmy Rushing - Mr 5 x 5 she ain't! - however, her exquisite vocal rendition of Evenin' put such thoughts to one side as did her version of Billy Strayhorn's Daydream. Although Ellington wasn't in the photo a little poetic license enabled the band to play Take the A Train and possibly some of the musicians in the photo did just that to get there on time (10:00am).

There were so many great solos, each one a fitting tribute to the originator, that singling out one as being above the rest is unfair but, at the risk of upsetting the other 17, I reckon that Dave Kerridge aced it on Body and Soul. It bore little resemblance to Coleman Hawkins' original version but, if Hawk had been alive today, nor would his! 

Close behind (in racing parlance, a short head) was Jamie Toms on Lester Leaps In and Goodbye Porkpie Hat (soulful singing from Ms. Grace on this one), Michael Lamb on A Night in Tunisia, Pete Tanton on Moanin', the rhythm section throughout, the sax chorus on Doxy and, of course, the band as a whole - the swingingest big band north of Lands End.

A Great Day in Harlem and an even Greater Night in Gosforth!
Lance
PS: Special mention of the backstage team who coordinated the visual images.
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Michael Lamb (MD), Pete Tanton, Gordon Marshall, Dick Stacey (trumpets); John Flood, Kieran Parnaby, Chris Kurgi-Smith Mark Ferris (trombones); Steve Summers, Keith Robinson, Jamie Toms, Dave Kerridge, Laurie Rangecroft (reeds); Graham Don (piano); Pawel Jedrzejewski (guitar); Michael Whent (bass guitar); Guy Swinton (drums); Alice Grace (vocals).

1 comment :

jacqueline said...

Great review of what was a fabulous evening.

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