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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

15260 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 279 of them this year alone and, so far, 92 this month (March 29).

From This Moment On ...

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: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington Covered Market, Darlington DL1 5PN. 6:00pm. New venue, live jazz!
Sat 01: Jambone @ Sage Gateshead. 7:00pm. Free (book online). A YMP! event in the Northern Rock Foundation Hall.
Sat 01: Jude Murphy & Dan Stanley @ Prohibtion Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.
Sat 01: Boys of Brass @ Stack, Seaburn. 7:00-9:00pm.
Sat 01: Hot Club du Nord @ Pleased to Meet You, Bridge St., Morpeth. 8:00pm. £79.00. A charity fundraising event.
Sat 01: Rendezvous Jazz @ Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00. RESCHEDULED to next week (Sat 08).

Sun 02: Smokin' Spitfires @ The Cluny. 12:45pm.
Sun 02: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 3:00pm.

Mon 03: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

Tue 04: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 04: Jam session @ Black Swan, Newcastle Arts Centre. 7:30pm. House trio: Bradley Johnston (guitar); Paul Grainger (double bass); Abbie Finn (drums).

Wed 05: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 05: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 05: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 7:00pm.
Wed 05: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 06: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 06: Thursday Night Prayer Meeting @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Donations. Feat. John Pope, Marie Shreer, John Garner.
Thu 06: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibtion Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Ragtime piano. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.
Thu 06: Darlington Big Band @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm. Note earlier start time.

Fri 07: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 07: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 07: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 07: Gaz Hughes Trio @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm.
Fri 07: Mark Toomey Quartet @ Traveller's Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. £8.00.
Fri 07: Finntet + Zoë Gilby & Andy Champion @ Bobik's, Punch Bowl, Newcastle. 8:00pm. JNE.
Fri 07: TBA @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig. Blind Pig Blues Club.

Friday, April 05, 2019

Alan Glen @ the Globe Jazz Bar - April 4

Alan Glen (piano); Paul Grainger (bass); P.S. Wight-White (drums).
(Review by Lance).

Close your eyes and you're in a smoke-filled dive in New York, Soho or a bar in Newcastle back in the 1950's/1960's. You're listening to Bud Powell, Eddie Thompson or maybe even a very young Alan Glen. You come back to the present. Apart from the iconic photo of Dexter Gordon on the Jazz Bar wall, the smoke has vanished but Alan Glen hasn't.

Like vintage wine and seasoned timber, the playing is tasty and solid. He may not be seeking new frontiers, they were discovered many (how high the) moons ago, he and the audience are happy with what he's got which is the undiminished powers of invention.


Up-tempo, medium swing, ballad. Piano states theme, followed by a piano solo, a bass solo, and an exchange of fours via a selection of tried and tested standards. Applause, encore and good night. A formula successfully followed by piano trios since time began. Boring? No-way - at least not when it's Alan Glen and his cohorts which tonight saw the maestro with drummer White - no man, 'e's an island - it's Wight! and the ubiquitous Paul Grainger depping for the in-demand bassist John Pope. 

The veteran pianist proved once more that age is no handicap. Every note counts and there are plenty of them. Choice chords dexterous, phrases this is bebop for today, tomorrow and the day after. Grainger slotted in perfectly and White-Wight drove from the back seat. Paul (or Sid) doubly impressed on the omnipresent All Blues with an outstanding solo using brushes - and in 3/4 time!

The pianist's intros are special you can rarely guess the tune from them but, when recognition dawns, like his solos they're perfectly logical.

Beautiful Love; Here's That Rainy Day; All the Things You Are; Never Let me Go; It Could Happen to You; Autumn Leaves; Georgia on my Mind; All Blues.

A bottle of Hobgoblin then...

If I Were a Bell; Whisper Not; Love Letters (up-tempo with a frantic exchange of fours); I Should Care; Bye Bye Blackbird; Israel; Watermelon Man and an Alan Glen original - Something Borrowed, Something Blue - to finish off with.
Quite a night. 
Lance.
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