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Bebop Spoken There

Billy Boy Arnold: “As long as you don't think old you're good.” - DownBeat, December, 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!"

Simon Spillett: A lovely review from the dean of jazz bloggers, Lance Liddle...

Postage

16034 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 1041 of them this year alone and, so far, 73 this month (Nov. 27).

From This Moment On ...

December

Tue 05: Customs House Big Band @ All Saints Church, Cleadon. 7:00pm. Concert in the church hall. BYOB.
Tue 05: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Michael Young, Paul Grainger, Sid White. The best free show in town!

Wed 06: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 06: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 8:00pm. Free. Note later start time, concert performance (open to the public).
Wed 06: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 07: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free CANCELLED!
Thu 07: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Spanish City, Whitley Bay, Newcastle. 12 noon - 4:00pm. £26.00 (inc 3-course meal in in St Mary's Lighthouse Suite). SOLD OUT!
Thu 07: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Gateshead Central Library, Gateshead. 2:30pm. All welcome.
Thu 07: Thursday Night Prayer Meeting @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.Donations. Feat. Mark Sanders. CANCELLED!
Thu 07: Indigo Jazz Voices @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:45pm. £5.00. Downstairs.
Thu 07: Tees Hot Club: Just Friends @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. Guest band night w. Richie Emmerson, Ian Bosworth, Dave Archbold, Ron Smith, Mark Hawkins. 9:00pm.

Fri 08: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 08: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 08: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 08: Giles Strong Quartet @ The Old Library, Auckland Castle. 1:00pm. £7.00.
Fri 08: Hayley's Little Big Band @ Woodland Village Hall, Bishop Auckland. 7:00pm. £12.00.
Fri 08: Sleep Suppressor + Redwell @ Head of Steam, Neville St., Newcastle. 8:00pm. £10.00. (£8.00. adv); £5.00. student.
Fri 08: Hot Club du Nord @ St Cuthbert's Church, Shadforth, Co. Durham.
Fri 08: Têtes de Pois + Nauta @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.00., £8.00.

Sat 09: Prudhoe Community Band @ Central Station, Newcastle. 10:00am - 12 noon. Charity fundraiser.
Sat 09: Durham Alumni Big Band @ Number One Bar, Skinnergate, Darlington. 1:00pm.
Sat 09: Castillo Nuevo Trio @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 5:30pm. Free.
Sat 09: Hayley's Little Big Band @ Middleton & Todridge Village Hall, Morpeth. 7:30pm. £12.00., £6.00.
Sat 09: Paul Skerritt @ Slaley Hall, Hexham NE47 0BX. 7:30pm. From £42.00.

Sun 10: Musicians Unlimited’s Xmas Party with Zoe Gilby Quartet @ Park Inn, Hartlepool. MU 1:00-3:00pm; Zoë Gilby Quartet 4:00-6:00pm. Tickets: £7.50.
Sun 10: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00-4:00pm. Free.
Sun 10: Funk Soul Sista @ Stack, Seaburn. 5:00-7:00pm. Free.
Sun 10: Beth Clarke @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 10: Hayley's Little Big Band @ Whittingham Memorial Institute, Alnwick. 7:30pm. £12.00., £10.00.
Sun 10: Tele-Port @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Line-up inc. Zhenya Strigalev.

Mon 11: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 11: Interim Final Recitals @ Newcastle University. Details TBC.

Tue 12: Stu Collingwood Organ Trio @ Forum Music Centre, Darlington. 7:00pm. £10.00.

Thursday, May 09, 2019

Cheltenham Jazz Festival: Dave Sanborn Acoustic Band @ Town Hall - May 5

Dave Sanborn (alto sax); Michael Dease (trombone); Geoff Keezer (piano, keyboards); Ben Williams (double bass), Billy Kilson (drums).
(Review by Steve T)

Along with the loud shirts, my mid-life crisis was marked with the revival of band tee shirts, on this occasion, Kamasi Washington. A volunteer told me she had the exact same tee shirt (though much much smaller) and I told her that Sanborn was the Kamasi of his (my) day. Not strictly true, as various friends would describe him as second only to Grover, while others would throw Ronnie Laws into the mix. Occasionally I would raise the spectres of Bird and Trane, but I was generally better at biting my tongue in those days.

I never really cared much for Sanborn, thinking he tortured the damn thing until it sounded like a squawking baby, but I saw him in London a few years back in a quartet with Bob James and Steve Gadd and, although my reason for going was because my friend and landlord IS David Bowie, I really enjoyed it.

Here he came out followed by a sort of minder and sat down, where he remained for the set. At first I thought his formidable band would need to carry him but it soon became apparent he hadn't lost any of his chops. They opened with two by Michael Brecker - whom he described as one of the greatest sax players of his or any other generation. Next up an Africanised version of Maputo, written by Marcus Miller, and I'm sure I heard a reference to James Brown's Funky Good Time, with lots of Fred Wesley in the ‘bone solo, gaining a lift when he removed the mute.

Trombone player and drummer left the stage for a stunningly beautiful rendition of a pop song he remembered from high school seventy-five years ago, which turned out to be It's All In The Game, best known to me by the Four Tops. 

The pianist switched to a Fender Rhodes sound for Spanish Joint by Roy Hargrove and D' Angelo, which must have made him feel right at home with his old partner Bob James such an important purveyor of the sound.

The next piece started with a bass solo, followed by a big piano trio feature getting the audience going, before alternating ‘bone and alto solos, when it morphed into Night in Tunisia, or perhaps it always was.

On the Spot was the final piece and was funky in the old-fashioned sense, sax and ‘bone playing the head before a drum solo juxtaposing light-hearted tinkering - backed by light touch piano and bass - and thunderous technique. Head. Fine.

In London, Bob James had played acoustic piano exclusively and the quartet featured double bass, and this band was advertised as an acoustic band. Perhaps he doesn't want to acknowledge his jazz-funk legacy, despite this being the reason many come to see him and a new generation are less scornful of the genre. Perhaps it's because he's one of the artists who slipped into smooth jazz before reinventing himself as a straight jazzman, without distinction.
It takes two big attractions to get me to this festival and this was number two this year and didn't disappoint. 
Steve T

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