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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, June 21, 2019

Alice Grace Trio @ Bishop Auckland Town Hall - June 21

Alice Grace (vocals); James Harrison (piano); Paul Grainger (double bass)
(Review by Russell)

At one o'clock, with no sign of Alice Grace, Messrs Harrison and Grainger opened the show with a diverting Take the A Train. Would it be a duo gig? One eye on the door, would our star vocalist make it in time? Strolling in, cool as a cucumber, Ms Grace didn't pause for breath as she picked up the verse, the boys didn't blink, was this a cool entrance or what?!

Verse, chorus, scat, Alice Grace is the tops when it comes to GASbook material. A light yet commanding vocal style, Ms Grace chose a fabulous selection of numbers to sing - one or two of them usually performed with the mighty Strictly Smokin' Big Band behind her - in the company of friends James Harrison, piano, and bassist Paul Grainger. 
Our singer's distinctive, pitch-perfect vocals, lyric-scat-lyric sustained in the upper register, descending at will, Harrison's lightning response at the keyboard, Grainger in cruise mode - put this Bishop Auckland Town Hall gig down as a vocal masterclass. 

The big band numbers - The One I Love Belongs to Somebody Else and You Turned the Tables on Me (the latter featuring Grainger's bass playing) - allowed AG to stretch out a little, free of the strictures of the big band chart. 

The ever-inventive Harrison conjured images of the caravanserai with a nod to Sweet Georgia Brown along the way on Juan Tizol's Caravan. As the one hour set drew to a close Ms Grace asked the audience what it would like to hear - Weaver of Dreams sent us on our way.

The setlist; A TrainThe One I Love Belongs to Somebody Else, One Note Samba (Abbie Finn on shaker!), Moonlight Saving Time,  You Turned the Tables on MeCaravanTeach Me TonightTaking a Chance on Love, Weaver of Dreams

Next month at BATH, Friday July 19 - John Settle's Vibe-ology. 1:00pm. £5.00. 
Russell

1 comment :

Patti said...

Awwww - I knew this was going to be a fabulous gig - but needs must, and I had to be elsewhere. Shame, shame, shame - but how lucky we are in this corner of Ingerland, to have such wonderful, top class jazzers as Alice, James and Paul. And to think Alice sang two of my all time favourite songs ..... oh well, some other time - and there's another one!

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