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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

15229 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 248 of them this year alone and, so far, 61 this month (March 20).

From This Moment On ...

March

Thu 23: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 4:00-6:00pm. Free.
Thu 23: NUJO Jazz Jam @ Bar Loco, Newcasatle. From 6:30pm 'til late. Free. Newcastle University Jazz Orchestra jam session. All welcome (students & non-students).
Thu 23: Kerrin Tatman + John Garner & John Pope @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 23: Sunna Gunnlaugs & Julia Hülsmann @ Sage Gateshead. 8:00pm. A two-piano gig. A Sage Gateshead-JNE promotion.
Thu 23: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Ragtime piano.
Thu 23: Sleep Suppressor @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £10.00., £8.00. adv. Upstairs.
Thu 23: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 24: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 24: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 24: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 24: FILM: Mo' Better Blues @ Forum Cinema, Hexham. 7:00pm.
Fri 24: Ian Millar & Dominic Spencer @ Scarth Hall, Staindrop, Co. Durham. 8:00pm. £10.00.
Fri 24: Archipelago + Bulbils @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.

Sat 25: Vermont Big Band @ Walker Community Centre, Walker, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Fundraiser for Benfield Juniours Football Club. Hot food available, BYOB.
Sat 25: John Logan & Friends @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Rat Pack, Motown etc. 8:00pm. Free (donations).

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.
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.

Tuesday, June 11, 2019

DJazz Day One. Friday, June 7 - Arun Ghosh @ Durham Miners Hall (Redhills).


Arun Ghosh (clarinet); Faye MacCalman (tenor sax); John Ellis (keyboard); Matt Owens (double bass); Dave Walsh (drums).
(Review by Steve T/ Photo courtesy of Ken Drew).

I'd seen Arun Ghosh three times previous and enjoyed it each time, but could never have foreseen he would give the Third Durham City Jazz Festival such a resounding opening. 

This is one of the finest spaces in a city loaded with fantastic spaces, including one of - and if you've lived in Durham - the finest buildings in the world, though I still can't quite believe those old pit-men didn't have the foresight to include a bar, but I quibble.

Ghosh entered the stage and immediately stamped his authority, his hair cropped since I last saw him, a white frock over jeans and ox-blood Docs laying out his multi-cultural credentials.
 They opened with Caliban's Revenge, a live warhorse from his second album, and he was all over it from the off.  Always a mobile performer, tonight he never seemed to stand still, contorting his body and interpolating his hip-hop hand gestures more than on previous gigs.

His considerable technique on the clarinet seemed up on previous performances too, exercising wonderful control and subtlety when the mood required it, as on his tribute to the River Wear, based on Bengali folk music, where he sat on the edge of the stage for the start. I don't know the title of this piece but I remember him dedicating it to the Tyne during a Sage Two performance. 

He shared with us that he'd walked the riverbanks earlier and crossed the Wear but, not getting carried away with his white robe, he'd used a bridge. Always a charismatic performer, the audience quickly warmed to his jokes, anecdotes and introductions, rewarding each piece with rapturous applause and cheers, which would continue through much of the festival. 

I was told afterwards he'd only played six numbers and one was Smash Through the Gates of Thought (I think) and another was Longside Lagoon, after an area of Manchester I'm reliably informed.

The band were great too, featuring our very own Faye on tenor, Leeds powerhouse drummer Dave Walsh and fine piano and bass from Ellis and Owens respectively, but it was all about Ghosh, on stupendous form and in full control.
Steve T.

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