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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

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.

Thu 30: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Gateshead Central Library. 2:30-4:30pm. £2.00. All welcome.
Thu 30: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. Back to 1:00pm stomp off. Free.
Thu 30: '58 Jazz Collective @ Hops & Cheese, Hartlepool. 7:30pm. Free.
Thu 30: Lindsay Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ Harbour View, Sunderland. 8:00pm.
Thu 30: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Wednesday, June 19, 2019

Lickety Split @ The Fox Inn, Hexham - June 18


(Review by Russell)

Bandleader Eddie Bellis (pictured left) remarked that it had been something like three years since the band's last gig at the Fox. In all likelihood the setlist wouldn't have changed too much in the intervening years and that's no bad thing. Lickety Split's West Coast modernist leanings lend themselves to reworkings and repeated listening.

Clifford Brown, Miles, Monk, Horace Silver, these the names Bellis turns to when putting together a set list. Blues Walk then Sandu for starters, measured ensemble playing, the solos largely succinct from various members of the band. Tenor man Paul Gowland, restored to the line-up, opened up with an expansive solo on One by One. The band's recent recruit, trumpeter Callum Mellis, showed just how well he's settled in with a fine solo contribution on I Remember Clifford. Teessider Jeremy McMurray knows his way around the keyboard and demonstrated the fact to an attentive audience with a brisk workout on Jim Martin's Curious George.

A purring Bradley Johnston adopted a Freddie Greene-like roll twixt frontline and rhythm section; volume levels set just so whether cruising or soloing, Monk's Straight No Chaser gifting our guitarist a swinging solo opportunity which he didn't waste - as if he would! On Green Dolphin Street took us up to the break. Time for another pint of Theakston's Lightfoot...

Second set, more of the same - good! A cookin' Del Sasser featured Mellis with the young trumpeter deservedly winning applause from the Hexham Jazz Club crowd. Intricate section work from brass 'n' reeds on Groovin' High demanded concentration across the line with Mellis' puffing-out of cheeks suggesting he/they had successfully negotiated the dots in front of them.  

Four was in the pad, no surprise there, Alan Marshall's alto solo and Johnston's contribution two of several high points on Miles' tune. Last orders weren't far away, just time for Sister Sadie and a well-deserved encore in the form of a West Coast anthem, Oliver Nelson's Stolen Moments.  
  
Russell 
Lickety Split: Eddie Bellis (trombone); Callum Mellis (trumpet, flugelhorn); Alan Marshall (alto sax); Paul Gowland (tenor sax, soprano sax); Bradley Johnston (guitar); Jeremy McMurray (piano); Alan Rudd (bass guitar); Paul Wight (drums). 

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