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Bebop Spoken There

David Hadju: "It was kind of a lightning bolt [seeing a photo of a hi-fi store that's now occupied by a phone store]. Everyone had hi-fi systems, now everyone has a phone" - (DownBeat May 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

15478 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 499 of them this year alone and, so far, 120 this month (May 27).

From This Moment On ...

May 2023

Sun 28: Bradley Creswick's Western Swingfonia @ Whitley Bay Carnival. Free. Plaza Arena stage. 12 noon.
Sun 28: MSK @ Whitley Bay Carnival. 12:15pm. Free. Marquee stage. MSK - Steve Glendinning, Katy Trigger, Martin Douglas.
Sun 28: Musicians Unlimited @ The Park Inn, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 28: Back Chat Brass @ Whitley Bay Carnival. 1:30pm. Free. Marquee stage.
Sun 28: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 28: Tim Kliphuis Trio @ St Mary's Church, Wooler NE71 6BZ. 3:00pm. £15.00 standard; £5.00 student/unwaged; free under 18. Afternoon Cocktail, a Wooler Summer Arts' concert promotion. Kliphuis (violin); Nigel Clark (guitar); Roy Percy (double bass).
Sun 28: Back Chat Brass @ Whitley Bay Carnival. 3:00pm. Free. Plaza Arena stage.
Sun 28: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 3:00pm.
Sun 28: King Bees @ The Delaval Arms, Old Hartley NE26 4RL. 5:00pm. Free. Chicago blues at its best!
Sun 28: Matt Anderson Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Anderson (saxophones); Jamil Sheriff (piano); Andy Champion (double bass); Dave Walsh (drums).

Mon 29: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

Tue 30: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 30: Big Chris Barber Band @ Whitley Bay Playhouse. 7:30pm.

Wed 31: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 31: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 31: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 7:00pm.
Wed 31: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

June
Thu 01: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 01: Thursday Night Prayer Meeting @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Donations.
Thu 01: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Ragtime piano. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.
Thu 01: Jake Leg Jug Band @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Thu 01: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 02: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 02: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 02: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 02: Joseph Carville Trio @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm.
Fri 02: Claire Martin & Her Trio @ The Witham, Barnard Castle. 7:30pm. £25.00., £20.00. Feat. Jim Mullen, Alex Garnett & Jeremy Brown.
Fri 02: Guy Davis + Michael Littlefield & Scott Taylor @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. Doors 7:30pm. Blues double bill.
Fri 02: Anders Ingram @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Blind Pig Blues Club. Country blues. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

Sat 03: Newcastle Record Fair @ Northumbria University, Newcastle NE8 8SB. 10:00am-3:00pm. Admission: £2.00.
Sat 03: Pedigree Jazz Band @ St Augustine's Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm.
Sat 03: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. Tutor: Sue Ferris. £25.00. Enrol at: www.jazz.coop.
Sat 03: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 6:00pm. Free.
Sat 03: Rendezvous Jazz @ Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.
Sat 03: Papa G's Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

Saturday, June 29, 2019

Northern Monkey Brass Band CD launch @ The Old Coal Yard - June 28


Graham Hardy (trumpet); Jamie Toms (tenor sax); David Gray (trombone); Mark Ferris (trombone); Phil Rosier (tuba); Adam Sinclair (snare drum); Brendan Murphy (bass drum) + George Welch (vocals)
(Review by Russell)

A typical Friday night out: Meet at the old coal yard. You know, the place on the industrial estate just off Byker Bridge...Aye, right, what's happening?... Graham Hardy has fixed-up a CD launch at Northern Alchemy....Great, see you there!

Shields Road was a hive of inactivity except for Spoons and the Butcher's Arms doing a bit of business. A mere stone's throw past a soulless giant supermarket there was some monkey business - make that Northern Monkey Business - going on. Turning into Elizabeth Street the sight and sound of dozens of monkeys quaffing and munching ahead of a set by the Northern Monkey Brass Band set the tone for what would surely prove to be a memorable evening.  

 
Together in Electric Dreams (Human League), Water of Tyne (traditional, Tyneside), Sports Direct Infirmary Blues (topical), Flash GordonAttitude (on the new album), Funky Pie (a NMBB classic), a host of others, including a second liner (traditional, Mississippi) and not one but two encores - yes, a canny night alright! 

Bandleader and trumpeter Graham Hardy kitted out the monkeys in new NMBB t-shirts and made sure there was a supply along with copies of the new CD - Northern Monkey Business - for the punters to pick-up at the end of the night. As the set progressed and the beer went down the 'dance floor' - aka the old coal yard's cement floor - filled with popping, skanking bodies, the NMBB has that effect on listeners - great musicianship, infectious grooves and, in the best sense, a good time feel to the music.

Star Wars to Flash Gordon, the NMBB connected with its audience and along the way Hardy's Monkeys dazzled as real jazz players; fellow trumpeter Alistair Lord handled most of the top C stuff, Jamie Toms booted the tenor, then there was Showtime...David Gray's 'bone blasts shook nearby Byker Wall to its foundations and, great to see - and hear - fellow 'bone man Mark Ferris giving it some! The engine room boys pulled the horn section this way then that, master craftsmen, that's tuba maestro Phil Rosier and the rhythm twins Adam Sinclair (snare) and Brendan Murphy (bass drum).

A real bonus on the night - as on the album - the legendary George Welch joined the NMBB to sing Water of Tyne. The man drew tumultuous applause. It was time to go, almost...I Want You Back was Hardy's 'spare' just in case an encore was called for. It was never in doubt! From the Jacksons to a Grandmaster Flash second encore, a third was a possibility considering the baying throng wasn't going anywhere but, as sometimes happens, the house lights went up. Yes, it had been a canny night.         
Russell

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