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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

16051 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 1058 of them this year alone and, so far, 12 this month (Dec. 6).

From This Moment On ...

December

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.

Wed 13: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 13: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 13: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 13: Bold Big Band @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:30pm.
Wed 13: Giles Strong Quartet @ Alphabetti Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 14: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 14: Hot Fingers @ The Lubetkin Theatre, Peterlee. 7:00pm. £10.00.
Thu 14: After Hours Student Jazz Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 14: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. . Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 14: Niffi Osiyemi Trio @ Harbour View, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 14: Mo Scott ‘Little Mo’s Festive Appearance’ @ The Schooner, Gateshead. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 14: Tees Hot Club w. Kevin Eland, Josh Bentham, Garry Hadfield, Adrian Beadnell @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 15: Paul Edis @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 15: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 15: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 15: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 15: Paul Skerritt @ Black Horse Inn, Crook. From 7:00pm.
Fri 15: Paul Edis: A Jazzy Christmas @ St Cuhtbert's Centre, Crook. 7:30pm. £15.00. SOLD OUT! Waiting list open.
Fri 15: Zoë Gilby Trio @ Seventeen Nineteen, Hendon, Sunderland. 7:30pm. £12.00. POSTPONED!
Fri 15: Strictly Smokin' Big Band @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 8:00pm. First night of two. SOLD OUT!
Fri 15: Darlington Big Band @ Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. £10.00. Opus 4 Jazz Club.
Fri 15: Baghdaddies @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £14.00.; £10.00.

Sat 16: Paul Edis: A Jazzy Christmas @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 2:00pm. A Jazzy Christmas + Jambone.
Sat 16: Porritt & Barrett & Friends Xmas Special @ Cullercoats Watch House. 7:00pm. £4.00.
Sat 16: Milne-Glendinning Band @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 16: Red Kites Jazz Band @ The Staithes Café, Gateshead. 7:00pm--9:00pm.
Sat 16: Hayley's Little Big Band @ Ellingham Village Hall, Chathill. 7:30pm. £12.00., £8.00.
Sat 16: Paul Edis: A Jazzy Christmas @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm.
Sat 16: Strictly Smokin' Big Band @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Second night of two.

Sun 17: Red Kites Jazz Band @ Gibside Chapel, nr. Rowlands Gill. 1:00-2:30pm.
Sun 17: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm.
Sun 17: Revolutionaires @ Tyne Bar, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. Rock ‘n’ roll excellence!
Sun 17: Tweed River Jazz Band @ Barrels Alehouse, Berwick. 7:00pm. Free.
Sun 17: The Globe Xmas Party @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. Multi-bill inc. David Gray’s Flextet + jam session.
Sun 17: Paul Edis: A Jazzy Christmas @ Queen's Hall, Hexham. 7:30pm. £17.00., £15.00.
Sun 17: Hayley's Little Big Band @ Amble Parish Hall. 7:30pm. £12.00., £6.00.
Sun 17: Snake Davis Trio @ St John’s Hall, Snods Edge, Shotley Bridge DH8 9TJ. 7:30pm. £15.00. from 07766 037893.

Sunday, July 14, 2019

Denmark Street Big Band with Jo Harrop @ The Dean Street Pizza Express, Soho, London - July 13

(Review by Russell)

This was something of a treat. A day trip to London to hear Paul Burch's cracking big band working with star vocalist Jo Harrop. The Gene Krupa Story is the Denmark Street Big Band's latest project and on a warm summer's day the orchestra assembled for a lunchtime engagement at the Dean Street Pizza Express.

Soho bustled as it always does; traders, tourists, locals, some looking cool, some trying to look cool, others not so cool. The Pizza Express' basement venue offered some relief from the on-street rising mercury. Members of the orchestra arrived in ones and twos as Ms Harrop sound-checked alongside pianist Ben Croft.  

Gene Krupa, Benny Goodman, the kings of pre-war swing, this would be the fayre on offer alongside a mouthwatering selection courtesy of the Pizza Express' hard-working, efficient team. The on-stage team - Paul Burch's hand-picked ensemble - swung it from the off. Nick Charles (aka Benny Goodman), sitting to Burch's left, featured on clarinet with the lead tenor sax parts handled by the depping Alex Garnett. The Big Noise from Winnetka with a band arrangement went down a storm as did Starburst with Anita O'Day in the wings waiting her turn. 

MD Burch welcomed O'Day (aka Jo Harrop) to the stage to sing a few numbers beginning with a believable Ten Cents a Dance. Harrop took us up to the interval with some choice cuts; Georgia accompanied by Garnett's tenor sax, Boogie Blues (Nick Charles blowing alto), Memories of You (Harrop referencing the movie The Gene Krupa Story in which O'Day made a cameo appearance opposite Sal Mineo's Krupa), Drummin' Man turned the spotlight on the man behind the traps, Mr Gary O'Toole - Krupa himself would have been impressed! - and, as Roy Eldridge (aka David Mian) joined the band here at the Pizza Express, the roof came off with Thanks for the Boogie Ride and again as Harrop closed a fine first set with 'Little Jazz' Mian blowing on Let Me Off Uptown.   

The reeds blowing on Bugle Call Rag signalled the return to the stage of the Denmark Street ensemble. A band arrangement of Flying Home met with the approval of the Dean Street pizza-dining crowd as did Indiana. Thus far the principal soloists had been Alex Garnett and Nick Charles. Time for a trumpet feature on Hoagy's Rockin' Chair starring Andy Gibson - at its end cue tumultuous applause!   

And more applause as County Durham's Jo Harrop (Londoners take note, Jo is merely on loan!) returned to conclude the afternoon's set with a run of winning numbers. Tea for Two (recalling Jazz on a Summer's Day), Bolero at the Savoy, a fabulous He's Funny That Way followed by an instrumental band number (Opus One) setting up a highlight of highlights as Ms Harrop, accompanied by pianist Ben Croft, sang Skylark. If a pin had fallen the silence would have been shattered...it didn't and it wasn't. Quite simply, a wonderful moment. 

The fabulous Ms Harrop concluded her big band vocal masterclass with a double helping of George and Ira Gershwin. First, 'S Wonderful brought in by Croft's leisurely piano intro, then, with a snap of the fingers, the Denmark Street guys took it at breakneck pace with Krupa, sorry, O'Toole, soloing and Harrop word perfect. Phew! They Can't Take That Away from Me took it down and out. Calls for an encore heeded, the Pizza Express' jazz-loving crowd got Sing, Sing, Sing as the familiar drum pattern on the toms set the band off on a rollercoaster ride. It had been quite an afternoon.  
Russell             

Denmark Street Big Band: Paul Burch (MD, alto sax, clarinet); Nick Charles (clarinet, alto sax); Alex Garnett (tenor sax); Mike Rubie (tenor sax); Frank White (baritone sax); David Mian, Andy Gibson, Duncan Fraser, Sean Hollis (trumpets); Jeff Mason, Sam Sankey, Marcus Reynolds, Alan Tomlinson (trombones); Curtis Volt (guitar); Ben Croft (piano); Doug Grannell (double bass); Gary O'Toole (drums); Jo Harrop (vocals)

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