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Bebop Spoken There

Branford Marsalis: "As ignorance often forces us to do, you make a generalisation about a musician based on one specific record or one moment in time." - (Jazzwise June 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

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.

Sun 04: Smokin' Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm.
Sun 04: Central Bar Quintet @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00-4:00pm. £5.00. The Central Bar Quintet plays Sonny Rollins' Saxophone Colossus. Featuring Lewis Watson.
Sun 04: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 3:00pm.
Sun 04: Struggle Buggy + Michael Littlefield @ Tyne Bar, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. Acoustic blues.
Sun 04: Swinging at the Cotton Club: Harry Strutters' Hot Rhythm Orchestra @ The Fire Station, Sunderland. 7:30pm.
Sun 04: Richard Jones Trio @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 05: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

Tue 06: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 06: Jam session @ Black Swan, Newcastle Arts Centre. 7:30pm. House trio: Stu Collingwood (piano); Paul Grainger (double bass); Sid White (drums).

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

A Night @ the Black Swan Jam Session - August 20

(Review/photos by Lance).

It looked to be a typical midsummer (this is summer?) evening with many of the regulars heading off to sunnier climes. The prospect appeared to be  a generally low key jam session which of course it never turns out to be.

The house trio - guitar, bass and drums - took us tastefully through There Will Never be Another You, Alone Together and Stella By Starlight. Staple jam session fayre.

The audience came in two by two and most of them were carrying instrument cases; it was like a gangster's convention in 1920's Chicago.
Chris Kurgi-Smith was the first of the 76 trombones (or so it seemed) and his take on J.J. Johnson's Lament was impeccably played and conveyed the composers mood. I groaned inwardly when I heard the dreaded word Summertime being bandied around. Another lament, my initial reaction. However, Kurgi-Smith made my living easier by playing it uptempo leaving me with the thought that this is how the damn tune ought to be played!

The trumpet invasion began with Elliott Todd blowing open horn on All Blues followed by Michael Lamb and Work Song. In between Mo had occupied the kit a move which meant switching snare drums and hi-hats around to accommodate the newcomer who, unlike Sid, isn't a southpaw.

Kieran Parnaby who is, as are Kurgi-Smith and Lamb, a refugee from the Strictly Smokin' Big Band, gave a mellow-toned Skylark before Walter Feeney went through his paces on Fly me to the Moon. This young man sat in back in April. He impressed then and did so this time around.

Time for a break and who should arrive but Joel Brown who'd spent the past year or so performing good works in Senegal or somewhere.

It took little persuasion for Joel to to sit at the keyboard alongside Grainger on bass and three of the young guns - James Metcalf, Faye and Dylan Thompson. Autumn Leaves; East of the Sun and I'll Be Seeing You went down a treat albeit with some indecisive endings! 

Owen Jones replaced Grainger for It Could Happen to You and it did indeed 'happen' as did All the Things You Are with Jamie Mackay added on Telecaster.

Things were building up as the big hitters moved in. Jamie Toms, 'Showtime' Gray, Michael Lamb and John Pope blew Sidewinder, Feeney returned for  Cheek to Cheek before everybody - and I mean everybody! - crowded the stage for Straight No Chaser.

This was bizarre! Apart from the horns we had three bassists interchanging and likewise three drummers. The fact that one of the drummers was left-handed made it an even more crazy scene as drums were switched to accommodate. Those of us who are old enough to remember the Marx Brothers may recall the crowded cabin scene in A Night at the Opera - well this was it recreated in A Night at the Jam Session!

Soloists were limited to two choruses - any more and they'd have still been playing yet.

It may not have been a musically profound evening (thank goodness!) but it certainly was an enjoyable one and not a singer in sight although  Ray Burns was sighted but didn't perform unless he intended to and got trampled underfoot in the musical melee!
Lance

Paul Grainger (bass); Giles Strong (guitar); Sid White (drums) + Elliott Todd, Michael Lamb, Walter Feeney, James Metcalf (trumpets); Chris Kurgi-Smith, Kieran Parnaby, David 'Showtime' Gray (trombones); Faye Thompson (alto sax); Jamie Toms (tenor sax); Joel Brown (piano); Jamie  Mackay (guitar); John Pope, Owen Jones (bass); Dylan Thompson, Hazem Mohammed (drums).

1 comment :

Unknown said...

Thanks Lance. Nice review of a most enjoyable evening.

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