Total Pageviews

Bebop Spoken There

Kurt Elling: ''There's something to learn from every musician you play with''. (DownBeat, December 2024).

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...

Josh Weir: I love the writing on bebop spoken here... I think the work you are doing is amazing.

Postage

17586 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 16 years ago. 860 of them this year alone and, so far, 5 this month (Dec. 2).

From This Moment On ...

December

Wed 11: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 11: Cath Stephens’ improvisation workshop @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 4:30-6:00pm. Collaborative group focusing on vocal improvisations.
Wed 11: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 11: The Tannery Jam Session @ The Tannery, Gilesgate, Hexham. 7:00-9:00pm. Free. Second Wednesday in the month.
Wed 11: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 12: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Spanish City, Whitley Bay. 12 noon. £27.00. (inc. three -course meal).
Thu 12: Jason Isaacs @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 5:00-6:45pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Thu 12: Stuart Turner @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 12: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesborough. 8:30pm. Free. Guests: Jeremy McMurray (keys); Mark Toomey (alto sax); Donna Hewitt (tenor sax); Kevin Eland (trumpet); Ron Smith (bass).

Fri 13: Dean Stockdale Trio @ Auckland Castle, Bishop Auckland. 1:00pm. £8.00.
Fri 13: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 13: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 13: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 13: Bellavana @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 3:00-5:00pm. Free.
Fri 13: Joe Steels Trio @ The Pele, Corbridge. 7:00pm. Free.
Fri 13: Customs House Big Band @ Stocksfield Community Association. 7:00pm. Featuring Ruth Lambert.
Fri 13: Paul Edis & Friends: A Jazzy Xmas @ St Cuthbert’s Centre, Crook. 7:30pm. £15.00.
Fri 13: Strictly Smokin’ Big Band @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £19.00. + bf. First night of two.
Fri 13: Ransom Van @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Fri 13: Boys of Brass @ Hoochie Coochie, Newcastle. 9:00pm. £10.00.

Sat 14: Jambone @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 6:15pm. Free but ticketed.
Sat 14: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm.
Sat 14: Red Kites Jazz @ Staiths Café, Autumn Dr., Gateshead. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 14 Lapwing Jazz Trio @ Three Sheets to the Wind, Alnwick. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 14: Strictly Smokin’ Big Band @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £19.00. + bf. Second night of two.
Sat 14: Papa G’s Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 15: Musicians Unlimited @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 12 noon. £8.50. Xmas party feat. Musicians Unlimited + Customs House Big Band. SOLD OUT!
Sun 15: Paul Edis & Friends: A Jazzy Xmas @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 2:00pm.
Sun 15: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 15: Mitch Laddie Band @ Tyne Bar, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. Superb blues power trio.
Sun 15: Leeway @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 15: Tweed River Jazz Band @ Barrels Ale House, Berwick. 7:00pm. Free.
Sun 15: Paul Edis & Friends: A Jazzy Xmas @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm.
Sun 15: Alligator Gumbo @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 16: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 16: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Wheatsheaf, Benton Sq., Whitley Road, Palmersville NE12 9SU. Tel: 0191 266 8137. 12 noon. £9.95. ‘Festive Turkey Dinner’. Book now: 0191 266 8137.
Mon 16: Paul Edis & Friends: A Jazzy Xmas @ The Fire Station, Sunderland. 7:30pm.

Tue 17: Paul Edis & Friends: A Jazzy Xmas @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 7:30pm.
Tue 17: BBC Big Band @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 7:30pm. ‘A Swinging Xmas’.
Tue 17: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Alan Law, Paul Grainger, Abbie Finn.
Tue 17: Bellavana @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 7:45-9:35pm. Free.

Reviewers wanted

Whilst BSH attempts to cover as many gigs, festivals and albums as possible, to make the site even more comprehensive we need more 'boots on the ground' to cover the albums seeking review - a large percentage of which never get heard - report on gigs or just to air your views on anything jazz related. Interested? then please get in touch. Contact details are on the blog. Look forward to hearing from you. Lance

Thursday, August 01, 2019

Preview: Newcastle Jazz Festival - August 17


(Preview by Russell)
 Organise not one, not two, but six concerts in a day and you've got the makings of a festival. What's more, stage the event in a micro brewery and you're looking at a full house! The Newcastle Jazz Festival is set for Saturday August 17 at the Tyne Bank Brewery

A disused industrial building redeveloped as a micro brewery hosting regular events (gigs, pop-up street food markets, vinyl collectors' fairs and more) makes no. 375 Walker Road the ideal venue for a one day gathering of jazz musicians and jazz fans alike. If on the day there is a blazing sun in the sky (long odds!) the Tyne Bank Brewery will provide welcome relief, if it's tipping down (shorter odds!) you'll be snug as a bug with beer on tap in the brewery's tap house.

Two of Tyneside's finest musicians have the honour of opening the first Newcastle Jazz Festival in many a long year. At 1:30 Zoë Gilby and Andy Champion will perform their voice and bass duo set. Dazzling isn't the word - Zoë's vocal abilities are known to her many fans across the region and, increasingly, further afield, both home and abroad, with engagements at prestigious venues and festivals. Similarly, Andy enjoys 'first call' status not only on home turf but on the national stage. You'd be hard pressed to name a better bass player.

The Alan Law Trio at 2:40 offers a contrasting take on the jazz piano trio format. An accomplished pianist, the quietly spoken Law is a student of Latin, particularly Cuban, jazz. Our bandleader likes nothing better than to fool the listener into thinking he's one for ruminating when, in fact, sleight-of-hand, he's lit the blue touch paper on a firework (a seemingly innocuous firework, one chosen so that it doesn't frighten the horses). It's best to stand back because sooner or later there will be an explosive Latin fiesta to enjoy! 

Mark Williams is a master guitarist. The Mark Williams Trio is a vehicle for the leader's compositions alongside those of bassist Paul Susans and a selection of numbers by the likes of John Scofield and Steve Swallow. The laconic Irishman's prodigious technique enables him to fulfill the role of accompanist to GASbook singers to interpreting the charts of any of today's big name guitarist-composers. Joining Williams and Susans on stage at 3:50 will be ace drummer Russ Morgan

All festivals should have a banker bet. In other words, a copper-bottomed, gold-plated attraction, call it what you will. At five o'clock the world class duo of Emma Fisk and James Birkett will demonstrate that they are indisputably top drawer material. Their set evolved out of a love of the legendary recording sessions by Joe Venuti and Eddie Lang. Virtuosity, taste, elan, Ms Fisk and Dr Birkett share these qualities in abundance. They're on stage at five o'clock, don't be late!

The 2014 winner of the inaugural BBC Young Jazz Musician of the Year competition hails from County Durham. Bebop Spoken Here first came across the talented young musician busking outside Fenwick's on Northumberland Street in Newcastle. The alto saxophonist couldn't have been much more then ten years of age. It was obvious we had a seriously talented musician in our midst (dad stood to one side keeping a watchful eye). Fast forward two or three years to a jazz session at the Quakerhouse in Darlington. The very same alto player sat-in. Tremendous, truly tremendous. An education at Chetham's School of Music, followed by study at the Royal Academy, from which a few weeks ago our alto saxophonist graduated, is the story so far. Alexander Bone is the name and the young man, now in his early twenties, is the headline name at the Newcastle Jazz Festival. You cannot miss this one! 6:15, Tyne Bank Brewery, be there to witness the latest chapter in what is certain to be a stellar career in music. Bone will be working in the company of a handy trio - Messrs Dean Stockdale, piano, Mick Shoulder, double bass, and drummer Matt MacKellar. By way of a bonus, for those yet to hear drummer Matt who's currently on vacation from Berklee, Boston, USA, take it as read, he's on course to be the next superstar to emerge from the region's vibrant jazz scene. 

The Newcastle Jazz Festival concludes in what is sure to be celebratory fashion. There's no better way to close proceedings than with a rip-roaring set by the Strictly Smokin' Big BandMichael Lamb's superb outfit will hit the stage at 7:45. Stand by for a thrilling ride! At a recent rehearsal session the SSBB tore into St Louis Blues. If the band opens with this one at Tyne Bank you'd better hang on to your hat and/or seat otherwise you'll be knocked off your feet! Some bands rely on one or two hotshots to take the spotlight, not this band! Killer solos come from all sections of the band. Ensemble, section and solo work, all of it is truly impressive. Arrangements by MD Michael Lamb and others (some of them big time American and European arrangers) will stretch the band to its limits. There will be a few danceable numbers (Tyne Bank offers a large expanse of concrete flooring to do your thing) and, to top it off, the fabulous Alice Grace will be singing a few numbers with the band. The Strictly Smokin' Big Band is the best band around, get on down to Walker Road for what promises to be a memorable all day festival of jazz. 

Tyne Bank Brewery beers will be on tap, similarly, independent food vendors will be on site, there is ample parking and the Q3 bus from Newcastle city centre stops right outside the front entrance! Tickets are flying out the door. Book now to be sure of yours. £15 for the day, visit: www.newcastlejazzfestival.co.uk
 Russell

No comments :

Blog Archive