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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

16034 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 1041 of them this year alone and, so far, 73 this month (Nov. 27).

From This Moment On ...

December

Mon 04: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Mon 04: Northern Monkey Brass Band @ People’s Kitchen, Bath Lane, Newcastle. From 5:30pm. On-street gig supporting the work of the People’s Kitchen charity. Wrap up warm! Donate!
Mon 04: Michael Young Trio w Lindsay Hannon @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 7:00pm. Free.
Mon 04: James Birkett Trio @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £8.00.
Mon 04: Durham University Jazz Orchestra + Durham University Big Band @ Durham Castle DH1 3RW. 8:30pm. £6.00.; £5.00. concs; £4.00. DSM. ‘Jazzy Christmas’.

Tue 05: Customs House Big Band @ All Saints Church, Cleadon. 7:00pm. Concert in the church hall. BYOB.
Tue 05: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Michael Young, Paul Grainger, Sid White. The best free show in town!

Wed 06: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 06: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 8:00pm. Free. Note later start time, concert performance (open to the public).
Wed 06: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 07: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free CANCELLED!
Thu 07: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Spanish City, Whitley Bay, Newcastle. 12 noon - 4:00pm. £26.00 (inc 3-course meal in in St Mary's Lighthouse Suite). SOLD OUT!
Thu 07: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Gateshead Central Library, Gateshead. 2:30pm. All welcome.
Thu 07: Thursday Night Prayer Meeting @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.Donations. Feat. Mark Sanders. CANCELLED!
Thu 07: Indigo Jazz Voices @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:45pm. £5.00. Downstairs.
Thu 07: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 08: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 08: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 08: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 08: Hayley's Little Big Band @ Woodland Village Hall, Bishop Auckland. 7:00pm. £12.00.
Fri 08: Sleep Suppressor + Redwell @ Head of Steam, Neville St., Newcastle. 8:00pm. £10.00. (£8.00. adv); £5.00. student.
Fri 08: Hot Club du Nord @ St Cuthbert's Church, Shadforth, Co. Durham.
Fri 08: Têtes de Pois + Nauta @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.00., £8.00.

Sat 09: Castillo Nuevo Trio @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 5:30pm. Free.
Sat 09: Abbie Finn Trio @ Claypath Deli, Durham. 7:00pm.
Sat 09: Hayley's Little Big Band @ Middleton & Todridge Village Hall, Morpeth. 7:30pm. £12.00., £6.00.
Sat 09: Paul Skerritt @ Slaley Hall, Hexham NE47 0BX. 7:30pm. From £42.00.

Sun 10: Musicians Unlimited’s Xmas Party with Zoe Gilby Quartet @ Park Inn, Hartlepool. MU 1:00-3:00pm; Zoë Gilby Quartet 4:00-6:00pm. Tickets: £7.50.
Sun 10: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00-4:00pm. Free.
Sun 10: Funk Soul Sista @ Stack, Seaburn. 5:00-7:00pm. Free.
Sun 10: Beth Clarke @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 10: Hayley's Little Big Band @ Whittingham Memorial Institute, Alnwick. 7:30pm. £12.00., £10.00.
Sun 10: Tele-Port @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Line-up inc. Zhenya Strigalev.

Thursday, September 05, 2019

Frog and Henry @ the Black Swan - Sept. 4

Ewan Bleach (clarinet, vocals); Ryan Baer (guitar, banjo, vocals); John Kelly (trombone, guitar); Jack Butler (tuba)
(Review by Lance)

Frog and Henry may sound like the name of a Quayside bar but it is, in fact, an international band dedicated to the early blues, rags and stomps of New Orleans. In some ways they are a bit like Postmodern Jukebox inasmuch as, with the exception of Ewan Bleach, there's no certainty as to who, how many, and what instruments will be in the band. It all depends on the size of the car explained clarinetist Bleach.

So, assuming it was a Mini, the shipwreck/lifeboat syndrome applied and one person had to go which turned out be the violin player as well various other instruments including bass saxophone which was a shame as there aren't many bass saxists on the northeast circuit and, disappointingly, the tuba machine was also AWOL.

However, the most worrying event prior to the gig, apart from the machine, was another tuba which was broken. How does one locate a replacement tuba with the minutes before stomp off ticking away? Impossible - unless Patti Durham is to hand. She's got tubas wall to wall and the day was saved.

Amazingly, no time was lost and they charged into Weary Blues and they didn't sound weary at all.

Bleach gets quite a liquid sound on clarinet with shades of Bechet, Irving Fazola and the occasional growl bringing Pee Wee to mind. Like Baer, he also has that  twenties/thirties timbre to his vocals - think early Bing, Russ Columbo, Rudy Vallée or Al Bowlly. With this band, one minute you're in a Storyville bordello and the next you're dining at the Ritz.

Baer effectively comps and solos with some juicy chords on guitar, provides period vocals and plays banjo on the appropriately titled That's a Plenty - I suppose someone has to do it.

The borrowed tuba nestled comfortably in Butler's arms and he pumped away happily.

Apart from guitar, Kelly blew blistering 'bone and combined to make this a very tight outfit  where solos were succinct and the ensembles, even without a cornet, true to the tradition and it wasn't surprising that an encore was demanded.

Like the Tenement Jazz Band up in Edinburgh, or the Shake 'em up Jazz Band worldwide, this is a relatively young band honouring the traditions of the past.
Lance

Weary Blues; My Blue Heaven; Imagination (Benny Moten); San; In the Wee Midnight Hours; Shadrack; On the Banks of the River; Crying For the Carolines; Song of the Wanderer; In My Little Red Book; Panama; The Girls Go Crazy etc.; That Will Be the Thrill For me; Temptation Rag; I'm Blue and Lonesome; That's a Plenty; Love in Bloom; A Swallowtail Coat; St. Louis Rag; Bouncing Around; A thousand Goodbyes.

1 comment :

Ray R said...

Having seen the band at Darlington in February when a larger car was obviously available as all instruments & band members seemed present; it was a pleasure to hear them again; albeit in smaller number; but still providing fabulous sounds ….another memorable gig …

Ray R

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