Total Pageviews

Bebop Spoken There

Delfeayo Marsalis: "Slide Hampton once told me that it's not always the person that is playing the highest or playing the fastest that's making the greatest impact." - (DownBeat March 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

15229 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 248 of them this year alone and, so far, 61 this month (March 20).

From This Moment On ...

March

Mon 20: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Mon 20: Central Bar Quintet plays Wes Montgomery @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 7:30pm. Feat. Joe Steels.

Tue 21: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 21: Jam session @ Black Swan, Newcastle Arts Centre. 7:30pm. House trio: Jacob Egglestone (guitar); Jamie Watkins (bass guitar); Bailey Rudd (drums).

Wed 22: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 22: Darlington Big Band @ Traveller's Rest, Cockerton. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public). Note change of venue - this week only.
Wed 22: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 7:00pm.
Wed 22: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 23: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 4:00-6:00pm. Free.
Thu 23: NUJO Jazz Jam @ Bar Loco, Newcasatle. From 6:30pm 'til late. Free. Newcastle University Jazz Orchestra jam session. All welcome (students & non-students).
Thu 23: Kerrin Tatman + John Garner & John Pope @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 23: Sunna Gunnlaugs & Julia Hülsmann @ Sage Gateshead. 8:00pm. A two-piano gig. A Sage Gateshead-JNE promotion.
Thu 23: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Ragtime piano.
Thu 23: Sleep Suppressor @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £10.00., £8.00. adv. Upstairs.
Thu 23: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 24: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 24: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 24: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 24: FILM: Mo' Better Blues @ Forum Cinema, Hexham. 7:00pm.
Fri 24: Ian Millar & Dominic Spencer @ Scarth Hall, Staindrop, Co. Durham. 8:00pm. £10.00.
Fri 24: Archipelago + Bulbils @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.

Sat 25: Vermont Big Band @ Walker Community Centre, Walker, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Fundraiser for Benfield Juniours Football Club. Hot food available, BYOB.
Sat 25: John Logan & Friends @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Rat Pack, Motown etc. 8:00pm. Free (donations).

Sun 26: Musicians Unlimited @ Park Inn, Hartlepool. 1:00pm.
Sun 26: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 3:00pm.
Sun 26: Outlines @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. JNE promotion (upstairs).

Mon 27: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

Saturday, September 07, 2019

Jeff Barnhart & John Hallam @ Darlington New Orleans Jazz Club - September 7


Jeff Barnhart (piano, vocals); John Hallam (tenor sax, baritone sax, clarinet); Keith Stephen (guitar, banjo); Bruce Rollo (double bass)  
(Review by Russell)

The Mr Men returned one year on from their last get together at Darlington New Orleans Jazz Club. As usual St Augustine's on Larchfield Street catered to a large crowd of dyed-in-the-wool classic jazz era enthusiasts. Today's lunchtime session led by principals Jeff Barnhart and John Hallam would stray into early swing territory without testing the resolve of the faithful. 

The Mr Men - Barnhart, Hallam, Keith Stephen (guitar and banjo) and string bass maestro Bruce Rollo - as they're known picked up from where they left off twelve months ago with Fine and Dandy. It was just that - fine and dandy - with all four contributing succinct calling-card solos topped off by an equally succinct round of fours. And so it went on, four friends playing a selection of favourite numbers - Petite Fleur (Hallam on baritone sax, the quartet moving effortlessly from Latin to swing and back again), You're Driving Me Crazy and a Eubie Blake solo piano medley feature from Barnhart comprising I'm Just Wild About HarryMemories of You and Charleston Rag. In no time the interval was upon us but not before the Mr Men closed out the first set with There Will Never be Another You.

The ebullient American piano virtuoso Barnhart indicated the second set would begin with a dream sequence - Dream Man (Hallam on baritone), You Stepped Out of a Dream (Hallam clarinet) culminating in fours then twos, followed by a dream version of Ain't Misbehavin' (an audience request). What's the betting that if Barnhart met Fats Waller they'd be best pals?!

Our virtuoso six-stringer Mr Keith Stephen switched to his four string banjo for a rollicking Swing That Music - Darlington's faithful loved it! A ballad was called for, we got A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square but it wasn't long before Stephen upped the tempo once more when calling Sweet Georgia Brown (in F).   

Ellington's Ring Dem Bells sizzled and in no time it was time to go, with, as Barnhart observed, a song for our times - Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea. It had been yet another winning afternoon at Darlington New Orleans Jazz Club. Jeff Barnhart returns in a fortnight (Saturday 21) with Reel 2 of his silent movie-piano accompaniment show. Curtain up at 12:30pm.    
Russell

No comments :

Blog Archive