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Bebop Spoken There

Spasmo Brown: “Jazz is an ice cream sandwich! It's the Fourth of July! It's a girl with a waterbed!”. (Syncopated Times, July, 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

17444 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 16 years ago. 718 of them this year alone and, so far, 100 this month (Oct. 10).

From This Moment On ...

October

Sun 13: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 13: Emma Wilson @ Tyne Bar, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. Blues.
Sun 13: Catfish Keith @ The Cluny. 7:00pm. Country blues.
Sun 13: Cath Stephens & Paul Grainger @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Stephens & Grainger, one third of a triple bill.
Sun 13: Dulcie May Moreno Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Sun 13: Jazz Jam @ Fabio’s, Saddler St., Durham. 8:00pm. Free. A DUJS event. All welcome.

Mon 14: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 14: Black is the Color of My Voice @ Hippodrome, Darlington. 7:30pm. Apphia Campbell’s one-woman show inspired by Nina Simone, performed by Nicholle Cherrie.

Tue 15: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Alan Law (piano), Paul Grainger (double bass), Bailey Rudd (drums).

Wed 16: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 16: Cath Stephens’ improvisation workshop @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 4:30-6:00pm. Collaborative group focusing on vocal improvisations.
Wed 16: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 16: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 17: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 17: Olivia Cuttill Quintet @ King’s Hall, Newcastle University. 1:15pm. Free.
Thu 17: Moonlight Serenade Orchestra UK: Glenn Miller & Big Band Spectacular @ Phoenix Theatre, Blyth. 7:30pm.
Thu 17: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. Ragtime piano. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 17: Niffi Osiyemi Trio @ The Harbour View, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 17: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesborough. Guests Jeremy McMurray (keys); Richie Emmerson (tenor sax); Mark Toomey (alto sax); Adrian Beadnell (bass). 8:30pm. Free.

Fri 18: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 18: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 18: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 18: Hot Club du Nord @ St Cuthbert’s, Crook. 7:30pm.
Fri 18: Chet Set @ Seventeen Nineteen, Hendon, Sunderland. 7:30pm. Pete Tanton & co.
Fri 18: Michael Woods @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. Doors 7:30pm (upstairs). A Hoodoo Blues dance & social event. £10.00. class & social (£10.00., £7.50., £5.00. social only). Michael Woods (country blues guitar) on stage 9:00pm.
Fri 18: East Coast Swing Band @ Hexham Abbey. 7:30pm. £9.00.
Fri 18: Ben Crosland Quartet @ Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. Opus 4 Jazz Club.
Fri 18: Durham University Jazz Society’s ‘High Standards’ @ Music Dept. Music Room, Divinity House, Palace Green, Durham University DH1 3RS. 8:009:30pm. Tel: 0191 334 1419. £7.00., £5.00.
Fri 18: Ray Stubbs R&B All Stars @ Blues Underground, Nelson St., Newcastle. 9:00pm. Free.

Sat 19: Jeff Hewer Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 19: Howlin’ Mat @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Country blues guitar & vocals. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

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

Friday, September 27, 2019

Scarborough Jazz Festival 2019. Sunday Sept. 22. Evening Session. Partisans and Jim Mullen and the Volunteers.

Partisans: Julian Siegel (reeds), Phil Robson (guitar), Thaddeus Kelly (bass guitar), Gene Calderazzo (drums).
(Review/photos by Steve T).

Mr Birkett, his trio and guests on keyboard and clarinet had them dancing in the aisles so Partisans were already onstage by the time I returned to the main hall. I'd seen them before and enjoyed it but this was better; much better. 

The second piece was That's Not His Bag but we were assured it referred to Easyjet and not James Brown. Robson - having whet our appetite with Dankworth - was playing pedalled up guitar and crazy chords, weaving solos in and out of Siegel's sax and I'll be amazed if the guitarist isn't familiar with prog guitar maestro Steve Howe.

Overthink rocked things up nicely, bass guitar pumping and squelching like a heavy metal band, guitar set at eleven and even the arrival of sax somehow managed not to tone things down. It was clearly a bit much for some, covering their ears a bit of a giveaway, but Scarborough is a fiercely across the board festival and they're used to the esoteric. 

Right on cue, they demonstrated their quieter side with 3:15 on the Dot, named for a groundhog in New York called Barry and featuring bass clarinet, then guitar over cymbals and barely perceptible bass.

Drums set up a groove and guitar chords and a heavy bass sound found them firmly in Weather Report territory, guitar and some effects pedals playing it close to Zawinul's 70s/ 80s arsenal of keyboards.

Last Chance had Siegel back on bass clarinet, Robson bending notes, running through his pedals 'til he found the one marked jazz-rock, from the heady days of Lifetime and Mahavishnu Mk 1. In the best traditions of those times, it was then taken down to a trickle with gentle rhythm behind a remarkably fluid solo from bass clarinet, a notoriously tempestuous instrument.

Jim Mullen's Volunteers: Jim Mullen (guitar), Gareth Lockrane (flute, arranger), Steve Fishwick (trumpet, flugelhorn), Mark Nightingale (trombone), Alan Barnes, Julien Siegel (reeds), Gareth Williams (piano), Nick Hatton (bass), Tristram Mayo (drums).

Following a period of serious illness, Jim Mullen has found himself an elder statesman of British Jazz, a veritable national treasure.

I first saw him with jazz-funk outfit Morrissey-Mullen at the start of the eighties, next backing soul singer Terry Callier, then giving a masterclass followed by an organ trio performance at Sage Gateshead, and most recently with vintage British funk band Kokomo supporting the Average White Band at the London Jazz Festival. The local guitar teacher in Crook refers to him as Big Thumbs, reflecting his unique style of emulating his hero Wes Montgomery.

The all-star assembly more or less took turns taking solos, the guitarist taking one during each piece. Lockrane was visibly active keeping everything together from the stage and Mullen was keen to heap praise on him.

The entire set was taken from his current album The Volunteers, a mixture of Mullen originals: Medications, Spare Change, Overactive and Smart Money, plus a sprinkling of standards: When I Fall in Love, Spring is Here and Back in the Day.

Smart Money was the final piece and illustrated the tightrope jazz musicians operate from every night. Mullen finished his solo and turned to Williams and, when he didn't respond, turned quickly to Lockrane and back to the pianist who opened his solo. Great stuff.

Though I relish being amongst the youngest, I can't believe this festival doesn't attract a younger audience. There really is something on offer for everybody and the oldies for the most part, lap up the multitude of sounds the festival presents them with. Perhaps the seaside setting makes the cool young people think it's a bastion for the elderly. 

I was  also encouraged to see the CD store attracting so much interest, and I read somewhere that sales of CDs in jazz and the other genres are holding up well, despite the decline in pop music old and new.     
Steve T       

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