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Bebop Spoken There

Abbie Finn: "Even though there's a lot of great work being done to promote women in jazz, I still come up against some attitudes! I pulled up at a recording session with my drums in the car and the studio owner said, 'I'm sorry, this space is reserved for the drummer!'" - (Jazzwise April 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

15245 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 264 of them this year alone and, so far, 77 this month (March 25).

From This Moment On ...

March

Tue 28: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 28: Sanaz Lavasani Trio + Abbie Finn @ Black Swan, Newcastle Arts Centre. 8:00pm. £12.00 (£10.00. adv).

Wed 29: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 29: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 29: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 7:00pm.
Wed 29: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 30: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Gateshead Central Library. 2:30-4:30pm. £2.00. All welcome.
Thu 30: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. Back to 1:00pm stomp off. Free.
Thu 30: Castillo Nuevo @ Revolución de Cuba, Newcastle. 5:30-8:30pm.
Thu 30: '58 Jazz Collective @ Hops & Cheese, Hartlepool. 7:30pm. Free.
Thu 30: Lindsay Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ Harbour View, Sunderland. 8:00pm.
Thu 30: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 31: Lewis Watson Quartet @ Bishop Auckland Town Hall. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 31: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 31: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 31: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm. CANCELLED! Back next week (April 7).
Fri 31: Castillo Nuevo @ Revolución de Cuba, Newcastle. 5:30-8:30pm.
Fri 31: Jasmine Myra + Waclaw Zimpel @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Fri 31: The Revolutionaires @ The Shack, Boldon Colliery. 7:30pm. £10.00. The Revolutionaires' big band (horn section) line-up.
Fri 31: Andrew McCormack @ Maltings, Berwick. 8:00pm. £20.00.

April
Sat 01: The Big Easy @ St Augustine's Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm.
Sat 01: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. Tutor: Steve Glendinning - In a Minor Key. £25.00. Enrol at: www.jazz.coop.
Sat 01: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington Covered Market, Darlington DL1 5PN. 6:00pm. New venue, live jazz!
Sat 01: Boys of Brass @ Stack, Seaburn. 7:00-9:00pm.
Sat 01: Hot Club du Nord @ Pleased to Meet You, Bridge St., Morpeth. 8:00pm. £79.00. A charity fundraising event.
Sat 01: Rendezvous Jazz @ Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00. RESCHEDULED to next week (Sat 08).

Sun 02: Smokin' Spitfires @ The Cluny. 12:45pm.
Sun 02: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 3:00pm.

Mon 03: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

Jam Session @ the Black Swan - October 15

(Review by Lance/Photo link)

Anyone for tenors? There's no shortage of them tonight. They buck the trend and outnumber the girl singers 4 to 1.
Harry Keeble's the first to put up with a somewhat reflective opener that seems to meander a bit. However, Tadd Dameron's Ladybird dispenses with the meandering and Harry unleashes the torrent of notes we expect from him and the now crowded room roars its approval.



Undeterred by this early benchmark, George Sykes doesn't attempt to fight fire with fire choosing instead to demonstrate his melodic side with Beautiful Love and Blue Bossa. Mo has taken over at the kit and it runs smoothly.

It's been awhile since Paul Gowland showed at the jam but, fresh from his paintstripping alto blast at last Saturday's birthday bash for Dave Weisser, he's up for doing it again on tenor. Here's That Rainy Day finds him digging in then, appropriately, I'll Remember April. Remember it? Who could forget this version? Is this game, set and match? Well, er, not quite...

Hearts and Hibs may be no great shakes when they cross Hadrian's Wall but when Edinburgh''s finest, Nick Gould, lays siege the sparks fly. Tonight it's Shiny Stockings and On Green Dolphin St. that light up the room. What a night for tenors!

And what a night for singers too. The ever delightful Jan delivers Lullaby of Birdland followed by The Look of Love. I'm sitting up front so I'm hearing it good. However,  those sitting further back lose the intimacy of the moment, partly due to the chit-chat at the back of the room and a sound system that maybe needs turned up a notch or two.

John Pope's now on bass and Joel Brown, back from Senegal, is at the keyboard and Bob Caswell's taking us to Brazil. The veteran crooner has still got it as he proves when he manages to silence the barflies with My Funny Valentine.

The brothers Harrison are in the house and Laurence adds some guitar magic as the evening rocks on.

However, tonight it's all about the sax with Keeble and Sykes laying waste to Wayne Shorter's Speak No Evil. Abbie and Charles Harrison get behind Gowland and Gould for Invitation and we're on Central Avenue in LA and it's Dexter and Wardell taking us in to the home straight - Straight No Chaser to be precise. Keeble makes it three tenors and the horns give it their best shot over two choruses each.

It's been another great night although, as someone once said to me, the downside is that with such great music for free who wants to pay to see a band? Food for thought.

Needless to say, the house trio, as ever, have been superb. Dean Stockdale's opening Have You Met Miss Jones? played out of time with beautiful, rich harmonies told me tonight is going to be special and when Grainger and Walker picked up the tempo it was.
Lance

Dean Stockdale (piano); Paul Grainger (bass); Rob Walker (drums) + Harry Keeble, George Sykes, Paul Gowland, Nick Gould (tenor saxes); Hazem Mohammed, Abbie Finn (drums); Joel Brown (piano); John Pope (bass); Laurence Harrison, Charles Harrison (guitars); Jan Spencelayh, Bob Caswell (vocals).

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