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Bebop Spoken There

Branford Marsalis: "As ignorance often forces us to do, you make a generalisation about a musician based on one specific record or one moment in time." - (Jazzwise June 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

15491 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 512 of them this year alone and, so far, 133 this month (May 31).

From This Moment On ...

Mon 05: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

Tue 06: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 06: Jam session @ Black Swan, Newcastle Arts Centre. 7:30pm. House trio: Stu Collingwood (piano); Paul Grainger (double bass); Sid White (drums).

Wed 07: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 07: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 07: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 7:00pm.
Wed 07: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 08: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free. CANCELLED! BACK ON JUNE 15.
Thu 08: Easington Colliery Brass Band @ The Lubetkin Theatre, Peterlee. 7:00pm. £10.00.
Thu 08: Faye MacCalman + Blue Dust Archive @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 08: Dilutey Juice + Ceramic @ The Ampitheatre, Sea Road, South Shields. 7:00pm. Free. A South Tyneside Festival event.
Thu 08: Lara Jones w. Vigilance State @ Lubber Fiend, Blandford Square, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 08: Michael Littlefield @ the Harbour View, Roker, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Country blues.
Thu 08: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 09: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 09: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 09: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 09: Castillo Nuevo @ Revolución de Cuba, Newcastle. 5:30-8:30pm.
Fri 09: Emma Rawicz @ Sage Gateshead. 8:00pm.

Sat 10: Miners' Picnic @ Woodhorn, Ashington. Music inc. Northern Monkey Brass Band (3:00-3:50pm); New York Brass Band (4:00-4:55pm).
Sat 10: Front Porch Three @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. Americana, blues, jazz etc.
Sat 10: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

Sun 11: WORKSHOP: Tim Richards' Jazz Piano Workshop @ JG Windows, Newcastle. Time TBC. Further details tel. 0191 232 1356.
Sun 11: Jeremy McMurray's Pocket Jazz Orchestra @ Ropner Park, Stockton TS18 4EF. 2:00-4:00pm. Free.
Sun 11: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:30pm. Free.
Sun 11: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 3:00pm.
Sun 11: Groovetrain @ Innisfree Sports & Social Club, Longbenton NE12 8TY. Doors 6:30pm. £15.00 (£7.00. under 16).
Sun 11: Jeffrey Hewer Collective @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 12: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Rob Heron & the Tea Pad Orchestra @ King's Hall, Newcastle University - October 24

Rob Heron (vocals, guitar); Tim Bloomer (guitar); Tom Cronin (mandolin, harmonica, vocals); Colin Nicholson (accordion, vocals); Ted Harbot (double bass)
(Review by Russell)

A standing-room-only King's Hall welcomed the return of Newcastle University alumni Rob Heron and the Tea Pad Orchestra. So full was Armstrong Building's concert hall some sat on the floor in front of the stage. Ten numbers, all written by Heron, (Drinking Coffee Rag co-written with Tom Cronin),  plus an unusual encore, the lunchtime set flew by. 

Bandleader Rob Heron doesn't care what label is attached to the Tea Pad Orchestra - Western swing, blues, country, rock 'n' roll - as long as you understand that they're '100% sincere and 100% immersed in it all'. For three quarters of an hour a capacity audience immersed itself in the music. 

Still Go Honky Tonkin' sang Heron, insisting he had a right to play American music despite hailing from the other side of the Atlantic. Songs about love - Holy Moly (I'm in Love Again); a song about drinking - Drinking Coffee Rag; a piece of jump-jive gibberish, a la Louis Jordan - Cats and Chickens; a rockabilly-style timely political reminder about taxes and rent and going after the one percent; a song from student days in the form of a jazz standard 'utilising the circle of fifths chord progression' - Hot Bath, the set list kept things moving, never a dull moment.

Heron's vocals referenced the Americana tradition (Woody Guthrie, a plaintive Hank Williams, the tomfoolery of Louis Jordan) as his Tea Pad band mates covered the waterfront - the aforementioned Western swing, blues, country, rock 'n' roll and a nod to Hot Club-esque jazz. The musicianship spot on - guitarist Tim Bloomer mightily impressive, Tom Cronin's mandolin at times doubling up as a Hot Club rhythm guitar, accordionist Colin Nicholson adding an exotic twist to the Tea Pad's heady brew and Ted Harbot's slap-bass anchorage - the King's Hall roared its approval. 

To conclude a thoroughly entertaining afternoon the Tea Pad Orchestra returned to the stage to play an encore. Heron informed the audience that if he had brought a capo with him he would have gone out on a yodelling song. Quick as a flash someone in the front row leapt up and produced a capo from a coat pocket. Heron's eyes lit up. Taking loan of the capo he dismissed the band, its work done for the day. The Tea Pad's main man, good to his word, went out yodelling! 
Russell

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