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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

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.
Mar 26: Pop Jazz @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. 'Jazzified' tunes by the likes of Sylvester, Bowie, the Monkees etc., feat. Alan Law, David Gray, Richard Herdman & Jude Murphy.
Sun 26: Outlines @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. JNE promotion (upstairs).

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

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 @ 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: '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: 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: Hot Club du Nord @ Pleased to Meet You, Bridge St., Morpeth. 8:00pm. £79.00. A charity fundraising event.
Sat 01: Boys of Brass @ Stack, Seaburn. 7:00-9:00pm.
Sat 01: Rendezvous Jazz @ Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00. RESCHEDULED to next week (Sat 08).

Sunday, November 17, 2019

Emma Johnson's Gravy Boat @ The Globe - Nov. 16

Emma Johnson (tenor sax); Fergus Vickers (guitar); Richard Jones (piano); Angus Milne (bass); Alasdair Pennington (drums)
(Review by Lance/photos courtesy of Ken Drew).

The Metro was crowded. Cans of lager and cider were being surreptitiously popped. The hemlines were high - even non-existent - and I wasn't complaining!

The hordes disembarked at Central and headed in the direction of The Globe. On the sidewalk, one "Busking Joe" played drums the crowd danced to his rhythm - he could play! The ground floor bar of the Jazz Coop HQ was heaving as the hoi polloi primed themselves for an evening with Gerry Cinnamon, a singer/songwriter whose lyrics it's reported are 'brutally honest'. He was appearing across the road at the Utilita Arena.

His next gig is at Hampden Park which is seemingly sold out! Clearly this guy is a big deal!

In the upstairs Jazz Bar, there was another big deal - Emma Johnson's Gravy Boat may not have pulled the number of punters that Gerry C did but, on a person per square foot basis, I reckon she held her own.

Keith Barrett, major-domo for the evening, found that his main task was finding more seats for the non-stop stream of arrivals.

JNE and the Jazz Coop, who got together to promote the event, must have been pleased - not just for the turn out and the coins in the coffers but for the music that inspired so many to leave their warm firesides for what must have surely been uncharted waters for some.

The opening few bars had me thinking wistfully of warm firesides. Discordant, lots of long notes but, before I'd completed my yawn, the gravy boat arrived and I knew why everyone was here.

A programme of well-crafted originals that really were original but with themes that made sense played by five fine and formidable players. Johnson gets a great sound on tenor and has a technique to match. Not one of those in your face players but someone whose solos build gradually and logically with a natural lyricism reminiscent of Coltrane in his saner moments.

Likewise, the other four also impressed, drum and bass solos kept to a minimum thus making them all the more effective when they did surface. Impressive keyboard work and guitar playing that was laid back and listenable with some juicy chording.

Titles: Vertical Plains; Fully Fledged; Little Creatures (named after Emma’s favourite beer); Things I Didn’t Know; Arguments in 12/8; Scraps; Speak in Whispers; Plucker; Where Are You Hiding? (Emma tells us there is a new version of this with vocal by Nishla Smith in the pipeline); Summer Stone.

A very satisfying evening – more gravy please.

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