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Bebop Spoken There

Art Blakey: "You [Bobby Watson] don't want to play too long, because you don't know they're clapping because they're glad you finished!" - (JazzTimes, Nov. 2019)..

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

15867 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 874 of them this year alone and, so far, 72 this month (Sept. 25).

From This Moment On ...

September

Sat 30: John Pope Quintet + Late Girl + Shapeshifters @ Bobik's, Jesmond, Newcastle.
Sat 30: Papa G's Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

OCTOBER

Sun 01: Smokin' Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm.
Sun 01: Dulcie May Moreno sings Portrait of Sheila @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £10.00. Moreno sings Sheila Jordan with Giles Strong, Mick Shoulder & John Bradford.
Sun 01: Middlesbrough Jazz & Blues Orchestra @ Saltburn Community Hall. 2:00pm.
Sun 01: The Easy Rollers @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £13.70., £11.55.
Sun 01: Brand/Roberts/Champion/Sanders @ Blank Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Sun 01: Papa G's Troves @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 02: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Mon 02: FILM: Wattstax; 50th Anniversary @ Forum Cinema, Hexham. 8:00pm.

Tue 03: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 03: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. House trio: Michael Young (piano); Paul Grainger (double bass); Sid White (drums). CANCELLED!

Wed 04: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 04: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 04: Paul Skerritt @ Vespa Italian Bar & Steakhouse, Primrose Hill, Jarrow. From 7:00pm. To book a table - 0191 483 3355.
Wed 04: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 05: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 05: Sound the Trumpets @ King's Hall, Newcastle University. 1:15pm. Free.
Thu 05: Hot Club du Nord @ The Lubetkin Theatre, Peterlee. 7:00pm. £10.00. POSTPONED!
Thu 05: Thursday Night Prayer Meeting @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.
Thu 05: Tommy Bentz Trio + Mark Croft Duo + George Shovlin & George Lamb @ The Harbour View, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Harbour View Speakeasy's USA blues double bill + Shovlin & Lamb!
Thu 05: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Ragtime piano. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.
Thu 05: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 06: Alcyona Mick @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Fri 06: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 06: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 06: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 06: WORKSHOP: Philosophy of Arts & Entertainment @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 2:00pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Fri 06: Balo @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 6:20pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Fri 06: Paul Skerritt @ 3Sixty Champagne Lounge, Hadrian’s Tower, Newcastle. From 7:00pm. To book a table - 0191 933 8591.
Fri 06: Lexer/Mayes/Noble + Semay Wu + Miman @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 7:20pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Fri 06: Dulcie May Moreno @ The Vault, Hexham. 7:30pm. £20.00. Book in advance. Moreno with Alan Law, Paul Grainger & John Bradford.
Fri 06: Dean Stockdale Quartet @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm. 'Celebrating Oscar'.
Fri 06: Nu Brass Sounds: Big Brass Bash @ Billy Bootlegger’s, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free.
Fri 06: TBC @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Blind Pig Blues Club. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

Wednesday, November 06, 2019

Jam Session @ The Black Swan - November 5

(Review/photos by Lance).

Like all good theatre the Black Swan jam sessions start off low key and build to a series of climaxes culminating in les grand dénouement. And, true to tradition, there are the inevitable latecomers and the crisp packet rustlers and crunchers.

The opening scene had Grainger, Strong and Finn setting the plot rather like the trio that convened on a blasted heath in Scotland although tonight it was On Green Dolphin Street followed by Tenderly and Cole Porter’s I Love YouA  good start, tasteful and swinging.

However, with the arrival centre stage of Harry Keeble the fire began to burn and the cauldron to bubble. Nica’s Dream was fast and furious as our boy stormed through the changes driven on by partner Abbie – truly a match made in Birdland. ‘Round Midnight, by contrast had an eerie, almost ethereal mood.

Time for a song. Jan Spencelayh chose Nature Boy. Let me say that, like Nat King Cole and many other good singers she sang it well but really, I’ve yet to encounter a song with such banal lyrics as Nature Boy with its phoney mysticism. By comparison, Autumn Leaves, with English words by Johnny Mercer is Shakespearean in its reflective nature.

Carolyn Pallon, in town from Cambridge, was a new voice on the scene and she delivered I Got Rhythm and My Funny Valentine with style and imagination – we were to hear more as the evening progressed.

Josie Bennington and Graham Easthope played flute and tenor respectively on Watermelon Man and Canteloupe Island before an intermission signifying the end of Act One was called.

Act Two began with Harry Keeble working out on Night and Day – this was the one – Cole Porter would be dancing in his grave with delight. John Pope joined the party for Sam Rivers’ Beatrice. Nice one.

Jan and Josie waxed lyrical on The Girl/Boy From Ipanema before Paul Gowland entered stage left. “Is this a soprano saxophone I see before me?” I asked. It was indeed and My Favorite Things proved that Paul can handle it as fluently as he does alto and tenor, his usual weapons of mass destruction at jams. Lady Finn’s drum solo also a delight to behold.

Bye Bye Blackbird is one of those “not again” songs but, in the hands of Cambridge Carolyn and Jesmond Jordan we would have listened to it forever. CC displayed her vocal range impressively and JJ did likewise on tenor.

The session progressed and the plot unfolded. Joel occupied the piano stool and Jordan and Paul (Gowland) blew My One and Only Love. Then suddenly, before the beer was dry in the glass, we were into the final act. All of the principal players, headed for the stage rather like Great Birnam wood moving towards high Dunsinane.

Tune Up was untimely plucked from the iPod which left room for Now’s the Time known to some as The Hucklebuck.

I didn’t care that The Metro wasn’t running – the number 27 was so it was a case of All’s Well That Ends Well.
Lance.
Paul Grainger (bass); Giles Strong (guitar); Abbie Finn (drums) + Harry Keeble, Jordan Alfonso, Graham Easthope (tenor sax); Paul Gowland (soprano sax); Josie Bennington (flute); Joel Brown (piano); John Pope (bass); Jan Spencelayh, Carolyn Pallon (vocals).

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