Total Pageviews

Bebop Spoken There

Béla Fleck: “ And that's the great thing about live performances, you take people on a journey. It doesn't have to be like something else they've heard. It's not supposed to be". DownBeat, April, 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

16287 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 16 years ago. 169 of them this year alone and, so far, 41 this month (Mar 18).

From This Moment On ...

March

Thu 28: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 28: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Gateshead Central Library, Gateshead. 2:30pm.
Thu 28: Richard Herdman Quartet @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 28: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm. Guests: Josh Bentham (alto sax); Alan Marshall (tenor sax); Neil Brodie (trumpet); Adrian Beadnell (bass); Graham Thompson (keys); Steve Hunter (drums).

Fri 29: FILM: Soul @ The Forum Cinema, Hexham. 12:30pm. Jazz-themed film animation.
Fri 29: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 29: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 29: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 29: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 6:00pm. Free. POSTPONED!
Fri 29: Thundercat @ Newcastle City Hall.
Fri 29: John Logan @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sat 30: Papa G’s Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sat 30: Pete Tanton’s Cuba Libre @ Whitley Bay Library, York Road, Whitley Bay. 8:00pm.

Sun 31: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay Metro Station. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 31: Ruth Lambert Trio @ Juke Shed, Union Quay, North Shields NE30 1HJ. 3:00pm. Free. Lambert, Alan Law & Paul Grainger.
Sun 31: Sid Jacobs & Tom Remon @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. USA/London jazz guitar duo.
Sun 31: Bellavana @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

April
Mon 01: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 01: Ray Stubbs R&B All Stars @ Billy Bootlegger’s, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 3:00pm. Free.

Tue 02: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Dean Stockdale, Paul Grainger, Abbie Finn.

Wed 03: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 03: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 03: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

Sugaray Rayford + Radikal Queen @ The Cluny - Nov. 12


Sugaray Rayford (vocals); Aaron Liddard (tenor sax); Giles Straw (trumpet); Gino Matteo (guitar); Drake 'Munkihaid' Shining (keyboards, vocals); Allen Markel (bass guitar); Lavell Jones (drums).
(Review by Russell)

The Jumpin' Hot Club boys know their stuff and, in association with the Cluny, booked Sugaray Rayford to deliver an electrifying performance. A first visit to these shores by the larger-than-life character from California generated considerable nationwide interest and Newcastle upon Tyne's blues-soul fans turned out in force. 

The prospect of Rayford delivering the goods momentarily looked in doubt when, half an hour before the doors were due to open, news filtered through that, earlier in the day, Rayford and his six-piece band had arrived at their destination...Newcastle under Lyme! Pointing the tour bus north the headline act arrived on Tyneside with little time to spare. 

Big man Rayford called the shots, his band razor-sharp, this was the business! Don't Regret a Mile sang Rayford. A poverty-stricken childhood, singing in church, escaping his lot via service in the US Marine Corps, turning to music - as the man said: Don't Regret a Mile. From deep soul to crying the blues with a rhythm 'n' blues shuffle or two, Rayford gave it his all. Shirt drenched through - he wrang it out on stage! - the 6'5" frontman worked hard and in return his band worked hard for him. 

The man at the back behind the traps - Mr Lavell Jones - produced a memorable powerhouse performance. A left hand snap to die for, Jones' band mates, including bassist Allen Markel, hung off every beat. Guitarist Gino Matteo could play it all - r 'n' b riffs, BB King licks, the lot. The horns - Aaron Liddard, tenor, Giles Straw, trumpet - blew in all the right places, never overbearing. The man conjuring Booker T, Jimmy Smith and his own fine sound hadn't been feeling too well but a committed Drake 'Munkihaid' Shining hung in there. And, if we were to believe Rayford, his keyboards man was taking his first drink in four years!

Fans out on the floor shouted for Troubles. Rayford said it wasn't in the set list. More voices called for the number. Rayford insisted they weren't going to play it. Instead the fan club got Time to Get Movin' from the Somebody Save Me CD, a powerful Cold Sweat and, another cut from Somebody Save MeYou and I. Sugaray Rayford made a whole lot of new friends in Newcastle upon Tyne, let's hope it isn't too long before he returns to see them again.      
         
Radikal Queen: Radikal Queen (vocals); April Olatunji (keyboards); Jimmy Brown (bass guitar); Lewis Brett (drums)  

Earlier, Radikal Queen played a short support set. The Tyneside based singer took to the stage alongside April Olatunji, keyboards, Jimmy Brown, bass, and drummer Lewis Brett. Songwriter, poet, artist, activist and more, Radikal Queen reworked the blues for a new beat generation.       
Russell

No comments :

Blog Archive