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Bebop Spoken There

Wendell Brunious: "Because the blues is not 1,4 and 5 or 1,4,5,2,1. You could wake up with a flat tyre or a headache this morning, that's the blues, man" - (DownBeat, Oct. 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

15878 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 885 of them this year alone and, so far, 83 this month (Sept. 30).

From This Moment On ...

October

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: King Bees @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Blind Pig Blues Club. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

Sat 07: WORKSHOP: Philosophy of Arts & Entertainment @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 10:15am. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Sat 07: Hot Club du Nord @ St Augustine's Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm.
Sat 07: Bugge & Niccols + Moore & Fairhall @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Sat 07: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. Tutor: Steve Glendinning - All the Things You Are. £25.00. Enrol at: www.jazz.coop.
Sat 07: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 6:00pm. Free.
Sat 07: Rie Nakajima @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 6:20pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Sat 07: Paul Skerritt @ 3Sixty Champagne Lounge, Hadrian’s Tower, Newcastle. From 7:00pm. To book a table - 0191 933 8591.
Sat 07: Samuel Blaser Trio + Toxvaerd & Zeeberg + Muramatsu & Welch @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 7:20pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Sat 07: Anth Purdy @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Sat 07: Rendezvous Jazz @ Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.

Sun 08: Zoë Gilby Quintet + Ubunye @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Line-up inc. Tony Kofi. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Sun 08: Tommy Bentz Band @ Tyne Bar, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. USA blues band.

Monday, December 09, 2019

Jason Isaacs @ Hoochie Coochie - Dec. 8

(Review by Lance).

Last Sunday it was Michael Bublé knocking ‘em dead at The Arena. This Sunday it was Jason Isaacs knocking ‘em dead at Hoochie Coochie. Both venues were packed to capacity and deservedly so.

Just as it had been at The Arena there was a buzz of anticipation about Hoochie. Chris, a charming lady sitting next to me, told me she’d once fallen asleep watching Rod Stewart in Las Vegas. I told her you didn’t need to go to Vegas to fall asleep listening to Rod Stewart and promised her she wouldn’t fall asleep listening to Jason. Nobody sleeps at Hoochie Coochie! 

Conversation ceased as the unmistakeable intro to Cry Me a River signified the show had begun.

Julie London stamped her authority so powerfully on this song that few girl singers can top it. However, as Bublé proved last week, it takes on a different identity with the gender change and Jason moved comfortably into the Bublé ball park.

A high-kicking Bad, Bad, Leroy Brown had the feet tapping and the hips shaking whilst The Way You Look Tonight reminded me just what a great and romantic song this is.

It being Christmas – so they tell me – a seasonal song was called for and we got Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow although nobody hoped that it actually would snow even though we were, supposedly dreaming of a White Christmas but, That’s Life (bit of audience participation on this one).

This was another fun night. Maybe it wasn’t/isn’t jazz as we think of it today more as they knew it at The Cotton Club or the Savoy in Harlem back in the day. To prove it, Jason dusted off his tenor sax for that old jazz classic Why Don’t You Do Right? Jayboy blows good tenor although he is the first to admit he comes in second when he jousts with Lewis Watson as he did later (see photo).

The seemingly inevitable American Trilogy never fails to make me cringe but, by the same token, the powerful arrangement offers something in the way of compensation.

And so the show rolled on Beyond the Sea; Mr BojanglesBrand New Day; Sway; King of the Road; Mack the Knife; Can’t Take my Eyes off You; Go, You’re Indestructible; Never Gonna Give You Up; Jump, Jive, Wail; Sweet Caroline; Suspicious Minds; Burnin’ Love and the crowd pleaser which had just about everyone on their feet - New York, New York. One of these days he will substitute New York, New York with Newcastle, Newcastle. Yesterday would have been a good time as United had just beaten Southampton – the opportunity may never come again!

And then it was all over except it wasn’t – this crowd weren’t going to let him take an early bath – and the pink-suited hero of the hour returned to tell us that Everybody Needs Somebody.

A predictable but nonetheless enjoyable evening.
Lance 
Jason Isaacs (vocals/tenor sax); Darren Irwin, Mark Webb (trumpets); Dave Brock (trombone); Niall Armstrong (alto sax/clarinet/flute); Lewis Watson (tenor sax/flute); Stu Collingwood (piano); Neil Harland (bass); Simon Ferry (drums).

1 comment :

Liz said...

How fortunate you are up there to have such performers as Jason Isaacs, nothing like that here in York!

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