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Bebop Spoken There

Delfeayo Marsalis: "Slide Hampton once told me that it's not always the person that is playing the highest or playing the fastest that's making the greatest impact." - (DownBeat March 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

15229 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 248 of them this year alone and, so far, 61 this month (March 20).

From This Moment On ...

March

Mon 20: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Mon 20: Central Bar Quintet plays Wes Montgomery @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 7:30pm. Feat. Joe Steels.

Tue 21: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 21: Jam session @ Black Swan, Newcastle Arts Centre. 7:30pm. House trio: Jacob Egglestone (guitar); Jamie Watkins (bass guitar); Bailey Rudd (drums).

Wed 22: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 22: Darlington Big Band @ Traveller's Rest, Cockerton. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public). Note change of venue - this week only.
Wed 22: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 7:00pm.
Wed 22: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 23: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 4:00-6:00pm. Free.
Thu 23: NUJO Jazz Jam @ Bar Loco, Newcasatle. From 6:30pm 'til late. Free. Newcastle University Jazz Orchestra jam session. All welcome (students & non-students).
Thu 23: Kerrin Tatman + John Garner & John Pope @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 23: Sunna Gunnlaugs & Julia Hülsmann @ Sage Gateshead. 8:00pm. A two-piano gig. A Sage Gateshead-JNE promotion.
Thu 23: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Ragtime piano.
Thu 23: Sleep Suppressor @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £10.00., £8.00. adv. Upstairs.
Thu 23: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 24: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 24: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 24: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 24: FILM: Mo' Better Blues @ Forum Cinema, Hexham. 7:00pm.
Fri 24: Ian Millar & Dominic Spencer @ Scarth Hall, Staindrop, Co. Durham. 8:00pm. £10.00.
Fri 24: Archipelago + Bulbils @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.

Sat 25: Vermont Big Band @ Walker Community Centre, Walker, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Fundraiser for Benfield Juniours Football Club. Hot food available, BYOB.
Sat 25: John Logan & Friends @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Rat Pack, Motown etc. 8:00pm. Free (donations).

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.
Sun 26: Outlines @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. JNE promotion (upstairs).

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

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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