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Bebop Spoken There

Billy Boy Arnold: “As long as you don't think old you're good.” - DownBeat, December, 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!"

Simon Spillett: A lovely review from the dean of jazz bloggers, Lance Liddle...

Postage

16051 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 1058 of them this year alone and, so far, 12 this month (Dec. 6).

From This Moment On ...

December

Sat 09: Prudhoe Community Band @ Central Station, Newcastle. 10:00am - 12 noon. Charity fundraiser.
Sat 09: Durham Alumni Big Band @ Number One Bar, Skinnergate, Darlington. 1:00pm.
Sat 09: Castillo Nuevo Trio @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 5:30pm. Free.
Sat 09: Hayley's Little Big Band @ Middleton & Todridge Village Hall, Morpeth. 7:30pm. £12.00., £6.00.
Sat 09: Paul Skerritt @ Slaley Hall, Hexham NE47 0BX. 7:30pm. From £42.00.

Sun 10: Musicians Unlimited’s Xmas Party with Zoë Gilby Quartet @ Park Inn, Hartlepool. MU 1:00-3:00pm; Zoë Gilby Quartet 4:00-6:00pm. Tickets: £7.50.
Sun 10: Alan Law, Paul Grainger & Abbie Finn @ Darlington Market, Market Square, Darlington. 1:00pm. Free. A ‘Christmas Market’ outdoor gig. Wrap up warm!
Sun 10: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00-4:00pm. Free.
Sun 10: Funk Soul Sista @ Stack, Seaburn. 5:00-7:00pm. Free.
Sun 10: Beth Clarke @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 10: Hayley's Little Big Band @ Whittingham Memorial Institute, Alnwick. 7:30pm. £12.00., £10.00.
Sun 10: Tele-Port @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Line-up inc. Zhenya Strigalev.

Mon 11: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 11: Interim Final Recitals @ Newcastle University. Details TBC.

Tue 12: Stu Collingwood Organ Trio @ Forum Music Centre, Darlington. 7:00pm. £10.00.

Wed 13: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 13: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 13: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 13: Bold Big Band @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:30pm.
Wed 13: Giles Strong Quartet @ Alphabetti Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 14: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 14: Hot Fingers @ The Lubetkin Theatre, Peterlee. 7:00pm. £10.00.
Thu 14: After Hours Student Jazz Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 14: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. . Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 14: Niffi Osiyemi Trio @ Harbour View, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 14: Mo Scott ‘Little Mo’s Festive Appearance’ @ The Schooner, Gateshead. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 14: Tees Hot Club w. Kevin Eland, Josh Bentham, Garry Hadfield, Adrian Beadnell @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 15: Paul Edis @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 15: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 15: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 15: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 15: Paul Skerritt @ Black Horse Inn, Crook. From 7:00pm.
Fri 15: Paul Edis: A Jazzy Christmas @ St Cuhtbert's Centre, Crook. 7:30pm. £15.00. SOLD OUT! Waiting list open.
Fri 15: Zoë Gilby Trio @ Seventeen Nineteen, Hendon, Sunderland. 7:30pm. £12.00. POSTPONED!
Fri 15: Strictly Smokin' Big Band @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 8:00pm. First night of two.
Fri 15: Darlington Big Band @ Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. £10.00. Opus 4 Jazz Club.
Fri 15: Baghdaddies @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £14.00.; £10.00.

Monday, December 23, 2019

Strictly Smokin' Big Band @ Hoochie Coochie - Dec. 22

(Review/Photos by Lance)

The SSBB at Hoochie Coochie are as much a part of Christmas as roasting your chestnuts on an open fire and much less painful. Just as Paul Edis'  A Jazzy Christmas has become part of Sage Gateshead's seasonal celebrations so has the Strictly Smokin' outfit's Hoochie party become an integral part of their festive season.

Both manage to convey the spirit of Christmas without overdoing the sentimentality. 

Edis has Jo Harrop - a singer almost beyond compare. SSBB have Alice Grace - a singer of equal stature and maybe, one year, both singers will swap bands and no one will lose out!

Tonight, Alice hit a personal high with her take on Jeepers Creepers. This breathed new life into the old Johnny Mercer warhorse - it was like hearing it for the first time. What could I say but "Jeepers Creepers"! However, in case I'm accused of being starry eyed I have to say that, for me, People Will Say We're in Love didn't work. It may have got by at a different venue on a different day but it wasn't for the Hoochies and the Coochies a couple of days before Christmas.

A minor blip, Alice was on form! Mean to Me was another gem, likewise I've Got my Love to Keep me Warm and all the other numbers that she stamped her individuality upon. In between, on the instrumentals, the guys blew like they were on the verge of Armageddon.

Jamie Toms always reminds me of a young Stan Getz but, when he blows, its the more mature Getz who takes over.

In a band like this you can't really rate individuals - it's like is a peach an apple or an orange better than a pear or a Californian grape? Well, it has to be said that, down in the Press Box, the pundits rated Keith Robinson's blast on Strasbourg - St. Denis as the solo of the session.

However, what do they know? Just about everyone gave it their best shot and none were off target.

Apart from the music, the dance floor wasn't deserted. I managed to risk a cardiac arrest shaking it with the delightful Dee and even the normally stoic Russell was observed to wiggle an ear or two.

Roll on next year.
Lance.
Photos
It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas; Jeepers Creepers; You Turned the Tables on me; Norwegian Wood; Mean to Me; People Will Say  We're in Love; I've Got my Love to Keep me Warm; Winter Games; Chuck E's in Love; Willow Weep For Me; Late Late Show; Strasbourg - St. Denis; Spanish Joint; A Very Good Year; We Three Kings; The Christmas Song; Oh Holy Night; Jingle Bells; Joy to the World; Last Christmas; Sir Duke.

Alice Grace (vocals); Steve Summers, Keith Robinson, Jamie Toms, Dave Kerridge, Laurie Rangecroft (reeds); Gordon Marshall, Dick Stacey, Michael Lamb MD, Pete Tanton (trumpets); Kieran Parnaby, Mark Ferris, Chris Kurgi-Smith, John Flood (trombones); Graham Don (piano); Pawel Jedrzejewski (guitar); Michael Whent (bass guitar); Guy Swinton (drums) 

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