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Bebop Spoken There

Spasmo Brown: “Jazz is an ice cream sandwich! It's the Fourth of July! It's a girl with a waterbed!”. (Syncopated Times, July, 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

17444 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 16 years ago. 718 of them this year alone and, so far, 100 this month (Oct. 10).

From This Moment On ...

October

Mon 14: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 14: Black is the Color of My Voice @ Hippodrome, Darlington. 7:30pm. Apphia Campbell’s one-woman show inspired by Nina Simone, performed by Nicholle Cherrie.

Tue 15: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Alan Law (piano), Paul Grainger (double bass), Bailey Rudd (drums).

Wed 16: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 16: Cath Stephens’ improvisation workshop @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 4:30-6:00pm. Collaborative group focusing on vocal improvisations.
Wed 16: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 16: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 17: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 17: Olivia Cuttill Quintet @ King’s Hall, Newcastle University. 1:15pm. Free.
Thu 17: Moonlight Serenade Orchestra UK: Glenn Miller & Big Band Spectacular @ Phoenix Theatre, Blyth. 7:30pm.
Thu 17: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. Ragtime piano. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 17: Niffi Osiyemi Trio @ The Harbour View, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 17: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesborough. Guests Jeremy McMurray (keys); Richie Emmerson (tenor sax); Mark Toomey (alto sax); Adrian Beadnell (bass). 8:30pm. Free.

Fri 18: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 18: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 18: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 18: Hot Club du Nord @ St Cuthbert’s, Crook. 7:30pm.
Fri 18: Chet Set @ Seventeen Nineteen, Hendon, Sunderland. 7:30pm. Pete Tanton & co.
Fri 18: Michael Woods @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. Doors 7:30pm (upstairs). A Hoodoo Blues dance & social event. £10.00. class & social (£10.00., £7.50., £5.00. social only). Michael Woods (country blues guitar) on stage 9:00pm.
Fri 18: East Coast Swing Band @ Hexham Abbey. 7:30pm. £9.00.
Fri 18: Ben Crosland Quartet @ Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. Opus 4 Jazz Club.
Fri 18: Durham University Jazz Society’s ‘High Standards’ @ Music Dept. Music Room, Divinity House, Palace Green, Durham University DH1 3RS. 8:009-30pm. Tel: 0191 334 1419. £7.00., £5.00.
Fri 18: Ray Stubbs R&B All Stars @ Blues Underground, Nelson St., Newcastle. 9:00pm. Free.

Sat 19: Sat 19: Paula Jackman’s Jazz Masters @ St Augustine’s Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. Darlington New Orleans Jazz Club.
Jeff Hewer Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 19: Howlin’ Mat @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Country blues guitar & vocals. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 20: Kamasi Washington @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 7:30pm. POSTPONED! New date Saturday 5 April 2025.
Sun 20: Tweed River Jazz Band @ Barrels Ale House, Berwick-upon-Tweed. 7:00pm. Free.
Sun 20: Magpies of Swing @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Reviewers wanted

Whilst BSH attempts to cover as many gigs, festivals and albums as possible, to make the site even more comprehensive we need more 'boots on the ground' to cover the albums seeking review - a large percentage of which never get heard - report on gigs or just to air your views on anything jazz related. Interested? then please get in touch. Contact details are on the blog. Look forward to hearing from you. Lance

Tuesday, December 24, 2019

The Francis Tulip Quartet @ the Globe Jazz Bar - Dec. 22


Francis Tulip (guitar); Ben Lawrence (keys); Michael Dunlop (bass guitar); Matthew MacKellar (drums)
(Review by Ann Alex)

These musicians were on top form, no doubt about it. And the Jazz Coop promoted gig had nothing to do with Christmas apart from a quick reference to We Three Kings during the encore, so that made a nice break from the festivities. Thoroughly enjoyable, even though I was hampered by deafness in one ear (wax, you don't want to know) so Francis kindly supplied details of the tunes at half time, when he should have been resting after all that guitaring.

Straight in they started with Giraffe (Elvin Jones), strong, boppy guitar, flowing piano, lots of interplay between the two, drifting to a quiet ending. This I Dig Of You (Hank Mobley) had a seemingly simple few notes of tune, soon becoming improvisation, accompanied by very busy drums and cymbals, then bass and drum 4s, ending with the simple tune again on guitar, to a sudden stop.

Readers will have gathered that this music has a very different 'feel' from standard songs played as jazz. This music often involves repeated riffs, or by contrast, tunes which are entrancingly hard to pin down, a wispy feel, as in Infant Eyes (Wayne Shorter), which was gentle and contemplative, with light drumsticks and cymbals, and interesting bass. After Herbie Hancock's I Have A Dream, there came what sounded like the most difficult tune of the night – Birdless, composed by American drummer Ari Hoenig, which displayed a few different time signatures and goes to a bar of 2, so I was informed. The first set ended with Dizzy Gillespie's Con Alma.

The second set opened with The Hills Of Kykuit (Mike Moreno), a strong, smooth tune including a skilled drum solo, no less than we expect from Mr MacKellar who studies in the USA, then a boppy tune which I didn't catch the name of: this was followed by a continuation of the geographical theme, Shade Of The Cedar Tree (Christian McBride) which sounded very singable.

Matters Of Fact  was composed by Francis himself and the tune compared well with those we'd heard tonight from the well-known composers. It was a seemingly simple yet strong theme of 4 lines, 9 notes per line I think, with the guitar ending the tune with constant repetitions, very intriguing to listen to. Next, a Charlie Parker homage, short punchy lines, rhythm changes, a drum solo keeping to the shape of the tune, and a sudden stop. Herbie Hancock's One Finger Snap was the last official tune, solos all round, and the demanded encore was a standard, Gene De Paul's I'll Remember April.

The audience went home well satisfied. Catch these fine young musicians now while you still can – they have a great future ahead, so you may have to travel further before too long.
Ann Alex

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