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Bebop Spoken There

Dee Dee Bridgewater: “ Our world is becoming a very ugly place with guns running rampant in this country... and New Orleans is called the murder capital of the world right now ". Jazzwise, May 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

16382 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 16 years ago. 262 of them this year alone and, so far, 59 this month (April 20).

From This Moment On ...

April

Tue 23: Vieux Carre Hot 4 @ Victoria & Albert Inn, Seaton Delaval. 12:30-3:30pm. £12.00. ‘St George’s Day Afternoon Tea’. Gig with ‘Lashings of Victoria Sponge Cake, along with sandwiches & scones’.
Tue 23: Jalen Ngonda @ Newcastle University Students’ Union. POSTPONED!

Wed 24: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 24: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 24: Sinatra: Raw @ Darlington Hippodrome. 7:30pm. Richard Shelton.
Wed 24: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 24: Death Trap @ Theatre Royal, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Rambert Dance Co. Two pieces inc. Goat (inspired by the music of Nina Simone) with on-stage musicians.

Thu 25: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 25: Jim Jams @ King’s Hall, Newcastle University. 1:15pm. Jim Jams’ funk collective.
Thu 25: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Gateshead Central Library, Gateshead. 2:30pm.
Thu 25: Death Trap @ Theatre Royal, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Rambert Dance Co. Two pieces inc. Goat (inspired by the music of Nina Simone) with on-stage musicians.
Thu 25: Jeremy McMurray & the Pocket Jazz Orchestra @ Arc, Stockton. 8:00pm.
Thu 25: Kate O’Neill, Alan Law & Paul Grainger @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 25: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm. Guests: Richie Emmerson (tenor sax); Neil Brodie (trumpet); Adrian Beadnell (bass); Garry Hadfield (keys).

Fri 26: Graham Hardy Quartet @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. £8.00.
Fri 26: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 26: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 26: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 26: East Coast Swing Band @ Morpeth Rugby Club. 7:30pm. £9.00. (£8.00 concs).
Fri 26: Paul Skerritt with the Danny Miller Big Band @ Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm.
Fri 26: Abbie Finn’s Finntet @ Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. Opus 4 Jazz Club.

Sat 27: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 6:00pm. Free.
Sat 27: Papa G’s Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 28: Musicians Unlimited @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 28: More Jam Festival Special @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. A ’10 Years a Co-op’ festival event.
Sun 28: Swing Dance workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00-4:00pm. Free (registration required). A ’10 Years a Co-op’ festival event.
Sun 28: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay Metro Station. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 28: Scott Bradlee's Postmodern Jukebox: The '10' Tour @ Glasshouse International Centre for Music, Gateshead. 7:30pm. £41.30 t0 £76.50.
Sun 28: Alligator Gumbo @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ’10 Years a Co-op’ festival event.
Sun 28: Jerron Paxton @ The Cluny, Newcastle. Blues, jazz etc.

Mon 29: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 29: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 6:30-8:30pm. Free. ‘Opus de Funk’ (a tribute to Horace Silver).

Friday, February 14, 2020

Review: The Strange Tale of Charlie Chaplin & Stan Laurel @ Northern Stage - Feb 13

(Review by Russell)

The house lights went down to the sound of King Oliver and the legendary call Oh, play that thing! The year is 1910, Fred Karno is soon to set sail for America. The impresario is to be joined on the Atlantic crossing by two characters who will find world-wide fame. For the next ninety minutes the Northern Stage audience would be taken on an anything-but-chronological, rollercoaster, not to mention scarcely truthful, ride telling the story of two of Hollywood's greatest ever stars. 


Told by an Idiot theatre company's four-strong cast didn't say much, in fact, the quartet said virtually nothing (other than for an occasional song) for the duration. This was a physical theatre production communicating with its audience through the medium of mime - make that slapstick mime. Karno (Nick Haverson), Chaplin (Amalia Vitale), Laurel (Jerone Marsh-Reid) and Hannah Chaplin, Chaplins' mother (Sara Alexander) were at the heart of the action, moving on and off stage as one scene ended and another began (at one point Chaplin wielded a movie director's megaphone to shout or rather mime 'cut'). The on-stage actors' silent physicalilty mirrored that of the actors of the silent movie era (Karno would soon lose his stage actors - Chaplin and Laurel - to Hollywood). 

Two pianos were pressed into action - one featured a recorded performance by pianist and composer Zoe Rahman playing brilliant barrelhouse blues to ragtime to Harlem stride, the other, on-stage piano was played by Sara Armstrong. Ms Armstrong is a pianist! Captions, as if in a movie theatre, hurried the action along. At one point the call (a caption) went out for a member of the audience to join the cast and occupy the piano stool. One brave/foolish soul volunteered. It was little more than melodramatic chopsticks but, hey, the man survived the ordeal. Cue applause!   

As a caption reminded us Charlie Chaplin would become the most famous man in the world. As for Stan Laurel, hooking up with Oliver Hardy (Nick Haverson) would see Stan and Ollie become the silver screen's greatest comic duo of all time.   
                
The Strange Tale of Charlie Chaplin and Stan Laurel proudly ignores the historical facts and will continue to do so for the remainder of its nationwide tour.  

Cast:

Sara Armstrong: Hannah Chaplin (Charlie's mother), pianist 

Nick Haverson: Fred Karno, Arthur Chaplin (Charlie's father), Savoy Hotel guest, Oliver Hardy, Charlie's butler

Jerone Marsh-Reid: Stan Laurel, bell boy, doctor, landlord

Amalia Vitale: Charlie Chaplin

Paul Hunter: writer & director

Zoe Rahman: composer

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