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Bebop Spoken There

Abbie Finn: "Even though there's a lot of great work being done to promote women in jazz, I still come up against some attitudes! I pulled up at a recording session with my drums in the car and the studio owner said, 'I'm sorry, this space is reserved for the drummer!'" - (Jazzwise April 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

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.

Tue 28: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 28: Sanaz Lavasani Trio @ Black Swan, Newcastle Arts Centre. 8:00pm. £12.00 (£10.00. adv).

Friday, February 28, 2020

The Slim Bees @ The Hotspur, Newcastle - Feb 27

Michael Littlefield (guitar, vocals); Scott Taylor (harmonica, vocals) 
(Review by Russell)

The Slim Bees play country blues, they drink beer. For two hours straight they sat in a corner of their one room country shack and entertained themselves playing a selection of numbers by a who's who of American blues greats. Moonlighting from their regular gig - the Chicago blues band King Bees - Michael Littlefield and Scott Taylor found themselves an audience in the Hotspur here on Percy Street, Newcastle.

The boys like Little Walter, Big Bill Broonzy, Mississippi John Hurt, Jimmy Reed, Sonny Boy Williamson (I and II), T-Bone Walker, Jimmy Rogers,  Elmore James, John Brim and a host of others. Two hours of this stuff with a beer - it doesn't get any better than this! 


Michael Littlefieid's wears lightly his encyclopedic knowledge of the music and its practitioners, the blues staples, the guitar styles from the Mississippi Delta to Chicago and beyond. His guitar playing and vocals a match for anyone. Scott Taylor's vocals and harp playing would have seen him stand toe to toe with all-comers on fifties South Side Chicago. Had he been around back then we'd now be listening to him on rare cuts from Chess.

From Make Me a Pallet on Your Floor (in his head your reviewer couldn't help but hear Dave Rae singing the number) to Quarter to Twelve to My Babe to bar room Jimmy Reed's You Got Me Dizzy to Taylor hollerin' Five long years, I been workin' in a steel mill, this was blues heaven. Reviewers can talk up a gig - 'Gig of the Year' etc  There's nowt wrong in enthusing but your reviewer stands by every word of this review - these guys are the business. If you're in any way doubtful, 'scuse me, get along to Prohibition Bar on Pink Lane, Newcastle, Friday 6 March. Littlefield and Taylor will be there with King Bees, the best Chicago blues band east of Illinois. 
Russell       

2 comments :

NeilC said...

Hello Russell,

Was this organised or impromptu and if the former is it to be a regular gig ? I have seen the King Bees many times and Michael Littlefield was the star when he played solo a couple of years back at the Americana Festival at the Sage.

Russell said...

Hi Neil It was a one off gig although the duo did play a 'one off' at the pub a couple of years ago. Don't miss King Bees on Friday (Mar 6) at Prohibition Bar. The band will be in the downstairs bar which means Dom Hornsby will be on the upright piano.

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