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Bebop Spoken There

Branford Marsalis: "As ignorance often forces us to do, you make a generalisation about a musician based on one specific record or one moment in time." - (Jazzwise June 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

15516 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 536 of them this year alone and, so far, 25 this month (June 7).

From This Moment On ...

Thu 08: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free. CANCELLED! BACK ON JUNE 15.
Thu 08: Easington Colliery Brass Band @ The Lubetkin Theatre, Peterlee. 7:00pm. £10.00.
Thu 08: Faye MacCalman + Blue Dust Archive @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 08: Dilutey Juice + Ceramic @ The Ampitheatre, Sea Road, South Shields. 7:00pm. Free. A South Tyneside Festival event.
Thu 08: Lara Jones w. Vigilance State @ Lubber Fiend, Blandford Square, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 08: Michael Littlefield @ the Harbour View, Roker, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Country blues.
Thu 08: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 09: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 09: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 09: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 09: Castillo Nuevo @ Revolución de Cuba, Newcastle. 5:30-8:30pm.
Fri 09: Emma Rawicz @ Sage Gateshead. 8:00pm.

Sat 10: Miners' Picnic @ Woodhorn, Ashington. Music inc. Northern Monkey Brass Band (3:00-3:50pm); New York Brass Band (4:00-4:55pm).
Sat 10: Front Porch Three @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. Americana, blues, jazz etc.
Sat 10: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

Sun 11: WORKSHOP: Tim Richards' Jazz Piano Workshop @ JG Windows, Newcastle. Time TBC. Further details tel. 0191 232 1356.
Sun 11: Jeremy McMurray's Pocket Jazz Orchestra @ Ropner Park, Stockton TS18 4EF. 2:00-4:00pm. Free.
Sun 11: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:30pm. Free.
Sun 11: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 3:00pm.
Sun 11: Groovetrain @ Innisfree Sports & Social Club, Longbenton NE12 8TY. Doors 6:30pm. £15.00 (£7.00. under 16).
Sun 11: Jeffrey Hewer Collective @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 12: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

Tue 13: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 13: Infusion Trio @ Forum Music Centre, Darlington. 7:30pm.
Tue 13: Alice Grace & Pawel Jedrzejewski @ Black Swan, Newcastle Arts Centre. 8:00pm. £12.00 (£10.00. adv.).

Wed 14: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 14: NUJO Final Jazz Jam @ Bar Loco, Newcastle. 6:30pm. Free. Newcastle University Jazz Orchestra's final jam session of the academic year. All welcome.
Wed 14: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 14: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 7:00pm.
. Wed 14: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Monday, February 24, 2020

Vortex Conference

On 11 and 12 March, as part of an EU project with which we are involved at the Vortex, there will be a conference/showcase/workshop etc. at the club. In particular, there will be a public session about the state of the media as it now is. It is an opportunity to take into account the consolidation of the internet impact, as it complements and frequently is an essential replacement of the traditional media, such as BBC and newspapers.

The above, from Oliver Weindling of London’s Vortex, raises many important issues – not just about jazz but about life in general.

As a committed blogger – some say I should be committed – I’ve got an obvious interest. Without doubt the Internet has made information more readily available but, how reliable is that information? Years ago, the stock phrase used to be, “Don’t believe everything you read in the papers”. Today you can substitute online for in the papers.


In fact I remember reading, or hearing somebody say that information garnered on line should be regarded with the same pinch of salt as that elicited from a stranger in a pub ten minutes before last orders.

I must admit that it is satisfying having something such as a book or a glossy magazine even a tabloid newspaper in your hands and yet, if I’m in a pub and reading a book or a newspaper (unless it’s the racing page) I’m regarded as an oddity despite the fact that most others – even in company – are glued to the screens of their mobile phones!

All that aside, an online site that is constantly updated – and I mean by the minute and not by the day – is the way forward.

From a jazz point of view, apart from the specialist monthly print outlets, neither the broadcast media or the dailies (apart from the occasional weekly column) are going to tell you that so and so blew up a storm at a pub in East Lothian or that he had a gig coming up at a bar in Newcastle (on Tyne/under Lyme/Australia). They probably will tell you that he has a gig at Ronnie’s and that’s it.

Here, at BSH, we try to promote the local scene and it is gratifying when someone thanks you for bringing a gig to their attention (this, of course, can also backfire!) I'd also like to think that a localised blog such as BSH brings the local musician's profile to a wider/further afield audience. I know it works in reverse and encourages artists from further afield hoping to land gigs in the northeast which, I'm afraid, doesn't always work out despite our recommendations ...

Summing up, personally I still buy newspapers and mags knowing that, whilst I may not agree with what they say I recognise that I am dealing with professional journalists which not all, myself included, bloggers are.

By the same token, neither were the early jazz, blues, rock, pop musicians pros and yet they changed the course of music just as the pirate radio stations changed the course of broadcasting so It will be interesting to hear what emerges from the project at the Vortex.
Lance

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