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Bebop Spoken There

Art Blakey: "You [Bobby Watson] don't want to play too long, because you don't know they're clapping because they're glad you finished!" - (JazzTimes, Nov. 2019)..

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

15848 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 855 of them this year alone and, so far, 53 this month (Sept. 18).

From This Moment On ...

September

Thu 21: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 21: La Malbec Orchestra @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Thu 21: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Ragtime piano. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.
Thu 21: Linsday Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ Harbour View, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 21: Ray Stubbs R & B All Stars @ The Schooner, Gateshead. 8:30pm. Free.
Thu 21: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 22: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 22: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 22: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 22: Brief Encounter @ Bardon Mill Village Hall, Northumberland. 7:00pm. Tickets: £10.00. adv from 07885 303166; £12.00. on the door. Chris & Veronica Perrin improvising to a screening of the 1929 'Jazz Age' silent film Piccadilly (Dir. Ewald André Dupont).
Fri 22: Paul Edis & Graeme Wilson + Three Tsuru Origami @ Jesmond United Reformed Church, Newcastle. 7:30pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Fri 22: Crooners @ Tyne Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm.
Fri 22: Abbie Finn's Finntet @ Traveller's Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. Opus 4 Jazz Club.

Sat 23: Tyne Valley Big Band @ Tanfield Railway, Gateshead. 2:00-4:00pm. Free. A '1940s Weekend' event.
Sat 23: Jason Isaacs @ Stack, Seaburn. 3:30-5:30pm. Free.
Sat 23: Andrew Porritt & Keith Barrett @ Cullercoats Watch House, Front St., Cullercoats NE30 4QB. 7:00pm.
Sat 23: Michael Woods @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig. Country blues.

Sun 24: Musicians Unlimited @ Park Inn, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 24: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.

Mon 25: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Mon 25: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 7:00pm.

Tue 26: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.

Wed 27: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 27: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 27: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thursday, March 19, 2020

The Plague

(By Lance)

This dreadful situation that we're in - apart from the loss of income to just about everyone involved in music and the arts in general - has opened up a scenario far beyond what was envisaged when the internet first crept into our lives.

Clubs, bars, theatres, festivals are closing with the chances being that some of the smaller venues may never open again. I'm not going to offer suggestions as to how this can be tackled. Obviously (hopefully?) the NHS will be given the resources that this, and previous governments, should have given - an argument to be debated outside of this apolitical site - but, will there be support further on down the line in other fields? Music, grass-level sport, theatre, the support chain, are going to need assistance. The Premier League will survive and, no doubt the Royal Opera House, probably Ronnie Scott's. Will your non-league team, your amateur dramatic group, your local jazz club? 

Apart from all that, the thing that's crossing my mind is how, suddenly, the work from home ethic has taken hold. I'm not sure that it works with, say bus drivers or traffic wardens but, jazzers seem to be catching on to the idea.

Since the pandemic hit the UK, just about all gigs have gone to the wall which means that, for musicians, the baby ain't gonna get new shoes.

However, thanks to YouTube, Skype and the other means of mass communication, you can now experience the gig, or receive one to one tuition, whilst sitting at home. What could be finer than sitting at home with a can, a coffee or a pizza whilst listening to someone you'd have had to bus/drive/taxi to hear ten or more miles away?

Or, if you're someone seeking instruction, you can do it in your own front/bedroom rather than fight the elements getting to an educational establishment.

So maybe Cofid-19 will teach us something and that is to, a) wash your hands after picking your nose or your guitar and, b) that music is so much more when shared in the back room of a pub rather than in the infinitesimal concert hall of cyberspace but, in the meantime, there's always someone online...

Let us hope that, after this pestilence that is upon us passes, we will still have gigs to go to.
Amen.
Lance

1 comment :

NeilC said...

Thanks for your thoughts Lance. I have seen certain musicians already posting solo work as a replacement for playing a gig Chris Martin of Coldplay et al . IF the gigs are not solely played live but left for posterity on You Tube then perhaps we and yourself could provide some insight into any interesting incidences of these musical events as they appear on hear so others who read the blog can also have the opportunity to watch . The blog will still be providing a gig guide but it will be advertising interactive musical events rather than those we would normally attend

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