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Bebop Spoken There

Wendell Brunious: "Because the blues is not 1,4 and 5 or 1,4,5,2,1. You could wake up with a flat tyre or a headache this morning, that's the blues, man" - (DownBeat, Oct. 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

15878 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 885 of them this year alone and, so far, 83 this month (Sept. 30).

From This Moment On ...

October

Wed 04: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 04: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 04: Paul Skerritt @ Vespa Italian Bar & Steakhouse, Primrose Hill, Jarrow. From 7:00pm. To book a table - 0191 483 3355.
Wed 04: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 05: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 05: Sound the Trumpets @ King's Hall, Newcastle University. 1:15pm. Free.
Thu 05: Hot Club du Nord @ The Lubetkin Theatre, Peterlee. 7:00pm. £10.00. POSTPONED!
Thu 05: Thursday Night Prayer Meeting @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.
Thu 05: Tommy Bentz Trio + Mark Croft Duo + George Shovlin & George Lamb @ The Harbour View, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Harbour View Speakeasy's USA blues double bill + Shovlin & Lamb!
Thu 05: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Ragtime piano. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.
Thu 05: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 06: Alcyona Mick @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Fri 06: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 06: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 06: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 06: WORKSHOP: Philosophy of Arts & Entertainment @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 2:00pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Fri 06: Balo @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 6:20pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Fri 06: Paul Skerritt @ 3Sixty Champagne Lounge, Hadrian’s Tower, Newcastle. From 7:00pm. To book a table - 0191 933 8591.
Fri 06: Lexer/Mayes/Noble + Semay Wu + Miman @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 7:20pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Fri 06: Dulcie May Moreno @ The Vault, Hexham. 7:30pm. £20.00. Book in advance. Moreno with Alan Law, Paul Grainger & John Bradford.
Fri 06: Dean Stockdale Quartet @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm. 'Celebrating Oscar'.
Fri 06: Nu Brass Sounds: Big Brass Bash @ Billy Bootlegger’s, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free.
Fri 06: King Bees @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Blind Pig Blues Club. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

Sat 07: WORKSHOP: Philosophy of Arts & Entertainment @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 10:15am. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Sat 07: Hot Club du Nord @ St Augustine's Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm.
Sat 07: Bugge & Niccols + Moore & Fairhall @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Sat 07: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. Tutor: Steve Glendinning - All the Things You Are. £25.00. Enrol at: www.jazz.coop.
Sat 07: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 6:00pm. Free.
Sat 07: Rie Nakajima @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 6:20pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Sat 07: Paul Skerritt @ 3Sixty Champagne Lounge, Hadrian’s Tower, Newcastle. From 7:00pm. To book a table - 0191 933 8591.
Sat 07: Boys of Brass @ Salt Market Social, Liddell St., North Shields. From 7:00pm. £9.00. + bf.
Sat 07: Samuel Blaser Trio + Toxvaerd & Zeeberg + Muramatsu & Welch @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 7:20pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Sat 07: Anth Purdy @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Sat 07: Rendezvous Jazz @ Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.

Sun 08: Zoë Gilby Quintet + Ubunye @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Line-up inc. Tony Kofi. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Sun 08: Tommy Bentz Band @ Tyne Bar, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. USA blues band.

Mon 09: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Mon 09: Cherise Adams-Burnett @ The Grove, Byker, Newcastle. 7:30pm. .

Tue 10: Abbie Finn Trio @ Forum Music Centre, Darlington. 7:30pm.

Sunday, April 19, 2020

Josh talks and plays Louie - April 18/19

Six o'clock Saturday evening in Davenport, Iowa, midnight Saturday here in Newcastle. Josh Duffee in his home town of Davenport, your reviewer at home in Newcastle. Drummer Josh was about to conduct a seminar on his chosen subject for this week's live stream event, one Luigi Paulino Alfredo Francesco Antonio Balassoni. Luigi who? you ask. Try Louie Bellson.

Josh Duffee is known to Tyneside jazz fans thanks largely to his annual pilgrimage to the Village Hotel on North Tyneside to participate in the Classic Jazz Party. The event's primary focus is on the 'classic jazz' era which some would refer to as the 'Jazz Age' (essentially 1920s' jazz), its practitioners and the hotspots - New Orleans, Chicago, St Louis, New York and beyond. Last week Josh went in search of Bix Beiderbecke, a key figure during the period. This week Louie Bellson took centre stage. From Josh's home our live stream host would tell the story of one of his drum heroes. 

As with Bix last week, Josh's enthusiasm for his subject shone through. The two-bass drum kit sitting on the floor once belonged to Louie Bellson, now, thanks to his friendship with the legendary musician (Bellson died in 2009), Josh is the proud owner of this priceless artifact - bass drums, toms, snare, cymbals, drum stool, sticks, brushes, the lot! Our host explained that Bellson asked him to safeguard his legacy - a man who worked with Tommy Dorsey, Benny Goodman and others - and to make full use of the kit. Josh (as usual, dressed for the occasion replete with one of Louie Bellson's ties - that's a 'necktie' over in Iowa), was about to do just that.

Part drum clinic, part history lesson, Josh got behind the traps to show, in close-up, Bellson's double bass drum set-up, his array of cymbals, the works. Lovingly, excitedly, Josh drooled over 18" and 24" cymbals, ride cymbals this, hi-hat that, this was a kid in a sweet shop (candy store if you're in America). Come to think of it, this wasn't the kid in the candy store, this was the candy store owner in their shop! 

Josh demonstrated Bellson's style and various techniques by playing along to some of the great drummer's recordings. AmorosoCaxton Hall Swing (Josh revealed that not only did Bellson write the number to mark his wedding to Pearl Bailey in London, but he, Josh, some sixty years later, visited the site with a fellow jazz percussion nut, Mr Nick Ball!) and a Bellson side with none other than James Brown doing his thing on For Once in My Life.
                      
In addition to practical demos, Josh proudly showed off his collection of Bellson albums, books and memorabilia, including a treasured possesion - a signed photograph of Bellson dedicated to Josh. More drum talk - Papa Jo Jones, Big Sid Catlett, Bellson's 'jingle sticks', brush technique then into Brush Taps. To conclude his look at the life and work of Louis Bellson our genial host sat at the kit one more time to play an improvised solo, in the style, of course. Five plus minutes later Josh Duffee was done. 

Josh Duffee's Bix tour and this survey of the music of Louis Bellson share at least two things in common - our host's unbridled enthusiasm for his subject and attention to detail with regard to the presentation of his live stream event. Next Saturday (April 25), 6:00pm Iowa time, midnight our time, Josh Duffee presents 1920s' Percussion

In common with other musicians around the world Josh has lost income due to all gigs being cancelled until further notice. For those who wish to donate a sum however great or small Josh's PayPal account is: Paypal.me/joshuaduffee1. 
Russell

PS: Hopefully this link to the live stream works. If not go into Facebook and search Josh Duffee.

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