Total Pageviews

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

15491 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 512 of them this year alone and, so far, 133 this month (May 31).

From This Moment On ...

Wed 07: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 07: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 07: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 7:00pm.
Wed 07: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

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.).

Saturday, September 05, 2020

King Bees @ Prohibition Bar - September 4

Michael Littlefield (guitar, vocals); Scott Taylor (harmonica, vocals); Dominic Hornsby (piano, vocals) 

Six months! We hadn't heard these guys in six long months. King Bees hold down a residency here at Prohibition Bar and with the easing of lockdown restrictions it was time to get the best blues band in town back on stage. Social distancing guidelines determined only three fifths of the band could appear in semi-acoustic form. Audience numbers are currently limited to seventeen people, all seated, no standing at the bar. Seats bagged, a first bottle of Prohibition Bar's Pale Ale ordered (a good few more would follow), the boys would take to the stage in about ninety minutes.

Imagine you're in Chicago, c 1953. Little Walter, Big Walter Horton, Big Bill, Muddy, Jimmy Reed...King Bees. Yes, Tyneside's finest could/would have taken their place alongside the greats of the time and here they were in these Covid-19 times, 2020. Michael Littlefield and Scott Taylor seated behind a perspex screen, Dominic Hornsby let loose at the upright, these guys are the real deal! JukeThat's AlrightSit Down, Baby, the opening three numbers performed with panache, swagger and verve. Close your eyes, you're on the South Side, Chicago circa '53.

Littlefield, guitar, Taylor, harmonica, play the blues as you imagine it would have been in some two-bit juke joint down the turnpike. Spine-tingling vocals, killer harp, and then there's Hornsby rattling Prohibition Bar's upright. Oh, to hear a real piano being given the treatment, this is why we go down the Pink Lane turnpike! 

Jimmy Rogers (Walking by Myself), Sonny Boy (Keep it to Yourself), Jimmy Reed (You Got Me Dizzy), Buddy Guy, Junior Wells, Otis Rush, James Cotton, Littlefield, Taylor, Hornsby...It was gettin' late. Harmonica ace Taylor said it was time for some real blues. Ain't it great when one of the musicians calls for some serious playing?! Taylor, a la George 'Harmonica' Smith, pleaded down the line, Telephone Blues. Yes, it was gettin' late, about a quarter to twelve (as Little Walter told us all about). The boys like their blues, they like their beer, we were headin' into the early hours when the 'management' politely reminded the house that the entertainment should cease by midnight. It had been six long months. Had it been worth the wait? You bet! Next time be sure to check 'em out. King Bees are the business!  
Russell    

No comments :

Blog Archive