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Bebop Spoken There

Béla Fleck: “ And that's the great thing about live performances, you take people on a journey. It doesn't have to be like something else they've heard. It's not supposed to be". DownBeat, April, 2024.

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!"

Simon Spillett: A lovely review from the dean of jazz bloggers, Lance Liddle...

Josh Weir: I love the writing on bebop spoken here... I think the work you are doing is amazing.

Postage

16287 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 16 years ago. 169 of them this year alone and, so far, 41 this month (Mar 18).

From This Moment On ...

March

Thu 28: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 28: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Gateshead Central Library, Gateshead. 2:30pm.
Thu 28: Richard Herdman Quartet @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 28: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm. Guests: Josh Bentham (alto sax); Alan Marshall (tenor sax); Neil Brodie (trumpet); Adrian Beadnell (bass); Graham Thompson (keys); Steve Hunter (drums).

Fri 29: FILM: Soul @ The Forum Cinema, Hexham. 12:30pm. Jazz-themed film animation.
Fri 29: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 29: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 29: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 29: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 6:00pm. Free. POSTPONED!
Fri 29: Thundercat @ Newcastle City Hall.
Fri 29: John Logan @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sat 30: Papa G’s Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sat 30: Pete Tanton’s Cuba Libre @ Whitley Bay Library, York Road, Whitley Bay. 8:00pm.

Sun 31: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay Metro Station. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 31: Ruth Lambert Trio @ Juke Shed, Union Quay, North Shields NE30 1HJ. 3:00pm. Free. Lambert, Alan Law & Paul Grainger.
Sun 31: Sid Jacobs & Tom Remon @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. USA/London jazz guitar duo.
Sun 31: Bellavana @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

April
Mon 01: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 01: Ray Stubbs R&B All Stars @ Billy Bootlegger’s, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 3:00pm. Free.

Tue 02: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Dean Stockdale, Paul Grainger, Abbie Finn.

Wed 03: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 03: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 03: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Saturday, June 05, 2021

House of the Black Gardenia @ The Cumberland, Newcastle - June 5

(Picture by Russell)
Elise Rana (vocals, washboard); Pete Tanton (trumpet); David Gray (trombone); Keith Robinson (tenor sax, alto sax, clarinet, flute); Katja Roberts (violin); Elliott Rush (piano); Michael Littlefield (guitar, banjo, vocals); Neil Hopper (bass, sousaphone); Kit Haigh (drums, guitar, vocals).

Jazz on a summer's day? Great idea, maybe shoot a movie! I see, they've already done that? Then let's do another one.

Here's the synopsis: We get a band playing hot, bluesy, pre-war swing in a pub garden where the ale is flowing faster than the waters of the nearby Tyne and sometimes tastes better.

The above scenario was, of course, inspired by the fact that the Black Gardenia, House of, were back in town and, if such a film was ever made (and there was a very professional looking geezer with camera and tripod going around shooting pics...), this early evening session would certainly fit the bill.

Although we'd heard it all before, familiarity didn't breed contempt and why should it? You buy a record and, if it sounded different the next time you played it you would go and demand your money back!

That didn't enter the equation today as, with a couple of ringers in the form of Pete Tanton, depping for his fellow trumpet man in the SSBB Michael Lamb, and keyboardist Rush's comping provided further impetus for the soloists, there were differences.

I'm not going to allocate points like the sportswriters do after a match. How can you equate Robbo's solos on four different horns with Tanton's emotive outpourings or Dave Gray's trombone blasts? Littlefield playing and singing the blues, Katya slugging it out with the heavies, Elise Rana, formerly known as Bobbi Charleston, Tyneside's own Red Hot(point) Mama, on washboard singing like she was auditioning for the roll of Ruth Etting in Love me or Leave me. These were all moments to cherish.

A great band, catch them again at The Globe on July 4.

Earlier, Rob Heron and Tom Cronin opened with a duo set that set the mood with a country (not country & western) folksy feel that deserved better attention from the audience - one person was even reading a book! If that book was good enough to top this then it was surely a Pulitzer Prize winner. Lance

The Mooche; Russian Caravan; Deadman Calypso; Graveyard Shift; Baby Don't Tear my Clothes; Handy Man Blues; Blue Drag; Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho; One in a Million; Ain't it Hard?; Viper Man; I Can Take it no Longer (there may have been others).

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