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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

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.

Thu 28: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 28: Alice Grace Quartet @ King's Hall, Newcastle University. 1:15pm. Free.
Thu 28: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Gateshead Central Library, Gateshead. 2:30pm. All welcome.
Thu 28: Faye MacCalman + Snape/Sankey @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 28: Zoe Rahman @ Jesmond United Reformed Church, Jesmond, Newcastle. 7:30pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Thu 28: '58 Jazz Collective @ Hops & Cheese, Hartlepool. 7:30pm.
Thu 28: Speakeasy @ Queen's Hall, Hexham. 7:30pm. £15.00. A Southpaw Dance Company presentation. Dance, audio-visuals, Count Basie, Benny Goodman, swing dancers etc.
Thu 28: Mick Cantwell Band @ Harbour View, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Ace blues band.
Thu 28: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 29: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 29: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 29: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.

Sat 30: John Pope Quintet + Late Girl + Shapeshifters @ Bobik's, Jesmond, Newcastle.
Sat 30: Papa G's Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

OCTOBER

Sun 01: Smokin' Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm.
Sun 01: Dulcie May Moreno sings Portrait of Sheila @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £10.00. Moreno sings Sheila Jordan with Giles Strong, Mick Shoulder & John Bradford.
Sun 01: Middlesbrough Jazz & Blues Orchestra @ Saltburn Community Hall. 2:00pm.
Sun 01: The Easy Rollers @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £13.70., £11.55.
Sun 01: Brand/Roberts/Champion/Sanders @ Blank Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Sun 01: Papa G's Troves @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 02: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Mon 02: FILM: Wattstax; 50th Anniversary @ Forum Cinema, Hexham. 8:00pm.

Saturday, July 17, 2021

Mornington Lockett featuring Henry Lowther @ the 606 Club - July 17

(Collage by Lance)
Henry Lowther (trumpet/flugel); Mornington Lockett (tenor sax); Gareth Williams (piano); Geoff Gascoyne (bass); Mark Fletcher (drums).

Tonight at the 606 was extra special - it was  Henry Lowther's 80th birthday!

Welcome aboard Henry.
 
However, before Henry joined the quartet, Mornington gave us 20 minutes of Without a Song. Blistering tenor that was more akin to the Williamsburg Bridge in NYC rather than the somewhat closer - at least physically if not musically - Stamford Bridge. The Williamsburg Bridge, for the benefit of jazz neophytes, is where Sonny Rollins took his sabbatical, practising into the early hours with no worries about the neighbours knocking! Without a Song came from the album inspired by Rollins' nocturnal activity - The Bridge.

Mornington did the Grand Old Man justice.

Talking of grand old men, tonight's GOM truly defied the years playing with controlled fire and increased lyricism. Every note, phrase, subtle nuance that Henry Lowther blows surely has all the trumpet players listening say to themselves, "Why didn't I think of that?!"

The answer's simple - you're not Henry Lowther!

The band, now a quintet, played Henry's arrangement of Ray Bryant's Cubana Chant. This was Blue Note revisited, regenerated, reimagined, re-anything.

Mornington exited stage left leaving Henry to mesmerise us with Some Other Time. Exquisitely melodic flugel playing.

Posers' Paradise was an original by Henry and related to another jazz club although no names were given. The tune turned out to be, as hinted at by the title, a contrafact of Stranger in Paradise. Quite an exotic rhythm that, nevertheless, didn't stop the guys swinging.

Mornington chose Skylark as a ballad feature. The room loved it although the RSPCB may have had a few reservations when Mornington himself was in full flight!

Wayne Shorter's United had everyone blowing like Blakey was in town - this was that kind of gig - but, by this time, us livestreamers had overstayed our welcome but we were given a bonus with a blast on What Is This Thing Called Love? Everyone went for it although, given the pending intermission, I thought there was, under the circumstances, just a bit too much doodlin' at the end. Nevertheless, another great 606 session.

OMG! I've done it again! I haven't said what a super sterling job piano, bass and drums did to make it all swing. My apologies to Gareth, Geoff and Mark - they are the absolute biz!

And there's  another great sax man next Saturday - Alex Garnett! 

Woohoo!  
Lance
PS: An afterthought. Where was the birthday cake? Did that come at the end or, being a small room, would so many candles have caused a fire risk? Just thinkin'...

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