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Bebop Spoken There

David Hadju: "It was kind of a lightning bolt [seeing a photo of a hi-fi store that's now occupied by a phone store]. Everyone had hi-fi systems, now everyone has a phone" - (DownBeat May 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

15478 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 499 of them this year alone and, so far, 120 this month (May 27).

From This Moment On ...

May 2023

Tue 30: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 30: Big Chris Barber Band @ Whitley Bay Playhouse. 7:30pm.

Wed 31: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 31: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 31: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 7:00pm.
Wed 31: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

June
Thu 01: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 01: Thursday Night Prayer Meeting @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Donations.
Thu 01: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Ragtime piano. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.
Thu 01: Jake Leg Jug Band @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Thu 01: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 02: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 02: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 02: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 02: Joseph Carville Trio @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm.
Fri 02: Claire Martin & Her Trio @ The Witham, Barnard Castle. 7:30pm. £25.00., £20.00. Feat. Jim Mullen, Alex Garnett & Jeremy Brown.
Fri 02: Guy Davis + Michael Littlefield & Scott Taylor @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. Doors 7:30pm. Blues double bill.
Fri 02: Anders Ingram @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Blind Pig Blues Club. Country blues. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

Sat 03: Newcastle Record Fair @ Northumbria University, Newcastle NE8 8SB. 10:00am-3:00pm. Admission: £2.00.
Sat 03: Pedigree Jazz Band @ St Augustine's Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm.
Sat 03: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. Tutor: Sue Ferris. £25.00. Enrol at: www.jazz.coop.
Sat 03: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 6:00pm. Free.
Sat 03: Rendezvous Jazz @ Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.
Sat 03: Papa G's Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

Sun 04: Smokin' Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm.
Sun 04: Central Bar Quintet @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00-4:00pm. £5.00. The Central Bar Quintet plays Sonny Rollins' Saxophone Colossus. Featuring Lewis Watson.
Sun 04: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 3:00pm.
Sun 04: Struggle Buggy + Michael Littlefield @ Tyne Bar, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. Acoustic blues.
Sun 04: Swinging at the Cotton Club: Harry Strutters' Hot Rhythm Orchestra @ The Fire Station, Sunderland. 7:30pm.
Sun 04: Richard Jones Trio @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 05: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

Saturday, August 14, 2021

Newcastle Jazz Festival Day One - Alice Grace w. Strictly Smokin' Big Band . Dean Stockdale Trio @ Newcastle Civic Centre - August 13

Photo © Kim 
Bainbridge. 
This promised much and delivered even more! Alice Grace singing Ella Fitzgerald backed by a swinging big band - what could go wrong?

Nothing! Absolutely nothing!

From the opening Honeysuckle Rose which began so gently with just the rhythm section behind her before erupting like Vesuvius when the full band hit the triple fortissimos until the final That Old Black Magic Alice had the audience enraptured.

Our girl looked good and sounded even better - or was it vice versa? - probably both!

The songs had all been recorded by Ella F and feature on the recently recorded crowd-funded album Alice and the band will shortly release. Every one a gem. 

Frank Loesser and Jule Styne's I Said No with its clever and amusing lyric. Puttin' on the Ritz, a song that Irving Berlin wrote for the Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers movie Top Hat, had an alto solo from Steve Summers and, whilst Ginger may have been able to dance backwards in high heels Alice didn't chance it but, instead, was content to deliver an impeccable vocal. 

Mean to Me featured nice tenor from Jamie Toms and that great line by Roy Turk - why must you be mean to me when you know what you mean to me? Comparable with anything Cole Porter wrote! Certainly better than Can't Buy me Love although Alice and SSBB, like Ella before her, proved that you can make a purse out of a sow's ear. 

A Flower is a Lovesome Thing, sung tenderly and effectively with Dave Kerridge blowing tenor on the Strayhorn classic. Lullaby of Broadway and a Michael Lamb arrangement of There's a Boat That's Leavin' Soon For New York proved that there's more to Porgy and Bess than Summertime. Gil Evans arranged it for Miles but Michael's version would probably have been too fast for Miles. Fortunately, it wasn't for Alice.

Steve Summers blew on Get Happy then we hit the penultimate Time After Time. This had been quite a set. Get happy? We certainly did!

Alice Grace (vocals) Michael Lamb, MD, Graham Hardy, Gordon Marshall, Stuart McLean-Fowler (trumpets); Chris Kurgi-Smith, Mark Ferris, Keiran Parnaby, John Flood (trombones); Jamie Toms, Dave Kerridge, Steve Summers, Keith Robinson, Laurie Rangecroft (reeds); Pawel Jedrzejewski (guitar); Graham Don (keyboards); Michael Whent (bass guitar); Guy Swinton (drums)

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Photo © Kim
Bainbridge.
Dean Stockdale (piano); Mick Shoulder (bass);  Abbie Finn (drums)

Earlier, the Dean Stockdale Trio got things underway with a mix of standards and originals. Three seasoned players at the top of their game they set the scene perfectly for what was to come. Lance

On the Sunny Side of the Street; Promise the Moon; Moon River; First Light; Kelly's Blues; Out of Nowhere.

Link to more photos by Kim.                                                                                    ps: Good to (finally) meet Maurice Rodham who preceded me in Windows Music Shop all those years ago. Maurice went on to greater things as a music teacher at St. Cuthbert's in Newcastle. His pupils included Steve Summers, tonight's lead alto, and Cormac Loane, another good friend of mine now based in Birmingham. Aged 91, Maurice looked well.

1 comment :

Steve T said...

Summertime was sped up at Montreux with Quincy Jones, a magnificent and emotional DVD/video.

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