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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.

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, 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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