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Bebop Spoken There

Abbie Finn: "Even though there's a lot of great work being done to promote women in jazz, I still come up against some attitudes! I pulled up at a recording session with my drums in the car and the studio owner said, 'I'm sorry, this space is reserved for the drummer!'" - (Jazzwise April 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

15260 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 279 of them this year alone and, so far, 92 this month (March 29).

From This Moment On ...

March

Thu 30: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Gateshead Central Library. 2:30-4:30pm. £2.00. All welcome.
Thu 30: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. Back to 1:00pm stomp off. Free.
Thu 30: Castillo Nuevo @ Revolución de Cuba, Newcastle. 5:30-8:30pm.
Thu 30: '58 Jazz Collective @ Hops & Cheese, Hartlepool. 7:30pm. Free.
Thu 30: Lindsay Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ Harbour View, Sunderland. 8:00pm.
Thu 30: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 31: Lewis Watson Quartet @ Bishop Auckland Town Hall. 1:00pm. Due to phenomenal demand, extra tickets released - gig now in the theatre. Book at: www.bishopaucklandtownhall.org.uk
Fri 31: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 31: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 31: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm. CANCELLED! Back next week (April 7).
Fri 31: Castillo Nuevo @ Revolución de Cuba, Newcastle. 5:30-8:30pm.
Fri 31: Jasmine Myra + Waclaw Zimpel @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Fri 31: The Revolutionaires @ The Shack, Boldon Colliery. 7:30pm. £10.00. The Revolutionaires' big band (horn section) line-up.
Fri 31: Andrew McCormack @ Maltings, Berwick. 8:00pm. £20.00.

April
Sat 01: The Big Easy @ St Augustine's Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm.
Sat 01: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. Tutor: Steve Glendinning - In a Minor Key. £25.00. Enrol at: www.jazz.coop.
Sat 01: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington Covered Market, Darlington DL1 5PN. 6:00pm. New venue, live jazz!
Sat 01: Jambone @ Sage Gateshead. 7:00pm. Free (book online). A YMP! event in the Northern Rock Foundation Hall.
Sat 01: Jude Murphy & Dan Stanley @ Prohibtion Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.
Sat 01: Boys of Brass @ Stack, Seaburn. 7:00-9:00pm.
Sat 01: Hot Club du Nord @ Pleased to Meet You, Bridge St., Morpeth. 8:00pm. £79.00. A charity fundraising event.
Sat 01: Rendezvous Jazz @ Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00. RESCHEDULED to next week (Sat 08).

Sun 02: Smokin' Spitfires @ The Cluny. 12:45pm.
Sun 02: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 3:00pm.

Mon 03: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

Tue 04: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 04: Jam session @ Black Swan, Newcastle Arts Centre. 7:30pm. House trio: Bradley Johnston (guitar); Paul Grainger (double bass); Abbie Finn (drums).

Wed 05: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 05: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 05: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 7:00pm.
Wed 05: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Monday, August 16, 2021

Newcastle Jazz Festival Day Three. Jay Phelps; Sue Ferris; Gerry Richardson - Tyne Bank Brewery. August 15

Jay Phelps (trumpet, vocal); Dean Stockdale (piano); Andy Champion (bass); Dave McKeague (drums).

Save the best for last has always been a good game plan and never has that proved more so than the final set of this year's Newcastle Jazz Festival and, I say that with all due respect to the other performers who have
made this weekend such a great success.

From the opening few bars of the soundcheck (Blue Monk) the word that screamed at me was class! This was it - the real deal.

Jay Phelps is the greatest trumpet player I've heard since Roy Hargrove - maybe even going further back to Dizzy. Think Fats Navarro, Clifford Brown, Lee Morgan, Freddie Hubbard - Jay Phelps is in that league and miles ahead of the rest.

A nicely balanced mix of standards, modern jazz classics and originals. A lyrical I Can't Get Started didn't do Bunny Berigan any harm but, without Berigan's vocal and his grandiose flourishes it offered a more than acceptable alternative. 

Of course, behind every great soloist there's a rhythm section and tonight's crew were handpicked to perfection. Even then, the easy going Canadian inspired them to lift their game even higher. This was the absolute pinnacle of a meeting of great minds - so different from some of those gigs at the Corner House way back when, when fading visiting Americans would give the local boys a hard time. Jay Phelps is world class and didn't need those ego trips. On tonight's showing, I reckon Dean, Andy and Dave could hold their own in NYC - AFM permitting!

If you missed this gig - and we know who you are - all I can say to you is, "na-na-na-na-na"

Syeeda's Song Flute; This I Dig of You; I Can't Get Started; Everyone's Ethnic; Salute to the Band Box; Blues Connotation.                                                              -----                                                                                                                               

Sue Ferris Quartet: Sue Ferris (baritone sax); Stuart Collingwood (piano); Paul Grainger (bass); Rob Walker (drums).

Prior to the Jay Phelps' set, Sue Ferris gave us some timely reminders of how great a musician Gerry Mulligan was and what a great a sax player Sue herself is. Due to an assortment of reasons Collingwood and Grainger were last minute replacements but it didn't show. Along with Walker they provided Sue with the wings to fly and she soared. Off the top of my head I can't think of any neighbourhood jazz bari players who could challenge Sue - it wasn't that long ago that she took Alan Barnes to a split decision.

Walkin' Shoes; Rocker; Festive Minor; Rico Apollo; Line For Lyons; Cariocca; Out Back of the Barn.                                                                                                  -----                                                                                                                            Gerry Richardson Quintet: Gerry Richardson (Crumair Mojo keyboard, vocals); Garry Linsley (alto sax); David Gray (trombone); Paul Smith (drums); Graham Hare (congas, perc.)

This was a bonus! Advertised as a quartet, after much speculation by both audience and organisers as to whether it would be Gerry playing solo or with his legendary Big Idea, it ended up somewhere in between.

Last night Ross Stanley hired a Pickford truck (joke) to transport his vintage Hammond organ and two Leslie speakers to play with two trombones.

Gerry had a more compact keyboard with ne'er a Leslie in sight and only one trombone but boy did they do the business!

Gerry hit the road travelled by Jimmy McGriff and Jack McDuff  - is he the best jazz organist in the UK? He gets my vote and he's always good for a vocal or two.

David Gray is the loose canon in the band. Every solo he takes he goes for the jugular. Triple tongued passages at amazing speed, tonal variations, he's a crowd pleaser which is what music, and jazz in particular, needs. Apart from the musicality he's got the stage presence, the moves. He could be auditioning for West Side Story brandishing a trombone instead of a flick knife.

By contrast, Garry Linsley is Daddy Cool. His emotions remain hidden even when he's in full flight. Is he thinking about the next lick or how long he has left on his parking meter?

Money's Gettin' Cheaper; Mercy, Mercy, Mercy; African Sunset; Soul Shadows; Sunny - Lance

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