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Bebop Spoken There

Kurt Elling: ''There's something to learn from every musician you play with''. (DownBeat, December 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

17602 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 16 years ago. 876 of them this year alone and, so far, 21 this month (Dec. 11).

From This Moment On ...

December

Fri 13: Dean Stockdale Trio @ Auckland Castle, Bishop Auckland. 1:00pm. £8.00.
Fri 13: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 13: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 13: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 13: Bellavana @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 3:00-5:00pm. Free.
Fri 13: Joe Steels Trio @ The Pele, Corbridge. 7:00pm. Free.
Fri 13: Customs House Big Band @ Stocksfield Community Association. 7:00pm. Featuring Ruth Lambert.
Fri 13: Paul Edis & Friends: A Jazzy Xmas @ St Cuthbert’s Centre, Crook. 7:30pm. £15.00.
Fri 13: Strictly Smokin’ Big Band @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 8:00pm (doors 7:30pm). £19.00. + bf. First night of two.
Fri 13: Fiona's Jazz Express @ Flash House Brewing Co., Northumberland St., North Shields NE30 1DS. 8:00pm. Free. Featuring: Fiona Finden (tenor sax); Stu Finden (flugelhorn); Lara Hopper (trumpet); Keith Barrett (guitar); Andrew Porritt (double bass); Neil Hopper (drums).
Fri 13: Ransom Van @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Fri 13: Boys of Brass @ Hoochie Coochie, Newcastle. 9:00pm. £10.00.

Sat 14: Jambone @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 6:15pm. Free but ticketed.
Sat 14: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm.
Sat 14: Red Kites Jazz @ Staiths Café, Autumn Dr., Gateshead. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 14 Lapwing Jazz Trio @ Three Sheets to the Wind, Alnwick. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 14: Strictly Smokin’ Big Band @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 8:00pm (doors 7:30pm). £19.00. + bf. Second night of two.
Sat 14: Papa G’s Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 15: Musicians Unlimited @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 12 noon. £8.50. Xmas party feat. Musicians Unlimited + Customs House Big Band. SOLD OUT!
Sun 15: Paul Edis & Friends: A Jazzy Xmas @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 2:00pm.
Sun 15: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 15: Mitch Laddie Band @ Tyne Bar, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. Superb blues power trio.
Sun 15: Leeway @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 15: Tweed River Jazz Band @ Barrels Ale House, Berwick. 7:00pm. Free.
Sun 15: Paul Edis & Friends: A Jazzy Xmas @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm.
Sun 15: Alligator Gumbo @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 16: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 16: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Wheatsheaf, Benton Sq., Whitley Road, Palmersville NE12 9SU. Tel: 0191 266 8137. 12 noon. £9.95. ‘Festive Turkey Dinner’. Book now: 0191 266 8137.
Mon 16: Paul Edis & Friends: A Jazzy Xmas @ The Fire Station, Sunderland. 7:30pm.

Tue 17: Paul Edis & Friends: A Jazzy Xmas @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 7:30pm.
Tue 17: BBC Big Band @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 7:30pm. ‘A Swinging Xmas’.
Tue 17: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Alan Law, Paul Grainger, Abbie Finn.
Tue 17: Bellavana @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 7:45-9:35pm. Free.

Wed 18: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 18: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 18: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 18: Hot Club of Heaton @ Elder Beer, Heaton, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘third Wednesday in the month’ session.

Thu 19: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Spanish City, Whitley Bay. 12 noon. £27.00. (inc. three -course meal).
Thu 19: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. ‘Christmas comes, but once a year: seasonal tracks & annual quiz’.
Thu 19: Jude Murphy & Dan Stanley @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 19: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm. Free. Guests: Josh Bentham (sax); Dan Johnson (sax); Graham Thompson (keys); Adrian Beadnell (bass).

Reviewers wanted

Whilst BSH attempts to cover as many gigs, festivals and albums as possible, to make the site even more comprehensive we need more 'boots on the ground' to cover the albums seeking review - a large percentage of which never get heard - report on gigs or just to air your views on anything jazz related. Interested? then please get in touch. Contact details are on the blog. Look forward to hearing from you. Lance

Sunday, August 15, 2021

Newcastle Jazz Festival Day Two (the early sets): Swing Manouche; Francis Tulip Quartet; Alice Grace & Pawel Jedrzejewski - August 14

(Photo by Russell)
Tickets for Saturday's session were purposely under sold to enable a degree of social distancing to be maintained at Tyne Bank Brewery's spacious Walker Road premises. Illusory or not, the place soon filled up in good time to catch the early bird set by Alice Grace and Pawel Jedrzejewski. 

Alice Grace (vocals); Pawel 'Pav' Jedrzejewski (guitar)

Fresh from her triumphant Ella Fitzgerald concert performance on Friday evening, Alice and Pav turned their attention to a different aspect of the jazz spectrum with a Norma Winstone-Kenny Wheeler inspired set of mainly original material. Alice and Pav's A Timeless Place album formed the bulk of the set - Guess Who I Saw Today - with Alice confirming Norma Winstone as an influential figure in her development as an artist. Pav can, and frequently does, turn his hand to any given situation. An unsung guitarist on the scene, our duo are well suited in this paired down context. No More Blues sung in English, understandably so, Portuguese isn't the easiest of languages. Perhaps one day Alice will give it ago - Chega de Saudade and all that! A finely drawn, nuanced set.

(Photo by Russell)
Francis Tulip Quartet: Francis Tulip (guitar); Touyo Awala (keyboards); John Pope (double bass); John Bradford (drums) 

A broken ankle in plaster is no excuse to pass up the opportunity of a gig. Birmingham Conservatoire graduate Francis Tulip answered the call to step in at short notice when one of the day's bands cried off at short notice. A scratch quartet of Francis, pianist Touyo Awala, bassist John Pope and drummer John Bradford rocked up ready to play. All four were well acquainted with the material and  their set of some forty five minutes reaffirmed Francis' standing as one of the very best technicians on the contemporary jazz scene. Recorda MeMoose the MoochImpressions, you'll have to go a long way to find a better guitarist playing this kind of material. And your search could well be in vain. Francis' friend Touyo Awala is a fine pianist, let's hear him on a decent acoustic piano some time. John Pope slotted in nicely, no surprise there, similarly the other John, the affable John Bradford, did everything required behind the traps. Post-gig it was good see to Francis hanging out. The best festivals should foster a sense of community and Newcastle Jazz Festival is heading in the right direction, that's for sure.             

Swing Manouche: Mick Shoulder (guitar); Danny Lowndes (guitar); Martin Winning (clarinet); Paul Grainger (string bass)

(Photo by Russell)
Mick 'Manouche' Shoulder has been busy shuffling the pack. This Newcastle Jazz Festival appearance presented the latest Swing Manouche line-up featuring  Tyneside based bassist Paul Grainger, Mick himself from County Durham and two new boys, fellow guitarist, Yorkshire based Danny Lowndes, and clarinetist Martin Winning from, I'm told, one of Scotland's more remote islands.

From I'll See You in My Dreams to, inevitably, Nuages to Djangology and Mystérieuse, this new edition of Mick's outfit made a big impression. Guitarist Danny knows his Django, as does Mick, but it was clarinetist Martin who caught the eye, or rather the ear. Perhaps classically trained, our far-flung member of the quartet dazzled with his assured technique - more Benny Goodman than Hubert Rostaing - allied to a bravura approach, Mr W brought the house down. Bravo! Russell

3 comments :

Liz said...

How odd that you should mention " Guess who I saw today" It has Been a fave of mine since The days of listening to Eydie Gormé. I love that song...so much so that I wrote a short story around it for my writing group in 2012. Clare Teal sang it recently on her show.

Anonymous said...

I loved Nancy Wilsons version of "Guess who I saw today".

Lance said...

I remember that short story Liz - it was excellent - we've often spoke about that tune. Carmen McRae also made a decent fist of it. I love songs with a story to them - Social Call is another great number that one can relate to.

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