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Bebop Spoken There

Wendell Brunious: "Because the blues is not 1,4 and 5 or 1,4,5,2,1. You could wake up with a flat tyre or a headache this morning, that's the blues, man" - (DownBeat, Oct. 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

15878 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 885 of them this year alone and, so far, 83 this month (Sept. 30).

From This Moment On ...

October

Tue 03: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 03: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. House trio: Michael Young (piano); Paul Grainger (double bass); Sid White (drums). CANCELLED!

Wed 04: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 04: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 04: Paul Skerritt @ Vespa Italian Bar & Steakhouse, Primrose Hill, Jarrow. From 7:00pm. To book a table - 0191 483 3355.
Wed 04: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 05: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 05: Sound the Trumpets @ King's Hall, Newcastle University. 1:15pm. Free.
Thu 05: Hot Club du Nord @ The Lubetkin Theatre, Peterlee. 7:00pm. £10.00. POSTPONED!
Thu 05: Thursday Night Prayer Meeting @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.
Thu 05: Tommy Bentz Trio + Mark Croft Duo + George Shovlin & George Lamb @ The Harbour View, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Harbour View Speakeasy's USA blues double bill + Shovlin & Lamb!
Thu 05: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Ragtime piano. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.
Thu 05: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 06: Alcyona Mick @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Fri 06: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 06: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 06: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 06: WORKSHOP: Philosophy of Arts & Entertainment @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 2:00pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Fri 06: Balo @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 6:20pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Fri 06: Paul Skerritt @ 3Sixty Champagne Lounge, Hadrian’s Tower, Newcastle. From 7:00pm. To book a table - 0191 933 8591.
Fri 06: Lexer/Mayes/Noble + Semay Wu + Miman @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 7:20pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Fri 06: Dulcie May Moreno @ The Vault, Hexham. 7:30pm. £20.00. Book in advance. Moreno with Alan Law, Paul Grainger & John Bradford.
Fri 06: Dean Stockdale Quartet @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm. 'Celebrating Oscar'.
Fri 06: Nu Brass Sounds: Big Brass Bash @ Billy Bootlegger’s, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free.
Fri 06: King Bees @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Blind Pig Blues Club. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

Sat 07: WORKSHOP: Philosophy of Arts & Entertainment @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 10:15am. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Sat 07: Hot Club du Nord @ St Augustine's Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm.
Sat 07: Bugge & Niccols + Moore & Fairhall @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Sat 07: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. Tutor: Steve Glendinning - All the Things You Are. £25.00. Enrol at: www.jazz.coop.
Sat 07: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 6:00pm. Free.
Sat 07: Rie Nakajima @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 6:20pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Sat 07: Paul Skerritt @ 3Sixty Champagne Lounge, Hadrian’s Tower, Newcastle. From 7:00pm. To book a table - 0191 933 8591.
Sat 07: Samuel Blaser Trio + Toxvaerd & Zeeberg + Muramatsu & Welch @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 7:20pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Sat 07: Anth Purdy @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Sat 07: Rendezvous Jazz @ Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.

Sun 08: Zoë Gilby Quintet + Ubunye @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Line-up inc. Tony Kofi. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Sun 08: Tommy Bentz Band @ Tyne Bar, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. USA blues band.

Mon 09: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Mon 09: Cherise Adams-Burnett @ The Grove, Byker, Newcastle. 7:30pm. .

Tue 10: Abbie Finn Trio @ Forum Music Centre, Darlington. 7:30pm.

Sunday, September 19, 2021

Musicians Unlimited @ South Durham Social Club, Hartlepool - September 19

At long last, the return of Musicians Unlimited! Same band, new venue. Same crowd plus many more new faces! What's that about folk being reluctant to venture out?! South Durham Social Club on leafy Westbourne Road is the new place. A proper social club - ie don't expect to see a handpull on the bar - offering a concert room stage, things were set fair. 

In the Mood for starters. Don't laugh, Miller handled by a top notch big band can be more than respectable. And this was more than alright! Cue applause, we'd waited so long to hear Teesside's number one big band. One wag wondered out loud: Do you think we'll get a few more bum notes than usual? Not a bit of it, the band sounded just fine, minus one of the reeds...Has anyone seen Sue? quipped MD Mick Donnelly. Tenor saxophonist and ace flautist Sue Ferris had driven to the wrong venue. Arriving at South Durham SC as Major Miller's number drew to a close could be seen as a good move! Ready in a trice, Sue took her tenor chair in time for Blues in the Night

Another wag said: This [South Durham Social Club] used to be a nursing home. Looking around the spacious concert room, quick as a flash a friend offered the observation: There's a few care home clients in here today! 

It was time for the band's vocalist to step up. Singing Cheek to Cheek, Jan Spencelayh nailed it in one. Terrific! It was as if Jan and the band had never been away. Jive at FiveSweet Georgia Brown, yes, Musicians Unlimited are back!

Interval. Raffle time. Your correspondent was a winner! Oh, no he wasn't! The person charged with reading out the ticket numbers got the three numbers in the wrong order...boo! Oh, well, some other time...

Second set. Things Ain't What They Used to Be featuring guitarist Ian Bosworth and Sue Ferris on tenor blowing the roof off. Wow! Bill Watson soloed on On the Sunny Side of the Street, Jan returned to sing The Very Thought of You (excellent) and then MD Donnelly decided to throw a difficult chart at the orchestra. Bassist Mick Shoulder swapped his upright for electric bass and off they went on Gordon Goodwin's Count Bubba. All sections were put through their paces and all notched up A star performances. To close out a first gig in eighteen months, Musicians Unlimited went out on Tito Puente's Oye Como Va. They're back, and they'll be back next Sunday, one o'clock, at South Durham Social Club.
Russell
         
Musicians Unlimited: Mick Donnelly MD; Kevin Eland, Bill Watson, Dave Harrison, Alan Catherall (trumpets); John Day, Dave Brocklesby, ?, Peter Morgan (trombones); Kim Skerritt, Josh Bentham,  Sue Ferris, Barbara Fagan, Jill Nelson (reeds); Ian Bosworth (guitar); Gary Hadfield (keyboards); Mick Shoulder (double bass, bass guitar); John Bradford (drums); Ernie Jackson (percussion); Jan Spencelayh (vocals)

Set list: In the MoodBlues in the NightCheek to CheekJive at FiveWhat a Difference a Day MakesSweet Georgia BrownToo Marvellous for WordsWitchcraftThings Ain't What They Used to BeOn the Sunny Side of the StreetThe Very Thought of YouCount BubbaOye Como Va. 

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