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Bebop Spoken There

Spasmo Brown: “Jazz is an ice cream sandwich! It's the Fourth of July! It's a girl with a waterbed!”. (Syncopated Times, July, 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

17421 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 16 years ago. 695 of them this year alone and, so far, 100 this month (Sept. 30).

From This Moment On ...

October

Fri 04: Satoko Fujii @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. £8.00. NFOJIM in assoc. w. JNE & Lit & Phil.
Fri 04: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 04: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 04: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 04: Amirtha Kidambi w. Manon McCoy @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 6:20pm. £8.00. + bf. NFOJIM in assoc. w. Gem Arts, JNE & Lit & Phil.
Fri 04: Ziv Taubenfeld/Olie Brice/Kresten Osgood + Andy Champion + Izumi Kimura & Gerry
Hemingway @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 7:20pm. £10.00. + bf. NFOJIM in assoc. w. JNE & Lit & Phil.
Fri 04: Maggie Nicols & Tim Dalling: As I Sing & Breathe @ The Tute, Ridley Terrace, Cambois NE24 1QS. 7:30pm. Free. Tickets: www.eventbrite.com. ‘Songs & Improvisations’ - Nicols, Dalling & guests.
Fri 04: Jeremy McMurray & the Pocket Jazz Orchestra @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm.
Fri 04: John Rowland Quartet @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sat 05: Maggie Nicols & Tim Dalling: Musical Boxing Training @ The Tute, Ridley Terrace, Cambois NE24 1QS. 2:30pm. Free. Tickets: www.eventbrite.com. ‘A workshop for musical improvisers’. An event in a boxing ring!
Sat 05: Lewis Watson Quartet @ Wylam Village Institute, Church Road, Wylam NE41 8AP. Doors 7:00pm. Tickets £15.00. + £1.50. bf, available from: www.gigantic.com.
Sat 05: Joseph Carville Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 05: Bright Street Big Band @ Washington Arts Centre. From 7:00pm. £12.00. Bright Street Big Band on stage at 7:30pm, preceded at 7:00pm by a swing dance taster session.
Sat 05: J.A.M. String Collective + Tara Cunningham + The Flame @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 7:20pm. £10.00. + bf. NFOJIM in assoc. w. JNE & Lit & Phil.
Sat 05: Heavy Drunk @ Anarchy Brewery, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £15.00. + £1.50. bf. ‘Mississippi Delta Blues Experience’ feat. Heavy Drunk, Watermelon Slim & Leonardo Giuliani.
Sat 05: Maggie Nicols & Tim Dalling: Musical Boxing Night @ The Tute, Ridley Terrace, Cambois NE24 1QS. 7:30pm. Free. Tickets: www.eventbrite.com. Nicols, Dalling ao. An event in a boxing ring!
Sat 05: Milne-Glendinning Band @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free.
Sat 05: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.
Sat 05: Ian Millar & Dominic Spencer @ Swarland Village Hall NE65 9JG. 8:00pm. £12.00.

Sun 06: Smokin’ Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm (12:30pm doors). £7.50.
Sun 06: Luis Verde Quartet @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £10.00.
Sun 06: Sax Choir @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 06: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 06: Catriona Bourne Quartet + Heather Ferrier + Emma Johson’s Gravy Boat @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. £10.00. + bf. NFOJIM in assoc. w. JNE & The Globe.

Mon 07: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 07: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 6:30-8:30pm. Free.

Tue 08: ???

Wed 09: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free. Wed 09: Jason Isaacs @ St James’ STACK, Newcastle. 5:00-7:00pm. Free.
Wed 09: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 09: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 09: The Tannery Jam Session @ The Tannery, Gilesgate, Hexham. 7:00-9:00pm. Free. A ‘second Wednesday in the month’ jam session.
Wed 09: Shunya, Dudù Kouate & Seb Rochford @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 8:30pm (7:30pm doors). £21.00.

Thu 10: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 10: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. ‘Collaborations - it happened all the time’.
Thu 10: Indigo Jazz Voices w. the Little Big Band @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:45pm. £5.00.
Thu 10: Side Cafe Orkestar @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 10: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesborough. 8:30pm. With guests Donna Hewitt (sax); Bill Watson (trumpet); Graham Thompson (keys); Ron Smith (bass). Free.

Tuesday, September 28, 2021

Scarborough Jazz Festival Day One - Sept. 24

(Steve T w. Hans Koller)

A destination for many childhood holidays and adult short-stays, Scarborough is always like coming home and is one of my favourite festivals. Beyond the Spa it’s a town in trouble, but we know a thing about that in the north east too.

It was at Scarborough that I first heard Rob Luft and enquired as to who is this phenomenal guitarist. He was already a master virtuoso but also  a  very rounded musician with intelligent use of pedals and exemplary comping. As the senior co-leader, saxophonist Dave O’Higgins was cool and in full control, taking on one of the greatest musicians ever.


Like Sonny – written by Trane about another of the greatest musicians ever – and Straight Street were followed by a beautiful, extended prog-rock style guitar intro to Naima; more Steve Howe of Yes than the darker tones of Robert Fripp from King Crimson.

 

I’ve seen the mighty Ross Stanley many times, including twice with Steve Howe’s Jazz Trio, and recently described him as a force of nature. O’Higgins claimed this afternoon set was his third of the day and introduced him as an ‘unstoppable terminator’ and audience response would suggest they agreed.

 

Four in One was followed by a brave interpretation of an already demanding Giant Steps and had no need of their apology in advance in case they messed it up.

 

O’Higgins played a short intro to Monk’s 'Round Midnight, a ballad that’s now generally considered – except by Monk aficionados -  as having best been interpreted by Miles Davis (a bit like Hendrix’s All Along the Watchtower). Minor Mishap followed - a piece by Trane (written by Tommy Flanagan) - before Epistrophy closed the set, which threw me because I thought it had opened the set. This is typical of my experience with Monk; I will likely keep playing him forever, but I’m often more fascinated by him than particularly enjoying the experience in any usual sense of the word.  A Monk piece is a Monk piece.

 

Four world class musicians playing two of the all time greats. A fantastic start.

 

I‘d neglected to remind my long-suffering, north west born (far) better half that on this side of the country, if you face out to sea, north is left, so we ended up in an Airbnb with a much longer walk, that cut into our schedule and my feet.

 

We made it back for the Julian Joseph Trio, one of those treats that make festivals so special. I’ve been a self-confessed piano trio philistine for almost forty years so I hadn’t researched the artist, I didn’t need to know what it was he was playing, had no intention of buying an album, and was just happy to explore, miss a bit, check out the CDs, but still thoroughly enjoy the music and their playing.   

 

Hans Koller’s magnificent thirteen piece orchestra paying tribute to Bird closed the first day and was a revelation. A charismatic, amiable and witty German pianist and bandleader, his enthusiasm proved infectious throughout the band and the room, as he prowled around the stage, sometimes sitting side-saddle at his piano and occasionally hiding behind the curtains to conceal his excitement.

Billie’s Bounce was followed by Hot House, which I’d always thought was written by Dizzy but was apparently Tadd Dameron. The familiar melody took it’s time seeping through. OFF THE SCALE. Compere Alan Barnes had introduced the set saying the existence of Charlie Parker records in the world was a ‘reason to be cheerful’. BSH Editor is also a devotee and I felt his pain at not being there.

 

Milestones was followed by Word of Bird, a tribute by Ornette Coleman from his album Song X and Koller managed to get some Bird in there with Ornette. He succumbed to do Parker’s Mood despite his reservation that it’s perfect and should be left in peace. Passport was a rhythm changes where he imagined ‘Lee Konitz talking to Charlie Parker’.

 

I think Quasimodo was the last piece and I think this may have been one of the best things I’ve ever seen.

 

My feet were hurting, and I turned 60 during the walk back to our digs, but the anticipation of day two was palpable. Steve T      

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