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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

17328 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 16 years ago. 612 of them this year alone and, so far, 17 this month (Sept. 5).

From This Moment On ...

September

Sun 08: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 08: Giles Strong Quartet @ BAA Fest, Brownrigg Lodges, Bellingham. 2:40pm.
Sun 08: Eva Fox & the Jazz Guys @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 08: Graham Hardy’s Eclectic Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 09: Mark Williams Trio @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 1:00pm. £9.00.
Mon 09: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 10: ???

Wed 11: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 11: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 11: The Tannery Jam Session @ The Tannery, Gilesgate, Hexham. 7:00-9:00pm. Free. A ‘second Wednesday in the month’ jam session.
Wed 11: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 12: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 12: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:30pm. £4.00. ‘A Great Day in Harlem’.
Thu 12: The Cuban Heels @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Pete Tanton & co.
Thu 12: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesborough. 8:30pm. Free. THC with guests Donna Hewitt, Bill Watson, Dave Archbold, Adrian Beadnell, Mark Hawkins.

Fri 13: Jeff Barnhart & Neville Dickie @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Two pianos, two pianists! SOLD OUT!
Fri 13: Noel Dennis Quartet @ The Old Library, 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: Dilutey Juice @ Old Coal Yard, Byker, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £11.00. adv..
Fri 13: Ray Stubbs R & B All-stars @ The Forum, Darlington. 7:30pm. Classic blues.

Sat 14: Jeff Barnhart’s Silent Film Fest @ St Augustine's Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. Darlington New Orleans Jazz Club.
Sat 14: Customs House Big Band w. Ruth Lambert @ St Paul’s Centre, St Paul’s Gardens, Spennymoor DL16 7LR. 7:00pm (6:45pm doors). Tickets £10.00. from the venue or tel: 01388 813404. A ‘BYOB’ event.
Sat 14: Emma Wilson @ Claypath Deli, Durham. 7:00pm. £12.00. Acoustic blues.
Sat 14: Rat Pack - Swingin’ at the Sands @ Billingham Forum. 7:30pm.

Sunday, September 26, 2021

Sunday Night @ the Globe - The David Gray Flextet - Sept. 26

David Gray (trombone); Alan Law (keys); Adam Sams (guitar, bass clarinet); Paul Grainger (bass); Michael Mather (drums)

In my childhood I was taken to see, over the years, orchestras conducted by Beecham, Sargent, Barbirolli and, more recently, John Wilson. They all had one thing in common - they could, with a flick of the baton, a barely recognised hand movement or the raise of an eyebrow, bring in the strings or the brass or a crescendo or a diminuendo. That's what conductors do, it's their job.

David Gray has all of these attributes, albeit with a smaller ensemble but, like all good leaders, he knows what he wants and he gets it without the use of a baton.

Sargent was nicknamed Flash Harry - he wasn't at the races compared to Maestro Gray who, in an exquisitely tailored single buttoned grey check jacket, dominated the stage.

It didn't matter that he was, arguably the youngest of the five musicians (Sams is maybe ± a month or two) he led from the front. His boisterous playing, occasionally multiplied by the use of an Octavider - if JJ Johnson had had one of these Kai Winding would have been surplus to requirements! - and the packed Jazz Bar loved it.

The arrangements were sound with the many different moods and tempos lifting it above your average blowing session. The fact that the leader pranced around the stage like a 1960s pop star did nothing to lessen the bond he created with the audience.

Of course, behind every great frontman there's a band and Law, Grainger, Mather and Sams did the biz.

Law particularly impressed on a Cuban style number and Sams surprised everyone by switching to bass clarinet on one number. Too brief to pass judgement but he did get a good sound which isn't easy on that particular instrument. 

I missed the encore for the usual reasons but I loved what I heard - catch then if and when ... Lance

For the Elders (Fred Wesley); Silver Orcas (Gray); Pure Imagination (Newley); Ecclusiastics (Mingus); Catbells (Gray); Red Clay (Hubbard); Bem Vindo (Grainger); Red Light Fever (Gray, Sams); On a Mooch (Gray); At War With Myself (Gray); Tutu (Miller, Davis) ; At the River (Groove Armada)

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