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Bebop Spoken There

Billy Boy Arnold: “As long as you don't think old you're good.” - DownBeat, December, 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!"

Simon Spillett: A lovely review from the dean of jazz bloggers, Lance Liddle...

Postage

16034 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 1041 of them this year alone and, so far, 73 this month (Nov. 27).

From This Moment On ...

December

Sun 03: Smokin’ Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:30pm. £7.50.
Sun 03: The Central Bar Quartet @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £10.00. The Central Bar Quartet plays Lou Donaldson’s Gravy Train. Featuring Jamie Toms.
Sun 03: Revolutionaires @ The Water House, North Road, Durham. 4:00pm. Rock 'n' roll excellence! Line-up inc. Pete Tanton.
Sun 03: Paul Skerritt @ Smith’s Arms, Carlton, Stockton-on-Tees. 7:00pm.
Sun 03: Johnny Hunter Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Sun 03: Jam session @ The Schooner, Gateshead. 8:00pm. Free.

Mon 04: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Mon 04: Northern Monkey Brass Band @ People’s Kitchen, Bath Lane, Newcastle. From 5:30pm. On-street gig supporting the work of the People’s Kitchen charity. Wrap up warm! Donate!
Mon 04: Michael Young Trio w Lindsay Hannon @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 7:00pm. Free.
Mon 04: James Birkett Trio @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £8.00.
Mon 04: Durham University Jazz Orchestra + Durham University Big Band @ Durham Castle DH1 3RW. 8:30pm. £6.00.; £5.00. concs; £4.00. DSM. ‘Jazzy Christmas’.

Tue 05: Customs House Big Band @ All Saints Church, Cleadon. 7:00pm. Concert in the church hall. BYOB.
Tue 05: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Michael Young, Paul Grainger, Sid White. The best free show in town!

Wed 06: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 06: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 8:00pm. Free. Note later start time, concert performance (open to the public).
Wed 06: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 07: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free CANCELLED!
Thu 07: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Spanish City, Whitley Bay, Newcastle. 12 noon - 4:00pm. £26.00 (inc 3-course meal in in St Mary's Lighthouse Suite). SOLD OUT!
Thu 07: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Gateshead Central Library, Gateshead. 2:30pm. All welcome.
Thu 07: Thursday Night Prayer Meeting @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.Donations. Feat. Mark Sanders. CANCELLED!
Thu 07: Indigo Jazz Voices @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:45pm. £5.00. Downstairs.
Thu 07: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 08: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 08: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 08: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 08: Hayley's Little Big Band @ Woodland Village Hall, Bishop Auckland. 7:00pm. £12.00.
Fri 08: Sleep Suppressor + Redwell @ Head of Steam, Neville St., Newcastle. 8:00pm. £10.00. (£8.00. adv); £5.00. student.
Fri 08: Hot Club du Nord @ St Cuthbert's Church, Shadforth, Co. Durham.
Fri 08: Têtes de Pois + Nauta @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.00., £8.00.

Sat 09: Castillo Nuevo Trio @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 5:30pm. Free.
Sat 09: Abbie Finn Trio @ Claypath Deli, Durham. 7:00pm.
Sat 09: Hayley's Little Big Band @ Middleton & Todridge Village Hall, Morpeth. 7:30pm. £12.00., £6.00.
Sat 09: Paul Skerritt @ Slaley Hall, Hexham NE47 0BX. 7:30pm. From £42.00.

Sunday, November 21, 2021

A Salute to Humphrey Lyttelton @ Black Swan Arts Centre, Newcastle - Nov. 20

(Photo © Mike Tilley)
Chris Hodgkins (trumpet); Henry Lowther (trumpet, flugel); Mark Bassey (trombone); Diane McLoughlin, Alex Clarke, Charlotte Glasson (reeds); Jinjoo Yoo (piano); Wayne Wilkinson (guitar); Alison Rayner (bass); Buster Birch (drums).

I've waited all year to hear a band like this! Maybe waited all my life or at least since I first heard the Lyttelton band in Camden Town Hall - the one that had Coe, Skidmore, Temperley and Pickard alongside Humph in the front line.

(Photo © Mike Tilley)
This band exuded the same amount of class - the ensembles were something else!

What a sound!

The arrangements, mainly from within the band were adapted from the originals by Harry South, Buck Clayton, Frank Griffith and Humph himself.

Chris Hodgkins was in fine form. How could he not be? With the legendary Henry Lowther standing next to him it was a case of put up or shut up! Chris also introduced the numbers with some amusing, often hilarious, quotes and anecdotes from Humph's various books and radio shows.

(Photo © Pam)
The reed section were equally tremendous Diane blowing searing alto (and soprano), gutsy tenor and agile clarinet from Alex whilst Charlotte not only excelled on baritone but also played two penny whistles simultaneously à la Roland Kirk! 
(See photo).

Mark Bassey had the (hypothetical) trombone chair well and truly nailed down combining the earthiness of some of Humph's earlier bands with the more melodic approach of his later years.
(Photo © Mike Tilley)

The rhythm section of Birch and Rayner we knew from their recent gig at the Globe with Alison's own band ARQ that they would do the biz which of course they did admirably.

(Photo © Mike Tilley)
It was great to meet and hear Jinjoo live and, despite the limitations of the Nord (there's never a Steinway when you need one), the pianist more than lived up to expectations.

Because of the size of the band solos were limited to one or two choruses which is no bad thing although audiences seem to be reluctant to applaud anything under ten choruses these days! An exception was Henry Lowther's flugelhorn feature on Susan - a piece dedicated to Humph's former manager Susan Da Costa.

The standing ovation at the end, however, showed just how much love there was in the room for the band, the music and, of course, Humph in this the hundredth year of his birth - Lance

Cross a Busy Street; Tribal Dance; Renaissance Man; Fat Tuesday; Mezzrow; Bad Penny Blues; Kath Meets Humph; Cecil Beaton Strides Again; In Swinger; Holy Main; Late Night Final; Wrestler's Tricks; One For Buck; Susan; Let's Get Out.

1 comment :

Simon Spillett (on F/b) said...

Really good to read the set list. I had feared this was music that would get 'reimagined' into something else. Glad to hear it's keeping faith with Humph's own ideas.

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