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Bebop Spoken There

Abbie Finn: "Even though there's a lot of great work being done to promote women in jazz, I still come up against some attitudes! I pulled up at a recording session with my drums in the car and the studio owner said, 'I'm sorry, this space is reserved for the drummer!'" - (Jazzwise April 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

15229 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 248 of them this year alone and, so far, 61 this month (March 20).

From This Moment On ...

March

Sat 25: Vermont Big Band @ Walker Community Centre, Walker, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Fundraiser for Benfield Juniours Football Club. Hot food available, BYOB.
Sat 25: John Logan & Friends @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Rat Pack, Motown etc. 8:00pm. Free (donations).

Sun 26: Musicians Unlimited @ Park Inn, Hartlepool. 1:00pm.
Sun 26: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 3:00pm.
Mar 26: Pop Jazz @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. 'Jazzified' tunes by the likes of Sylvester, Bowie, the Monkees etc., feat. Alan Law, David Gray, Richard Herdman & Jude Murphy.
Sun 26: Outlines @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. JNE promotion (upstairs).

Mon 27: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

Tue 28: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 28: Sanaz Lavasani Trio @ Black Swan, Newcastle Arts Centre. 8:00pm. £12.00 (£10.00. adv).

Wed 29: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 29: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 29: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 7:00pm.
Wed 29: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 30: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Gateshead Central Library. 2:30-4:30pm. £2.00. All welcome.
Thu 30: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. Back to 1:00pm stomp off. Free.
Thu 30: '58 Jazz Collective @ Hops & Cheese, Hartlepool. 7:30pm. Free.
Thu 30: Lindsay Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ Harbour View, Sunderland. 8:00pm.
Thu 30: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 31: Lewis Watson Quartet @ Bishop Auckland Town Hall. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 31: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 31: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 31: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm. CANCELLED! Back next week (April 7).
Fri 31: Jasmine Myra + Waclaw Zimpel @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Fri 31: The Revolutionaires @ The Shack, Boldon Colliery. 7:30pm. £10.00. The Revolutionaires' big band (horn section) line-up.
Fri 31: Andrew McCormack @ Maltings, Berwick. 8:00pm. £20.00.

Wednesday, December 29, 2021

Dave Sayer’s Best of 2021

According to many commentators it has been a ‘funny old year.’  Usually my best of the year’s CDs list includes many that I had bought after gigs, still flush with the excitement of the preceding couple of hours. Not so this year. And, if it hadn’t been for a mad rush around the Newcastle Festival of Jazz and Improvised Music, I would hardly have seen any live jazz at all. Thankfully, what I did see was very good and, in one case at least, exceptional.

CDs

My Top Ten New Release CDs of the year are:

1.     Mixed With Glass – John Pope Quintet

2.     Cairn – Fergus McCreadie

3.     Promises – Floating Points, Pharoah Sanders, The London Symphony Orchestra

4.     Another Land – Dave Holland, Kevin Eubanks, Obed Calvaire

5.     Sunrise Reprise – Chris Potter Circuits Trio

6.     The Last Call - Larry Coryell and Philip Catherine

7.     Black To The Future – Sons of Kemet

8.     Side Eye NYC – Pat Metheny

9.     Echoes to the Sky – Archipelago   

 10. Grateful Deadication – Dave McMurray


Best Re-issues of the year

The three that I have enjoyed the most this year are all live albums by some of jazz’s biggest names. Two of them (by Morgan and Mingus) were expanded versions of previously released live albums, the other helped to rewite the history around a jazz masterpiece. Whilst all of the reviewers of the newly discovered A Love Supreme – Live in Seattle placed it in the context of Coltrane’s development from the release of the studio version to the Seattle Concert, identifying the huge leaps he had made in the, relatively few, intervening months, at the end of the day its what was in the grooves that counted. Probably the best album of the year, new or old.

1.   1. A Love Supreme – Live in Seattle – John Coltrane

2.   2. Mingus At Carnegie Hall – Charles Mingus

3.   3. The Complete Live At The Lighthouse – Lee Morgan 

Best Live Gigs

For most of the year there was nothing but tumbleweed so it’s hats off to the organisers of the NFOJAIM for making sure that went ahead and to all the other promoters who, over the years have brought some fantastic musicians to the North East. Hopefully, there will be more to see next year, though the Maria Schneider concert in January in London has been cancelled due to covid restrictions around the world.

My top 5 gigs of 2021 are : 

1.   1.  Fergus McCreadie at the Lit and Phil

2.   2.  John Pope Quintet at the Black Swan

3.   3.  Yussef Dayes at the Wylam Brewery

4.  4.   The Nikki Iles Jazz Orchestra at Hall 2 at The Sage

5.  5.   Archipelago at Gosforth Civic Theatre

Books

Finally, I haven’t read many good books about jazz this year, but one that deserves a mention is The History of Jazz by Ted Gioia. Well worth a day or so of anyone’s time. It’s a gateway to music you haven’t heard before and a prompt to dig out stuff you haven’t played for years.

Here’s to a swinging 2022.  Dave Sayer

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