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Bebop Spoken There

Branford Marsalis: "As ignorance often forces us to do, you make a generalisation about a musician based on one specific record or one moment in time." - (Jazzwise June 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

15491 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 512 of them this year alone and, so far, 133 this month (May 31).

From This Moment On ...

Wed 07: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 07: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 07: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 7:00pm.
Wed 07: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 08: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free. CANCELLED! BACK ON JUNE 15.
Thu 08: Easington Colliery Brass Band @ The Lubetkin Theatre, Peterlee. 7:00pm. £10.00.
Thu 08: Faye MacCalman + Blue Dust Archive @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 08: Dilutey Juice + Ceramic @ The Ampitheatre, Sea Road, South Shields. 7:00pm. Free. A South Tyneside Festival event.
Thu 08: Lara Jones w. Vigilance State @ Lubber Fiend, Blandford Square, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 08: Michael Littlefield @ the Harbour View, Roker, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Country blues.
Thu 08: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 09: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 09: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 09: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 09: Castillo Nuevo @ Revolución de Cuba, Newcastle. 5:30-8:30pm.
Fri 09: Emma Rawicz @ Sage Gateshead. 8:00pm.

Sat 10: Miners' Picnic @ Woodhorn, Ashington. Music inc. Northern Monkey Brass Band (3:00-3:50pm); New York Brass Band (4:00-4:55pm).
Sat 10: Front Porch Three @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. Americana, blues, jazz etc.
Sat 10: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

Sun 11: WORKSHOP: Tim Richards' Jazz Piano Workshop @ JG Windows, Newcastle. Time TBC. Further details tel. 0191 232 1356.
Sun 11: Jeremy McMurray's Pocket Jazz Orchestra @ Ropner Park, Stockton TS18 4EF. 2:00-4:00pm. Free.
Sun 11: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:30pm. Free.
Sun 11: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 3:00pm.
Sun 11: Groovetrain @ Innisfree Sports & Social Club, Longbenton NE12 8TY. Doors 6:30pm. £15.00 (£7.00. under 16).
Sun 11: Jeffrey Hewer Collective @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 12: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

Tue 13: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 13: Infusion Trio @ Forum Music Centre, Darlington. 7:30pm.
Tue 13: Alice Grace & Pawel Jedrzejewski @ Black Swan, Newcastle Arts Centre. 8:00pm. £12.00 (£10.00. adv.).

Thursday, March 10, 2022

GNBBJF - Sunday March 6 (Youth Section)

Eight youth bands rolled up at Park View Community Centre, each one determined to claim the coveted title of 'Best Band'. Bands from either side of the Pennines joined local heroes Durham Music Service Youth Big Band for an afternoon of competitive action under the watchful eye, make that listening ear, of adjudicators Mick Donnelly and Marcus Brown. Family, friends, supporters, the hall, located just off Front Street in Chester le Street, filled up as the audience took their seats for an afternoon of non-stop action. 

First up at two o'clock, the aforementioned local heroes Durham Music Service Youth Big Band (MDs Billy Bradshaw and Amy Leggett). Five numbers - Neal Hefti's Sunday MorningDorian Journey described by one sheet music seller as 'a perfect choice for the youngest of jazz players', Chameleon, Carl Strommen's Poco Loco and Peter Edwards' Amanhã Está Aqui - were tackled with real enthusiasm and no little skill. Principal soloists Heather Kim (alto sax), Eoghann Furness (tenor sax), trumpeters Chris Caygill, Theo Cieslik and Isaac Moore scored well, as did Sam Davis (trombone) and pianist Joel Meadowcroft. 

Musica Holme Valley Big Band (MD Gavin Brown) presented a varied set ranging from Watermelon Man and Superstition to Nat Cole's Straighten Up and Fly Right to a Gordon Goodwin chart. Trombonist (and vocalist on the Nat Cole number) Christopher Martin acted as MC. It couldn't have been easy for a young man under the spotlight to be multi-tasking, well done to him! 

Harrogate Youth Jazz Orchestra (MD Will Osborn) hit Chester le Street with a great-looking programme: a Jacob Mann chart, the familiar Birks Works, a Bob Curnow arrangement of Pat Metheny's Every Summer Night and, best of the lot, Roy Hargrove's Strasbourg/St Denis featuring fine ensemble work and an excellent trumpet solo by Euan O'Connell.

Musica Colne Valley Big Band (MD Julian Wightman) pitched in with Gordon Goodwin's Hit the Bricks, an unlikely (unlikely at a big band event) Green Onions and Randy Newman's The Flik Machine from A Bug's Life. Trumpeters Joseph Haigh and James Zbos impressed. 

Wigan Youth Training Jazz Orchestra (MD Sharon Darby-Purcell) opened with the sing-a-long Louie Louie, pianist Sofia Reis-Coop laying down the riff. Tuxedo Junction served as an ensemble piece, Woodchopper's Ball a solid big band chart. 

The return to the GNBBJF by Scissett Youth Band (MD Johnny Beevers) guaranteed one thing - everyone in the hall was about to have a good time. Playing it as New Orleans street brass band, standing in a semi-circle (see photo), their set was more about the energy generated by the ensemble work than an 'ensemble with solo' approach. One of Whitney Houston's many hits - I Wanna Dance with Somebody - just about got 'em up dancing, at the very least shuffling in their seats. The Youngblood Brass Band's 2013 number Third Half closed an entertaining set.

The mighty Wigan Youth Jazz Orchestra (MD Dave Little) returned to the GNBBJF to defend its title. As the musicians walked out on to the stage it was obvious they meant business (see photo). Suited and booted, it was as if they were one-nil up before the down beat. Gordon Goodwin, more than any other big band composer/arranger, is the big attraction for bands at Park View Community Centre. It's been that way for some years and the American's popularity shows little sign of waning. Opening with Goodwin's Fool Me Once (Olga Aasgaard, trumpet) let everyone in the hall know what they're about. Superb! Tumbleweed blew across the auditorium. Sting in the Tail (Gil Evans), Birdland (close your eyes and Mr Z was in the hall), more Metheny (If I Could) and to top it all, Chick Corea's show-stopping Spain (Ishy Aasgaard, trombone). What a performance! But wait! GNBBJF 2022 had one more band to hear from.

Musica Youth Jazz (MD Adam Kingham) had the unenviable task of following WYJO. Chris Martin, heard earlier singing with Musica Holme Valley Big Band, sang a sturdy Stormy Weather and to close a weekend of outstanding big band jazz, Musica Youth Jazz turned to the Big Phat Band one more time (Gordon Goodwin) for a rousing Count Bubba

It had been a long weekend, every minute of it hugely enjoyable. As the adjudicators deliberated, the stage was reset one more time. Messrs Mick Donnelly and Marcus Brown assumed their choreographed positions and the indefatigable Bill Watson read out the results: 

The Mark Jon Bolderson Percussion Foundation award: Max, drummerHarrogate Youth Jazz Orchestra

Special Presentation: Tony Eales, long-serving assistant to GNBBJF director Bill Watson

Best Programme: Harrogate Youth Jazz Orchestra

Best Section: Trumpet Section, Wigan Youth Jazz Orchestra

Best soloist: Ishy Aasgaard, trombone Spain (Wigan Youth Jazz Orchestra)

Best Band: Wigan Youth Jazz Orchestra 
Russell                                

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