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Bebop Spoken There

Art Blakey: "You [Bobby Watson] don't want to play too long, because you don't know they're clapping because they're glad you finished!" - (JazzTimes, Nov. 2019)..

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

15848 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 855 of them this year alone and, so far, 53 this month (Sept. 18).

From This Moment On ...

September

Thu 21: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 21: La Malbec Orchestra @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Thu 21: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Ragtime piano. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.
Thu 21: Linsday Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ Harbour View, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 21: Ray Stubbs R & B All Stars @ The Schooner, Gateshead. 8:30pm. Free.
Thu 21: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 22: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 22: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 22: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 22: Brief Encounter @ Bardon Mill Village Hall, Northumberland. 7:00pm. Tickets: £10.00. adv from 07885 303166; £12.00. on the door. Chris & Veronica Perrin improvising to a screening of the 1929 'Jazz Age' silent film Piccadilly (Dir. Ewald André Dupont).
Fri 22: Paul Edis & Graeme Wilson + Three Tsuru Origami @ Jesmond United Reformed Church, Newcastle. 7:30pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Fri 22: Crooners @ Tyne Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm.
Fri 22: Abbie Finn's Finntet @ Traveller's Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. Opus 4 Jazz Club.

Sat 23: Tyne Valley Big Band @ Tanfield Railway, Gateshead. 2:00-4:00pm. Free. A '1940s Weekend' event.
Sat 23: Jason Isaacs @ Stack, Seaburn. 3:30-5:30pm. Free.
Sat 23: Andrew Porritt & Keith Barrett @ Cullercoats Watch House, Front St., Cullercoats NE30 4QB. 7:00pm.
Sat 23: Michael Woods @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig. Country blues.

Sun 24: Musicians Unlimited @ Park Inn, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 24: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.

Mon 25: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Mon 25: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 7:00pm.

Tue 26: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.

Wed 27: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 27: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 27: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Friday, May 13, 2022

Jo Harrop: The Heart Wants Tour @ Hoochie Coochie - May 12

Jo Harrop (vocals); Paul Edis (piano); Jihad Darwish (bass); James Kitchman (guitar); Steve Hanley (drums).

We love Jo - she's a singer who's at the top of her game with, maybe goodness knows what else she still has in store for us.

Last night's show at Hoochie was proof of her versatility as the somewhat less than capacity crowd discovered to their audible delight. The majority of the numbers were from her most recent album, The Heart Wants and were, with a couple of exceptions such as Duke's All Too Soon, mainly lyrics by Harrop, music by Edis.

On the album there's a 'cast of thousands' whereas here, it was whittled down to a quartet without losing any impact. The sound wasn't perfect. Too much bass in the first set and too much treble in the second but that, I was told later, could well have been due to where I was sitting as it seemed to be fine elsewhere in the room. Whatever, Jo's voice overrode any such obstacles real or imagined. Is there a better singer around? Maybe, maybe not.

It was good to hear James Kitchman all these years after serving his 'apprenticeship' at the Chilli with Dave Weisser and Take it to the Bridge. Originally from Hexham he'll be gigging at his hometown festival over the weekend as will the rest of the band including Jo.

Any gig that involves Paul Edis whether as a pianist, composer or arranger is going to be good. Tonight he wore all three hats, need I say more?

Steve Hanley pops up quite frequently with various line-ups and slotted in nicely here. His exchange of fours with Jo's scatting on one of the ringers (from a different album) What a Little Moonlight Can do went someway to curing my allergy to that over cooked jazz tradition (fours).

Bassist Jihad Darwish first came to my attention when he appeared here last month with the Jazz Defenders. I was knocked out then and I failed to beat the count again last night. Soloing, supporting or playing rich-toned intros he's your man.

A great gig that should have had them queuing around the block which once again raises the question of the jazz audience's parochialism. I don't know if this is peculiar to the north east but each venue seems to have its own crowd and rarely do the twain meet. If they did, all gigs would, by necessity, take place at The Arena. Let's hope more make the pilgrimage to Hexham Abbey - Lance

The Heart Wants; Everything's Changing; Charade*; What If?; Dangerous Love*; Home*; Hold On; I Think You'd Better go; Rome Wasn't Built in a Day*; What a Little Moonlight Can do*; All Too Soon; Life Inside; Red Mary Janes & a Brand New Hat; If I Knew; Wise Words; Nothing We Can Do*; Guilty*; Fine and Mellow*

* Not from The Heart Wants.

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