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Bebop Spoken There

Charles McPherson: “Jazz is best heard in intimate places”. (DownBeat, 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

16611 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 16 years ago. 1504 of them this year alone and, so far, 50 this month (July 23).

From This Moment On ...

July

Sat 27: BBC Proms: BBC Introducing stage @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 12 noon. Free. Line-up inc. Nu Groove (2:00pm); Abbie Finn Trio (2:50pm); Dilutey Juice (3:50pm); SwanNek (5:00pm); Rivkala (6:00pm).
Sat 27: Nomade Swing Trio @ Billy Bootlegger’s, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sat 27: Mississippi Dreamboats @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Sat 27: Milne-Glendinning Band @ Cafédral, Owengate, Durham. 9:00pm. £9.00. & £6.00. A Durham Fringe Festival event.
Sat 27: Theon Cross + Knats @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 10:00pm. £22.00. BBC Proms: BBC Introducing Stage (Sage Two). A late night gig.

Sun 28: Musicians Unlimited @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 28: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm.
Sun 28: Miss Jean & the Ragtime Rewind Swing Band @ Fonteyn Ballroom, Dunelm House (Durham Students’ Union), Durham. 2:00pm. £9.00. & £6.00. A Durham Fringe Festival event.
Sun 28: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 28: Ruth Lambert Trio @ The Juke Shed, Union Quay, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 28: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 28: Nomade Swing Trio @ Red Lion, Alnmouth. 4:00pm. Free.
Sun 28: Jazz Jam Sandwich! @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 28: Jeffrey Hewer Collective @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Sun 28: Milne Glendinning Band @ Cafédral, Owengate, Durham. 9:00pm. £9.00. & £6.00. A Durham Fringe Festival event.

Mon 29: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 30: ???

Wed 31: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 31: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 31: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

August

Thu 01: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:30pm. £4.00.
Thu 01: Funky Drummer @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Thu 01: Elsadie & the Bobcats @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Fri 02: Mainly Two @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Free (donations). SOLD OUT! Fri 02: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 02: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 02: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 02: Pete Tanton’s Chet Set @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm. POSTPONED!

Tuesday, July 19, 2022

Alter Ego @ Blaydon Jazz Club - July 18

(© Roly Veitch)
Dave Hignett (trumpet, flugelhorn); Keith Robinson (alto sax); Niall Armstrong (tenor sax, flute); Joe Steels (guitar); Tony Abell (bass guitar); David Johnson (drums)

Hotter than Hades, Blaydon Riviera Jazz Club welcomed Alter Ego. A sextet mining the Jazz Messengers' tradition with a measure of samba and a slew of band compositions, Alter Ego arrived with debutant Joe Steels in the (metaphorical) band bus. The established frontline - Dave Hignett, Keith Robinson and Niall Armstrong - would knock out some fine, no nonsense solos, supported by bassist Tony Abel and Tyne Valley Youth Big Band alumnus, drummer David Johnson. Oh, yes, and the new recruit, guitarist Joe Steels. 

Keith Robinson's Zippit opened the programme. Fine playing all round, the Alter Ego guys knew exactly what they were doing. During the evening the thought occurred that it must have taken hours of rehearsal time to 'get down' the horn arrangements. Readers all, all hitting their cues, the select audience liked what it was hearing. Niall Armstrong's Bacon Sandwich (yes, please!) as a samba, Quasimodal (more modal than Quasimodo) with Hignett on flugelhorn, Dog Leap Bounce featuring a tremendous alto solo by Robinson, this was modern jazz at its best. 
(© Roly Veitch)

Things were heating up (musically speaking!) and Bobby Watson's Wheel Within a Wheel added more fuel to the fire (furnace). The one-time Jazz Messengers' composition asks a lot of musicians - the horns' intricate interplay, the rhythm section holding it down - and the Alter Ego guys were more than up to the task. Following a short break (beers on the terrace overlooking the Tyne), Keith Robinson and co returned to the stage to pick up where they left off. More great work by the horns on Armstrong's subtle, tricky Undertones, Tony Abell's Llangranog Blues, Armstrong's Mustard Mash (Abell soloing), Andy Hawking's How Low the Sun channeled Bird (drummer Johnson in the spotlight), all in all a marvellous evening at the Black Bull. Special mention of Joe Steels - a fine guitarist, one would never have known this was his debut gig with the band. 

Next month's Blaydon Jazz Club session (Monday 15 August) presents the Stu Collingwood Organ Trio - that's Collingwood at the organ with Harry Keeble blowing tenor sax alongside drummer Abbie Finn. It should be a good one, eight o'clock start. Russell               
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