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Bebop Spoken There

Spasmo Brown: “Jazz is an ice cream sandwich! It's the Fourth of July! It's a girl with a waterbed!”. (Syncopated Times, 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

17328 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 16 years ago. 612 of them this year alone and, so far, 17 this month (Sept. 5).

From This Moment On ...

September

Sun 08: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 08: Giles Strong Quartet @ BAA Fest, Brownrigg Lodges, Bellingham. 2:40pm.
Sun 08: Eva Fox & the Jazz Guys @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 08: Graham Hardy’s Eclectic Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 09: Mark Williams Trio @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 1:00pm. £9.00.
Mon 09: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 10: ???

Wed 11: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 11: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 11: The Tannery Jam Session @ The Tannery, Gilesgate, Hexham. 7:00-9:00pm. Free. A ‘second Wednesday in the month’ jam session.
Wed 11: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 12: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 12: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:30pm. £4.00. ‘A Great Day in Harlem’.
Thu 12: The Cuban Heels @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Pete Tanton & co.
Thu 12: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesborough. 8:30pm. Free. THC with guests Donna Hewitt, Bill Watson, Dave Archbold, Adrian Beadnell, Mark Hawkins.

Fri 13: Jeff Barnhart & Neville Dickie @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Two pianos, two pianists! SOLD OUT!
Fri 13: Noel Dennis Quartet @ The Old Library, Auckland Castle, Bishop Auckland. 1:00pm. £8.00.
Fri 13: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 13: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 13: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 13: Dilutey Juice @ Old Coal Yard, Byker, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £11.00. adv..
Fri 13: Ray Stubbs R & B All-stars @ The Forum, Darlington. 7:30pm. Classic blues.

Sat 14: Jeff Barnhart’s Silent Film Fest @ St Augustine's Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. Darlington New Orleans Jazz Club.
Sat 14: Customs House Big Band w. Ruth Lambert @ St Paul’s Centre, St Paul’s Gardens, Spennymoor DL16 7LR. 7:00pm (6:45pm doors). Tickets £10.00. from the venue or tel: 01388 813404. A ‘BYOB’ event.
Sat 14: Emma Wilson @ Claypath Deli, Durham. 7:00pm. £12.00. Acoustic blues.
Sat 14: Rat Pack - Swingin’ at the Sands @ Billingham Forum. 7:30pm.

Monday, October 03, 2022

Celebrating the Life & Music of Pharoah Sanders @ Prohibition Bar - Oct. 2

Sue Ferris (tenor sax, flute); Josh Bentham (tenor sax, soprano sax); Tom Atkinson (guitar, vocals); Jude Murphy (double bass, vocals); Jeff Armstrong (drums)

A couple of days after Pharoah Sanders died Tom Atkinson contacted a bunch of fellow musicians to see who was available to pay tribute to the influential post-bop, free jazz-inclined American saxophonist. Within the week a gig had been arranged and publicised and at half past seven or thereabouts on Sunday evening a five piece band took to the stage at Prohibition Bar.

No rehearsal, a last minute change to the advertised line-up, Atkinson and co. hit the ground running. Announcements were kept to a minimum - nothing new there! - as bandleader Atkinson preferred to let the music speak for itself. Sanders' standards repertoire didn't feature at all, nor the full-on post-Trane material. What we got was Sanders, some Sonny Sharrock and a whole lotta excellent musicianship from the sight reading quintet. 

Middle period Sanders yielded Sonny Sharrock's Promises Kept and the set-closing The Creator Has a Master Plan. Throughout an extended, one set performance, guitarist Atkinson, the reeds of Sue Ferris and Josh Bentham, bassist Jude Murphy (pitching up from an earlier engagement) and drummer Jeff Armstrong produced a fine tip-of-the-hat to Sanders. In the engine room Armstrong was a picture of concentration, Murphy's sight-reading of pulsating bass charts couldn't have been bettered. And then there was Ferris, absolutely nailing her solos, and full marks to Bentham for stepping in and more than doing a job. 

Tom Atkinson should be congratulated for playing this kind of material which, by and large, has been sidelined. On the local Tyneside jazz scene - and no doubt elsewhere - as a rule it's either bop or contemporary, the bit in between, that's Sanders and his fellow travellers, have been largely forgotten. More power to Atkinson's musical elbow. Russell

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