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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

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.

Thu 28: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 28: Alice Grace Quartet @ King's Hall, Newcastle University. 1:15pm. Free.
Thu 28: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Gateshead Central Library, Gateshead. 2:30pm. All welcome.
Thu 28: Faye MacCalman + Snape/Sankey @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 28: Zoe Rahman @ Jesmond United Reformed Church, Jesmond, Newcastle. 7:30pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Thu 28: '58 Jazz Collective @ Hops & Cheese, Hartlepool. 7:30pm.
Thu 28: Speakeasy @ Queen's Hall, Hexham. 7:30pm. £15.00. A Southpaw Dance Company presentation. Dance, audio-visuals, Count Basie, Benny Goodman, swing dancers etc.
Thu 28: Mick Cantwell Band @ Harbour View, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Ace blues band.
Thu 28: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Monday, November 28, 2022

Nu Civilisation Orchestra: Joni Mitchell's Hejira & Mingus @ Fire Station, Sunderland - Nov. 27

This was some occasion. An eighteen piece big band's end of tour concert drew a sizeable audience to Sunderland's pride and joy, the Fire Station on High Street West. Tomorrow's Warriors is an institution, and under the guidance of its Artistic Director, Gary Crosby, the Nu Civilisation Orchestra is an ensemble boasting established names working alongside some of tomorrow's star names. The music of Joni Mitchell required a vocalist capable of doing justice to the legendary Canadian singer-songwriter's songbook...step forward ESKA. 

Technical issues delayed the advertised start by some twenty minutes but once we got going it was well worth the wait. Peter Edwards, baton in hand, counted 'em in, ESKA singing A Chair in the Sky. As the evening progressed it became evident that many Joni Mitchell fans were in attendance. What would the non-jazz fan make of it all? Horns, strings, an ace rhythm section, backing vocalists, the ensemble respectful of the material, ESKA's vast range delighting Mitchell aficionados, the jazz fans digging the soloists and ensemble work. Time and again ESKA  came up with the goods, not least on Furry Sings the Blues. Our vocalist vacated the stage, leaving it to the Nu Civilisation Orchestra to go into overdrive on Haitian Fight Song. This was Mingus coming out fighting, slugging anyone who got in his way. Wow! 

Special mention of Denys Baptiste, quiet, yet magisterial, particularly on Goodbye Pork Pie Hat. And then, and then...bassist Jihad Darwish (known to some as Jo Harrop's bass player), absolutely immense in the role of Jaco Pastorius. A standing ovation, Janine Irons presenting Edwards and ESKA with end-of-tour bouquets, Edwards turned to the audience: Would you like another one? As one, the emphatic reply: Yeah! The Nu Civilisation Orchestra went out on God Must be a Boogie Man. Yes, indeed. Russell        
    
Peter Edwards (conductor); ESKA (vocals); Will Gibson (alto sax, flute); Denys Baptiste (tenor sax); Rhiannon Jeffreys (baritone sax, flute); Becca Toft (trumpet); Rosie Turton (trombone); Georgio Serci (acoustic guitar); Maria Grapsa (piano, keyboards); Jihad Darwish (bass guitar); Eddie Hick (drums); Tello Morgado (percussion); Rhiannon Dimond (violin); Valeria Pozzo (violin); Jules Dos Reis (viola); Miranda Lewis (cello); Cara Crosby-Irons, Kianja Harvey-Elliott, Loucin Moskofian (backing vocals)

Set list included: A Chair in the SkyHejiraRefuge of the RoadFurry Sings the BluesAmeliaGoodbye Pork Pie HatHaitian Fight SongBlack CrowGod Must be a Boogie Man.

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