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Bebop Spoken There

Delfeayo Marsalis: "Slide Hampton once told me that it's not always the person that is playing the highest or playing the fastest that's making the greatest impact." - (DownBeat March 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

15229 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 248 of them this year alone and, so far, 61 this month (March 20).

From This Moment On ...

March

Mon 20: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Mon 20: Central Bar Quintet plays Wes Montgomery @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 7:30pm. Feat. Joe Steels.

Tue 21: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 21: Jam session @ Black Swan, Newcastle Arts Centre. 7:30pm. House trio: Jacob Egglestone (guitar); Jamie Watkins (bass guitar); Bailey Rudd (drums).

Wed 22: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 22: Darlington Big Band @ Traveller's Rest, Cockerton. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public). Note change of venue - this week only.
Wed 22: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 7:00pm.
Wed 22: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 23: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 4:00-6:00pm. Free.
Thu 23: NUJO Jazz Jam @ Bar Loco, Newcasatle. From 6:30pm 'til late. Free. Newcastle University Jazz Orchestra jam session. All welcome (students & non-students).
Thu 23: Kerrin Tatman + John Garner & John Pope @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 23: Sunna Gunnlaugs & Julia Hülsmann @ Sage Gateshead. 8:00pm. A two-piano gig. A Sage Gateshead-JNE promotion.
Thu 23: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Ragtime piano.
Thu 23: Sleep Suppressor @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £10.00., £8.00. adv. Upstairs.
Thu 23: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 24: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 24: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 24: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 24: FILM: Mo' Better Blues @ Forum Cinema, Hexham. 7:00pm.
Fri 24: Ian Millar & Dominic Spencer @ Scarth Hall, Staindrop, Co. Durham. 8:00pm. £10.00.
Fri 24: Archipelago + Bulbils @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.

Sat 25: Vermont Big Band @ Walker Community Centre, Walker, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Fundraiser for Benfield Juniours Football Club. Hot food available, BYOB.
Sat 25: John Logan & Friends @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Rat Pack, Motown etc. 8:00pm. Free (donations).

Sun 26: Musicians Unlimited @ Park Inn, Hartlepool. 1:00pm.
Sun 26: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 3:00pm.
Sun 26: Outlines @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. JNE promotion (upstairs).

Mon 27: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

Monday, November 14, 2022

Sunday Night @ the Globe: Sam Braysher Trio - Nov. 13

(© Ken Drew)
Sam Braysher (alto sax); Andrew Robb (bass); Alyn Cosker (drums).

Music, and jazz in particular, is a funny old thing. You go to a gig and, afterwards, can't wait to buy the album. Conversely, you buy the album and look forward to hearing the band live. In either scenario the results aren't always what you expect.

Last night was just such an occasion. In March last year I'd waxed eloquently over Sam's album Dance Little Lady, Dance Little Man - the album from which much of the evening's programme was drawn - and enjoyed it immensely. However, there's a difference between listening to something in the comfort of a centrally heated bedroom (those were the days) with the volume and the thermostats turned up and shivering your timbers down some mean streets in a north eastern winter only to find the band were starting late as they were dining in a Persian restaurant - as if there weren't any caffs in Newcastle.

(© Ken Drew)
Hoagy's Heart and Soul, a tune that anyone whose fingers have been within touching distance of a piano knows that the melody can be picked out using only the black notes, had an attractive quirkiness on the album that didn't quite come across live. Nevertheless, once I accepted that this wasn't going to be a put the boot in and cause the audience to holler "uncle" type of gig it became quite enjoyable.

A good selection of lesser known and less hackneyed standards did nothing to numb the senses although the general consensus of opinion seemed to be that Sam's original Pintxos was the standout number of the first set.

Over the past few days I've heard a veritable plethora of saxophone players including the Sax Summit livestream from the 606 and the WDR Big Band album Birth of a Bird  so there were plenty of grounds for comparision and Braysher, who was himself part of last year's Sax Summit, because of his cooler approach didn't lose out.

On drums Cosker was, by his standards, relatively restrained using,  to good effect, sticks, brushes, hands and timp sticks as the occasion demanded. He was also let off the leash on Pintxos and One Note Samba. Andrew Robb, that doyen of Scottish bass players, slotted in perfectly - when does he not?

All in all, a pleasant if not earth shattering gig. Unfortunately, their trip to Iran put my travel schedule awry which meant I had to depart early although not before I'd heard a beautiful version of Some Other Spring. Lance 

Heart and Soul; The Sweetest Sounds; Little White Lies; This is New; Pintxos; This Nearly Was Mine; Walking the Dog; For Regulars Only; Lady Luck; One Note Samba; Some Other Spring...

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