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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

17346 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 16 years ago. 630 of them this year alone and, so far, 35 this month (Sept. 11).

From This Moment On ...

September

Mon 16: Swing Manouche @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 1:00pm. £9.00.
Mon 16: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 16: John Hallam with the James Birkett Trio @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00. A Blaydon Jazz Club 40th anniversary concert!

Tue 17: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Victoria & Albert Inn, Seaton Delaval. 12:30pm. £13.00. Tel: 0191 237 3697. ‘Indian Summer Afternoon Tea’.
Tue 17: Jason Isaacs @ St James’ STACK, Newcastle. 3:00-5:00pm. Free.
Tue 17: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Joe Steels (guitar); Paul Grainger (double bass); Abbie Finn (drums).

Wed 18: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 18: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 18: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 18: Hot Club of Heaton @ Elder Beer, Heaton, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘third Wednesday in the month’ session.

Thu 19: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 19: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Ragtime piano. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 19: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesborough. 8:30pm. Free. THC with guests Kevin Eland, Dan Johnson, Jeremy McMurray, Ron Smith.

Fri 20: Lindsay Hannon’s Tom Waits for No Man @ Gala Theatre, Durham. 1:00pm. £8.00.
Fri 20: Rob Hall & Chick Lyall @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Free (donations). SOLD OUT!
Fri 20: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 20: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 20: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 20: Leeway @ 1719, Hendon, Sunderland. 7:30pm. The Old Black Cat Jazz Club. CANCELLED!
Fri 20: Gaz Hughes Trio @ Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. Opus 4 Jazz Club.

Sat 21: Jason Isaacs @ Seaburn STACK, Seaburn. 1:00-2:45pm. Free.
Sat 21: Baghdaddies @ Two by Two, Albion Row, Byker, Newcastle NE6 1RQ. 6:00pm.
Sat 21: Jude Murphy & Alan Law @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 22: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 22: Jason Isaacs @ St James’ STACK, Newcastle. 2:30-4:30pm. Free.
Sun 22: Dulcie May Moreno Quartet @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm.
Sun 22: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 22: Richard Herdman @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 22: Remy CB Band @ Blues Underground, Nelson St., Newcastle. 8:30pm. Free. Remi, 2024 Newcastle Uni graduate, superb soul/blues voice!

Sunday, February 12, 2023

The Slowlight Quartet @ Immediate Audio, Newcastle - Feb. 11

Tom Quilliam (soprano sax, tenor sax, baritone sax); Paul Loraine (keyboards); Ian 'Dodge' Paterson (bass, synth); John Hirst (drums) + YVA (vocals); Athol Cassidy (guitar); Liam Gaughan (studio recording engineer)  

This was something different. Tucked away in a corner of the Ouseburn on a rundown industrial estate lies a recording studio. The first of four performances over the course of the weekend by the recently reformed Slowlight Quartet, this Saturday afternoon recording session is slated to be part of a forthcoming 'live' album. For this project, the Slowlights - Tom Quilliam, Paul Loraine, Ian 'Dodge' Paterson and recent recruit John Hirst - were augmented by vocalist YVA and guitarist Ath 'Athol' Cassidy. 

The studio is best described as 'homely', a 'mix-and-match' selection of chairs, carpets and rugs on the floor with an adjacent small kitchen (help yourself to a beer, coffee etc) and loo. The hardware/software is, no doubt, high end stuff. Looking after all of it, the familiar figure of Liam Gaughan. As the select audience made its way into the studio, headphones were issued to one and all. As the instruments were being fed into the desk, without the cans it wouldn't be possible to hear anything other than Tom Quilliams' reeds and John Hirst's kit. We were encouraged to make some noise, applause most definitely the order of the day.

During the course of the following ninety minutes or so the Slowlights would unveil a raft of new material (pianist Paul Loraine the composer). Note, the following song titles are 'best guess' (corrections welcome). The Slowlights' music has been described as 'cinematic' (sweeping arc etc) and that's as good as any, however with the addition of YVA's vocals (aka Amy Holford) there is an element of 'nu soul' or 'neo soul', call it what you will. FirmamentOne Day at a Time, both featuring YVA, made for a good start. Bassist Ian Paterson switching between bass guitars and synth, Tom Quilliam alternately blowing soprano, tenor and baritone saxophones, Loraine discreetly directing/overseeing matters suggested many hours of rehearsal time has honed the material and these sessions were simply about laying it down.  

Guitarist Ath Cassidy shone on the bluesy ElatedGranite Boy tore it up, Quilliam and Hirst trading on a groove, the cans came off to listen to the exchange 'acoustically', as it were, Hirst taking it out in some style. Lullaby (for the end of the world) is a recent release and we heard it on this first of four sessions. The Slowlight Quartet's forthcoming album release is one to look out for and it's odds on gigs are in the offing. Russell 

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