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Bebop Spoken There

Kelly Sill: "Just because everyone is playing through the changes in the same time doesn't mean they're actually playing together" - (JazzTimes March/April 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

15260 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 279 of them this year alone and, so far, 92 this month (March 29).

From This Moment On ...

April

Sun 02: Smokin' Spitfires @ The Cluny. 12:45pm.
Sun 02: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 3:00pm.

Mon 03: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

Tue 04: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 04: Jam session @ Black Swan, Newcastle Arts Centre. 7:30pm. House trio: Bradley Johnston (guitar); Paul Grainger (double bass); Abbie Finn (drums).

Wed 05: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 05: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 05: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 7:00pm.
Wed 05: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 06: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 06: Thursday Night Prayer Meeting @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Donations. Feat. John Pope, Marie Shreer, John Garner.
Thu 06: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibtion Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Ragtime piano. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.
Thu 06: Darlington Big Band @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm. Note earlier start time.

Fri 07: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 07: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 07: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 07: Gaz Hughes Trio @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm.
Fri 07: Mark Toomey Quartet @ Traveller's Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. £8.00.
Fri 07: Finntet + Zoë Gilby & Andy Champion @ Bobik's, Punch Bowl, Newcastle. 8:00pm. JNE.
Fri 07: TBA @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig. Blind Pig Blues Club.

Sat 08: Me Lost Me + Ceitidh Mac + Heather Ferrier @ Bobik's, Punch Bowl, Newcastle. 7:30pm. JNE.
Sat 08: Joseph Carville Trio @ The Vault, Darlington Covered Market, Darlington DL1 5PN. 6:00pm. New venue, live jazz!
Sat 08: Rendezvous Jazz @ Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00. RESCHEDULED from last week (Sat 01).
Sat 08: Robbie Reay @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Acoustic blues. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.
Sat 08: Anth Purdy @ Mr Tighe's, Bebside, Northumberland. 8:30pm.

Friday, March 17, 2023

Gerry Richardson Quartet @ Hoochie Coochie - March 16

(© Malcolm Sinclair)
Gerry Richardson (organ, vocals); Garry Linsley (alto sax); Rod Sinclair (guitar); Paul Smith (drums)

The rarely spotted Gerry Richardson Quartet have recently been seen and heard twice. The Globe last month and tonight at Hoochie Coochie. Enough to make a soul/funk/jazz/blues twitcher to er well start twitching!

And twitch we did. The northeast has produced the UK's two finest exponents of the B3 or, in this case, a Crumar, in the form of the late Mike Carr and Gerry Richardson. Strong words I know but I'm open to discussion.

(© Malcolm Sinclair)
Mike, like Gerry, practically tap danced on the bass pedals whereas many of their more illustrious American counterparts worked with an actual bass player. Whatever, it's what works best for you.

The programme tonight was familiar although there were a couple of additions. One was definitely a work in progress and one which I thought was the standout number of the night - Midnight Special. Keep this one in the book!

The beauty of this band is the ambience it creates, particularly in Hoochie, a venue dedicated. to black music. You could be in Philly, Detroit, Chicago or Newcastle, these guys have nailed it.

Apart from Gerry, Garry blows alto like no man ever did on Tyneside since the late Nigel Stanger. Rod Sinclair handles a Telecaster like they were destined for one another and Paul Smith is just so so right for this band (and many others) he gives them the impetus to go for the unobtainable which often proves to be not unobtainable at all.

Thank you Warren and thank you Gerry for a night that was so good it would have cured everything from near death to toothache. Lance

Theme tune; Everybody's Cryin' Mercy; Money's Getting Cheaper; African Sunset; All We Do; All About McGriff; Lady Day and John Coltrane; Midnight Special; Sunny; Mercy, Mercy, Mercy; Memphis Underground; I Put a Spell on You.

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