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Bebop Spoken There

Branford Marsalis: "As ignorance often forces us to do, you make a generalisation about a musician based on one specific record or one moment in time." - (Jazzwise June 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

15491 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 512 of them this year alone and, so far, 133 this month (May 31).

From This Moment On ...

June

Sat 03: Newcastle Record Fair @ Northumbria University, Newcastle NE8 8SB. 10:00am-3:00pm. Admission: £2.00.
Sat 03: Pedigree Jazz Band @ St Augustine's Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm.
Sat 03: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. Tutor: Sue Ferris. £25.00. Enrol at: www.jazz.coop.
Sat 03: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 6:00pm. Free.
Sat 03: Rendezvous Jazz @ Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.
Sat 03: Papa G's Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

Sun 04: Smokin' Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm.
Sun 04: Central Bar Quintet @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00-4:00pm. £5.00. The Central Bar Quintet plays Sonny Rollins' Saxophone Colossus. Featuring Lewis Watson.
Sun 04: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 3:00pm.
Sun 04: Struggle Buggy + Michael Littlefield @ Tyne Bar, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. Acoustic blues.
Sun 04: Swinging at the Cotton Club: Harry Strutters' Hot Rhythm Orchestra @ The Fire Station, Sunderland. 7:30pm.
Sun 04: Richard Jones Trio @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Sun 04: Jam No. 18 @ Fabio's Bar, Saddler Street, Durham. 8:00pm. Free. All welcome. A Durham University Jazz Society event.

Mon 05: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

Tue 06: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 06: Jam session @ Black Swan, Newcastle Arts Centre. 7:30pm. House trio: Stu Collingwood (piano); Paul Grainger (double bass); Sid White (drums).

Wed 07: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 07: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 07: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 7:00pm.
Wed 07: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 08: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free. CANCELLED! BACK ON JUNE 15.
Thu 08: Easington Colliery Brass Band @ The Lubetkin Theatre, Peterlee. 7:00pm. £10.00.
Thu 08: Faye MacCalman + Blue Dust Archive @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 08: Dilutey Juice + Ceramic @ The Ampitheatre, Sea Road, South Shields. 7:00pm. Free. A South Tyneside Festival event.
Thu 08: Lara Jones w. Vigilance State @ Lubber Fiend, Blandford Square, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 08: Michael Littlefield @ the Harbour View, Roker, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Country blues.
Thu 08: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 09: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 09: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 09: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 09: Castillo Nuevo @ Revolución de Cuba, Newcastle. 5:30-8:30pm.
Fri 09: Emma Rawicz @ Sage Gateshead. 8:00pm.

Tuesday, March 28, 2023

Sanaz Lavasani @ The Black Swan - March 28

(© Mike Tilley)
Sanaz Lavasani (vocals); Alan Law (piano); Paul Grainger (bass); Abbie Finn (drums)

A superb session - no other word can describe it!

From the kick ass opener, Cole Porter's Miss Otis Regrets to the closing Smile/Get Happy closer there was ne'er a dull moment. Lavasini can sing, she can swing, she can do ballads - you name it.

Her range, whilst not quite that of Maria Callas, isn't far short and, coupled with a bit of, say, Etta James she can sing anything from Mozart to Mose Allison although neither of those two cats were in her repertoire but they could have been.

(© Mike Tilley)
If this is starting to sound like a rave review it isn't because, totally unprompted, I felt vindicated when she said she wouldn't be singing Summertime because so many others had already done it - AMEN!

After Miss Otis, which set a very high bar, Someone to Watch Over me had a laid back verse before the shit hit the fan when she upped the tempo on the chorus.

It just got better and better - if that was possible. Even Secret Love, which ranks only a few places above Summertime in my bottom ten list was ok.

A couple of West Side Story songs - Cool and I Feel Pretty - brought us to The Man I Love. A great number sung beautifully. I love the line 'Maybe Tuesday will be my good news day'. Well this was Tuesday and what this lady was putting down certainly made it a good news day although the histrionic/Arabic/whatever coda may not have pleased the Gershwins!

The set closed with Too Darn Hot from my favourite musical Kiss me Kate. And, even without the distraction of Ann Miller's legs (in the film) which I always thought were much shapelier than Betty Grable's (ask your granddad!), it was a zinger.

(© Mike Tilley)
A short set, a short interval and time to have a short chat with friends - nice to catch up Jen - before the trio returned to play The Good Life. How good the local jazz life is having these three 'guys' on the scene. As well as having their own things going they could handle it anywhere (but don't tell anyone, otherwise they'll be snapped up by Blue Note).

Lavasani returned to sing A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square. I love this song and I recall being mesmerised some years ago after hearing Mel Tormé singing it with George Shearing at the RFH. This version ran it close.  

(© Mike Tilley)
A couple of Berlin/Astaire numbers - They Can't Take That Away From me and Cheek to Cheek could have had the room dancing (space permitting) before a bit of Disney - I Wanna be Like You. Ronnie Young and the Phoenix Jazzmen never did it this good even though they had Sting on bass! Put that on your CV Paul Grainger!


Hushabye Mountain left me a little bit cold but Sunny upped the temperature into double figures.
(© Mike Tilley)

The grand finale wasn't that grand. Smile isn't really a wonderful a number whereas Get Happy is. Combining the two worked and the crowded room stamped their feet and demanded more. Sanaz confessed they hadn't rehearsed any more tunes. Me, I'd have had no regrets if they'd reprised Miss Otis. Lance

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