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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 ...

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.

Sat 10: Miners' Picnic @ Woodhorn, Ashington. Music inc. Northern Monkey Brass Band (3:00-3:50pm); New York Brass Band (4:00-4:55pm).
Sat 10: Front Porch Three @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. Americana, blues, jazz etc.
Sat 10: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

Sun 11: WORKSHOP: Tim Richards' Jazz Piano Workshop @ JG Windows, Newcastle. Time TBC. Further details tel. 0191 232 1356.
Sun 11: Jeremy McMurray's Pocket Jazz Orchestra @ Ropner Park, Stockton TS18 4EF. 2:00-4:00pm. Free.
Sun 11: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:30pm. Free.
Sun 11: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 3:00pm.
Sun 11: Groovetrain @ Innisfree Sports & Social Club, Longbenton NE12 8TY. Doors 6:30pm. £15.00 (£7.00. under 16).
Sun 11: Jeffrey Hewer Collective @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 12: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

Tue 13: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 13: Infusion Trio @ Forum Music Centre, Darlington. 7:30pm.
Tue 13: Alice Grace & Pawel Jedrzejewski @ Black Swan, Newcastle Arts Centre. 8:00pm. £12.00 (£10.00. adv.).

Thursday, May 25, 2023

Strictly Smokin' Big Band @ the Bridge, Newcastle - May 25

Michael Lamb (MD), Billy Bradshaw, Dick Stacey, Gordon Marshall (trumpets); Jamie Toms, Matt Forster, Keith Robinson, Steve Summers, Sue Ferris (reeds); Mark Ferris, Kieran Parnaby, Chris Kurgi-Smith, John Flood (trombones); Pawel Jedrzejewski (bass guitar); Graham Don (keys); Guy Swinton (drums); Alice Grace (vocals)

A couple of 30 minute sets went down as well as the pints of Doom Bar etc. Seats were at a premium and so they should be - this was the sale of the century and it was free. It does however, call into question gigs that are free, 'jar on the bar' or raffle supported. I'm not going to pursue this further at this stage but I think that it is a subject very much open for discussion.

Technically I suppose this would be classed as an open rehearsal with the band digging deep into their library's back catalogue.

It was an interesting journey, the hiccups were few and the highlights were many.

Alice had most bites of the cherry. She was, as always, excellent although the balance/sound system didn't do her any favours. The arrangement by Marty Paich of Can't we be Friends? really worked - just as it originally did for Sammy Davis Jr. If Alice can hook on to any more arrangements by a guy who was one of the all-time greats then it won't do her any harm - they worked for Mel Tormé!

Pete Tanton had gone AWOL to Cuba - well not the Cuba - but across town to the Prohibition Bar. Billy Bradshaw was called up from the bench. He only had but one solo - the chorus that split Alice's vocal on You Turned the Tables on me - but it sizzled!

MD Lamb also did some sizzling in his solos and, whilst Toms, Summers, Forster, Kurgi-Smith, Flood, Don, Pav and Guy  were also heard to great effect, it was Parnaby's feature on Frankie, Johnny and Keiran that won the cigar. A solo in the Ellington tradition that saw him growling like 'Tricky Sam' or Quentin Jackson would have done had they'd auditioned successfully for this magnificent band. 

They're heading off to a sold-out gig in Halifax. Our man, Russell, suggested there was nothing better to do in Halifax. He could have replaced 'Halifax' with 'anywhere'. Lance

Walk Spirit, Talk Spirit; I Love Being Here With You; Filthy McNasty; Orange Colored Sky; Ol' Man River; Switch in Time; People Will Say We're in Love; Spain; St. Louis Blues; Frankie, Johnny and Keiran; Every Time we Say Goodbye; A Flower is a Lovesome Thing; Can't we be Friends?;Almost Like Being in Love; So in Love; You Turned the Tables on me

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