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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.).

Sunday, May 21, 2023

The Windy City Weatherbirds @ Darlington New Orleans Jazz Club - May 20

Magnus Pickering (cornet, vocals); Joe Pickering (reeds); Daniel Pickering (trombone); Harrison Dolphin (guitar); Paul Grainger (double bass); Robbie Ellison (drums)

Darlington New Orleans Jazz Club always pulls a crowd. If it's a Saturday lunchtime at St Augustine's on Larchfield Street then there's every chance of hearing the sounds of jazz from 'way down yonder'. Today's offering came from the Deep South alright, 'way down yonder in London town'. Yes, the Windy City Weatherbirds, on their first trip 'up north' were about to play a third and final concert on their north of Watford Gap mini tour. Yesterday the Weatherbirds played to a full house lunchtime audience at the Lit and Phil in Newcastle followed by a marvellous evening session in Hexham. Today it was the turn of Darlington's jazz fans to hear what the Weatherbirds were all about. 

First of all, the lads - Magnus, Joe, Daniel, Harrison and Robbie plus one Mr P Grainger - proved to be 'no bother' types, just the sort you hope to encounter at a gig. St Augustine's filled up, the Weatherbirds, almost entirely unamplified (what a rarity!) took to the stage, and for the next couple of hours they set about entertaining all present. The programme familiar (Newcastle, then Hexham, now Darlington), and all the better for that, band leader Magnus Pickering wasn't accustomed to singing without a mic but what a great job he made of it, his voice projecting to the far reaches of the room. The front-line Pickering brothers took the bulk of the solos, guitarist Harrison Dolphin, with minimal amplification, gabbed one or two for himself, the audience as attentive as an audience could be, letting the young man know they liked what they were hearing. 

The rhythm section - guitarist Harrison, drummer Robbie Ellison and the one dep on the tour, bassist Paul Grainger - purred like a well-oiled machine. All the more remarkable given that a little more than twenty four hours earlier Paul met up with the Weatherbirds for the first time!      

The set list mirrored - and expanded upon - those in Newcastle and Hexham...I Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate, If I Had YouAt the Jazz Band Ball, Magnus, Joe to his right, Daniel to his left, soloed with ease, almost with abandon, their fluidity more than impressive.    
   
The Windy City Weatherbirds have acquired many new fans 'up north'. Introducing the band one more time, Magnus referred to their dep bassist as 'the magnificent Paul Grainger'. Say no more! The consensus at all three gigs - Newcastle, Hexham and Darlington- was that the band should make a return visit, one wag suggesting 'next week'! They'll be back, you can bet on it. Russell     

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