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Bebop Spoken There

Kurt Elling: ''There's something to learn from every musician you play with''. (DownBeat, December 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

17630 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 16 years ago. 904 of them this year alone and, so far, 49 this month (Dec. 20).

From This Moment On ...

December

Fri 20: Edison Herbert Trio @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. 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: Jason Isaacs @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 1:00-3:00pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Fri 20: Baghdaddies @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 20: Smokin’ Spitfires @ Platform 1, East Bedlington Community Centre. 7:00pm.
Fri 20: Pete Tanton’s Christmas @ 1719, Hendon, Sunderland. 7:30pm. CANCELLED!
Fri 20: Alligator Gumbo @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 20: Abbie Finn’s Finntet @ The Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. Opus 4 Jazz Club.
Fri 20: Brass Fiesta @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 10:30pm. Free.

Sat 21: Lindsay Hannon Quartet @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £15.00. ‘Swinging with Christmas Songs’.
Sat 21: Jason Isaacs @ Seaburn STACK, Seaburn. 3:30-5:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 21: Jackson’s Wharf Xmas Party @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 7:00pm. Free. Featuring the New ’58 Jazz Collective.
Sat 21: Brass Fiesta @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 10:30pm. Free.

Sun 22: Hot Club du Nord @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:00pm. £15.00. + bf. Xmas party. SOLD OUT!
Sun 22: Red Kites Jazz @ Gibside Chapel, nr. Rowlands Gill. 1:00pm. Admission charge applies.
Sun 22: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 22: Ruth Lambert Trio @ The Juke Shed, Union Quay, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 22: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 22: Revolutionaires @ Tyne Bar, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. Superb rhythm & blues outfit.
Sun 22: Laurence Harrison, Paul Grainger & Mark Robertson @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Line-up TBC.
Sun 22: The Globe Xmas Party @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. Live music (musicians TBC).
Sun 22: Ray Stubbs R & B All-Stars @ Zerox, Sandhill, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors).

Mon 23: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 23: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Wheatsheaf, Benton Sq., Whitley Road, Palmersville NE12 9SU. Tel: 0191 266 8137. 1:00pm. Free. CANCELLED!
Mon 23: Edison Herbert Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 4:00pm. Free.
Mon 23: Jason Isaacs @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 4:00-6:00pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Mon 23: Milne-Glendinning Band @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.

Tue 24: Lindsay Hannon & Mark Williams @ Ernest, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 11:00am-1:00pm. Free.
Tue 24: Paul Skerritt @ Mambo Wine & Dine, South Shields. 1:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.

Wed 25: Wot? No jazz!

Thu 26: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free. TBC.
Thu 26: The Boneshakers @ Tyne Bar, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. The 17th annual Boneshakers’ Shindig.

Reviewers wanted

Whilst BSH attempts to cover as many gigs, festivals and albums as possible, to make the site even more comprehensive we need more 'boots on the ground' to cover the albums seeking review - a large percentage of which never get heard - report on gigs or just to air your views on anything jazz related. Interested? then please get in touch. Contact details are on the blog. Look forward to hearing from you. Lance

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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