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Bebop Spoken There

Spasmo Brown: “Jazz is an ice cream sandwich! It's the Fourth of July! It's a girl with a waterbed!”. (Syncopated Times, July, 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

17346 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 16 years ago. 630 of them this year alone and, so far, 35 this month (Sept. 11).

From This Moment On ...

September

Thu 12: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 12: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:30pm. £4.00. ‘A Great Day in Harlem’.
Thu 12: The Cuban Heels @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Pete Tanton & co.
Thu 12: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesborough. 8:30pm. Free. THC with guests Donna Hewitt, Bill Watson, Dave Archbold, Adrian Beadnell, Mark Hawkins.

Fri 13: Jeff Barnhart & Neville Dickie @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Two pianos, two pianists! SOLD OUT!
Fri 13: Noel Dennis Quartet @ The Old Library, Auckland Castle, Bishop Auckland. 1:00pm. £8.00.
Fri 13: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 13: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 13: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 13: Dilutey Juice @ Old Coal Yard, Byker, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £11.00. adv..
Fri 13: Ray Stubbs R & B All-stars @ The Forum, Darlington. 7:30pm. Classic blues.

Sat 14: Jeff Barnhart’s Silent Film Fest @ St Augustine's Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. Darlington New Orleans Jazz Club.
Sat 14: Customs House Big Band w. Ruth Lambert @ St Paul’s Centre, St Paul’s Gardens, Spennymoor DL16 7LR. 7:00pm (6:45pm doors). Tickets £10.00. from the venue or tel: 01388 813404. A ‘BYOB’ event.
Sat 14: Emma Wilson @ Claypath Deli, Durham. 7:00pm. £12.00. Acoustic blues.
Sat 14: Rat Pack - Swingin’ at the Sands @ Billingham Forum. 7:30pm.

Sun 15: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 15: Jude Murphy, Steve Chambers & Sid White @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 15: Tweed River Jazz Band @ Barrels Ale House, Berwick-upon-Tweed. 7:00pm. Free.
Sun 15: Panharmonia @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 16: Swing Manouche @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 1:00pm. £9.00.
Mon 16: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 16: John Hallam with the James Birkett Trio @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00. A Blaydon Jazz Club 40th anniversary concert!

Tue 17: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Victoria & Albert Inn, Seaton Delaval. 12:30pm. £13.00. Tel: 0191 237 3697. ‘Indian Summer Afternoon Tea’.
Tue 17: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Joe Steels (guitar); Paul Grainger (double bass); Abbie Finn (drums).

Wed 18: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 18: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 18: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 18: Hot Club of Heaton @ Elder Beer, Heaton, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘third Wednesday in the month’ session.

Saturday, June 03, 2023

Guy Davis @ The Cluny, Newcastle - June 2

Guy Davis (guitar, banjo, vocals)

Blues on a summer's evening down in the Ouseburn. It had been some fifteen years since Guy Davis was last in town. Thanks to the efforts of Jumpin' Hot Club and Rob Heron, the American troubadour took to the stage in Cluny 2 in front of a full house. Opening with Limetown, Davis was in good voice and fine fettle. The rapturous reception which followed told Davis all he needed to know, the Ouseburn blues crowd was most definitely 'onside'.

The traditional blues Baby, Please Don't Go, first popularised by Big Joe Williams back in the thirties, Wille Dixon's SpoonfulMy Eyes Keep Me in Trouble, as performed by Muddy Waters, Davis played and sang the blues alright, but there was more to the man, much more. Coming from a folk-blues background, Davis knew and worked with the Seegers, Bob Dylan figured - Just Like a WomanLay, Lady Lay - as did a whole lot of Davis originals. Vocals, conducting the choir (the onside audience), the guitar-picking, banjo-playing Davis had them in the palm of his hand.

A story teller, Davis told some stories. From the fun Shakey Pudding to the downright serious Palestine, Oh Palestine, Davis had something to say and no one was going to stop him. A couple of numbers playing banjo, lots of guitar and vocals, it was fully ninety minutes later when the Cluny blues crowd reluctantly let him leave the stage.      

Earlier, the duo of Michael Littlefield and Scott Taylor opened the show.          

Michael Littlefield (guitar, vocals); Scott Taylor (harmonica, vocals)

The last time the King Bees' frontmen played Cluny 2 it was in support to Cedric Burnside. The boys apologised for being a few minutes late, they'd been enjoying a beer in the sun (King Bees are a self-proclaimed 'drinking band'. I'll drink to that!). Their casual demeanour belies a feeling, a real feeling, for the blues. Two local lads, if you didn't know who they were, you could be forgiven for thinking they'd just flown in from Chicago. Blues heroes and legends featured throughout their set: John Brim, Big Bill Broonzy, Washboard Sam, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee, Muddy Waters, Sonny Boy Williamson.

Their shared vocals were right on the money, Littlefield's guitar playing right out of the blues guitar handbook, Taylor's harmonica playing would see him survive in Chicago's South Side blues clubs. Thanks again to Jumpin' Hot Club. Russell      

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