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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

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.

Fri 27: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 27: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free. Business as usual!.
Fri 27: Jason Isaacs @ Seaburn STACK, Seaburn. 3:30-5:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Fri 27: Michael Woods @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Country blues guitar & vocals.

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

Thursday, December 14, 2023

Dave Sayer’s Top 13 (?) of 2023

It’s not been a bad old year for jazz in my opinion. There’s been some good gigs, near and far, and a rich selection of new releases, some old stuff has been reissued, some has come out for the first time and some has escaped when it shouldn’t have, (Evenings At The Village Gate: John Coltrane with Eric Dolphy, I’m looking at you). Crate digging in charity shops has thrown up some real bargains again this year and there has been one jazz book which has stood head and shoulders above the others (the accompanying CD wasn’t half bad either). Enough with the preliminaries and on with the awards ...

In no particular order, the albums giving the chart toppers a run for their money are:

Marius Neset – Geyser

Tori Freestone and Alcyona Mick - Make One Little Room An Everywhere

Rob Luft – Dahab Days

Donny McCaslin- I Want More

John Pope Quintet – Citrinitas

Michael Moore, John Pope, Johnny Hunter – Something Happened

London Brew –London Brew

Espen Berg – The Hamar Concert

Elena Duni – A Time To Remember

The Top 4 are:

4. Corto Alto – Bad With Names

3. Yussef Dayes – Black Classical Music

2. Zoe Rahman – Colour of Sound

1. Lakecia Benjamin – Phoenix

My favourite re-issues/ release of previously unavailable albums were both by Pharoah Sanders,  namely Pharoah Sanders Quartet – Live At Fabrik  from 1980 and the re-issued with extra tracks Pharoah from 1976 and 1977.

The charity shop bargains cannot be ignored as the CDs continue to pile up at Sayer Towers. The best of those adding to the heap at stupidly bargain prices this year were Monks Dream – The Thelonious Monk Quartet; On A Clear Day – The Oscar Peterson Trio and No Looking Back – Paul Booth. The first two were briefly available for a quid each at Oxfam in Nottingham. (My Doctor and my wife both regard it as an addiction!)

In terms of live events the local scene continues to thrive but we do seem to miss out on a lot of touring artists. The Globe is, of course, the local venue of the year and the people there, along with Jazz North East continue to spoil us in the quality of what they promote. The Newcastle Festival of Jazz and Improvised Music is also worthy of high praise as is the associated New Jazz and Improvised Music Recordings record label which continues to release high quality music, such that you should buy anything on the label, even if you’re not sure what you will get. The label itself is guarantee enough.

Best gigs of the Year

1.     Ezra Collective at Cheltenham

2.     Lakecia Benjamin in London

3.     Zoe Rahman Octet in Newcastle

4.     John Pope Quintet in Newcastle (Album recording gig)

5.     Elina Duni and Rob Luft in London

6.     Lizz Wright at Cheltenham

Book of the Year

An easy choice to give the Gong to And Did Those Feet by Duncan Heining. Published by Jazz in Britain, it was accompanied by a double CD of music by the subjects of the book, namely Michael Garrick, Mike Gibbs, Barry Guy, John Mayer, Keith Tippett and Mike Westbrook. Book and CD cost £20 and either would have been a bargain on their own.

Here’s hoping for an equally good 2024. Dave Sayer

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