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Bebop Spoken There

Dee Dee Bridgewater: “ Our world is becoming a very ugly place with guns running rampant in this country... and New Orleans is called the murder capital of the world right now ". Jazzwise, May 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

16434 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 16 years ago. 314 of them this year alone and, so far, 26 this month (May 9).

From This Moment On ...

May

Fri 17: Dave Newton & Dean Stockdale @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 17: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 17: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 17: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 17: Castillo Nuevo Trio @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 5:30pm. Free.
Fri 17: Strictly Smokin’ Big Band @ The Fire Station, Sunderland. 7:30pm. Album launch gig featuring Alan Barnes, Bruce Adams & Paul Booth!
Fri 17: Hot Club du Nord @ Seventeen Nineteen, Hendon, Sunderland. 7:30pm.
Fri 17: Dave Newton & Dean Stockdale @ Yamaha Music School, Seaforth St., Blyth. 7:30pm. £15.00.
Fri 17: Andrea Vicari Trio @ Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. £15.00. Opus 4 Jazz Club.

Sat 18: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:00-9:00pm. Free. Celebrating ‘10 years of the Jazz Jam!’. House trio: Alan Law, Paul Grainger, Tim Johnston. A Late Shows event.
Sat 18: SH#RP Collective @ Holy Name Parish Church Hall, Jesmond, Newcastle. 7:00-9:00pm. Tickets: £15.00. Bar available, BYO snacks. A Jesmond Community Festival event. All proceeds to Kabuyanda Charity (Ugandan health care).
Sat 18: Red Kites Jazz @ Staithes Café, Autumn Drive, Gateshead. 7:30pm.
Sat 18: Alligator Gumbo @ The Witham, Barnard Castle. 7:30pm.
Sat 18: Rockin’ Turner Brothers @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 18: Papa G’s Amigos special summer Latin set @ The Schooner, Gateshead NE8 3AF. 9:00pm. Free.
Sat 18: Late Night Special with Ruth Lambert & special guests @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 10:00pm-midnight. £5.00. (booking essential). Lambert & surprise jam session guests from down the years.

Sun 19: BTS Trombone Day @ Mark Hillery Arts Centre, Collingwood College, Durham University DH1 3LT. 11:00am-5:00pm. Free to British Trombone Society members (£10.00. & £5.00. to non-members). Recitals, workshops and mass blows.
Sun 19: Women Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. £25.00. Tutor: Andrea Vicari. Enquiries: learning@jazz.coop.
Sun 19: Ransom Van @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 19: Tweed River Jazz Band @ Barrels Ale House, Berwick. 7:00pm. Free.
Sun 19: Andrea Vicari Trio @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 20: Harmony Brass @ the Crescent Club, Cullercoats. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 20: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 6:00-8:00pm. Free. Opus de Funk: Horace Silver.
Mon 20: Joe Steels-Ben Lawrence Quartet @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £8.00.

Tue 21: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Alan Law, Paul Grainger, John Bradford.

Wed 22: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 22: Alice Grace Vocal Masterclass @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 6:00pm. Free.
Wed 22: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 22: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 22: Daniel Erdmann’s Thérapie de Couple @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm.

Thu 23: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 23: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Gateshead Central Library, Gateshead. 2:30pm.
Thu 23: Castillo Nuevo Trio @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 5:30pm. Free.
Thu 23: Immortal Onion + Rivkala @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 23: The Doris Day Story @ Phoenix Theatre, Blyth. 7:30pm.
Thu 23: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm. Guests: Jeremy McMurray (keys); Dan Johnson (tenor sax); Donna Hewitt (alto sax); Bill Watson (trumpet); Adrian Beadnell (bass).

Tuesday, April 16, 2024

Russ Morgan Quartet @ Blaydon Jazz Club - Apr. 15

(© Pam)
Harry Keeble (tenor sax); Mark Williams (guitar); Andy Champion (double bass); Russ Morgan (drums)

Blaydon Jazz Club's 40th anniversary concert series is shaping up nicely. This evening's concert featured the debut performance of the Russ Morgan Quartet. Other than a recent appearance at Darlington's Opus 4 Jazz Club working in the company of Paul Edis and Vasilis Xenopoulos, it had been a while since drummer Russ Morgan graced the regional jazz scene. His return to the stage here at the Black Bull on Bridge Street was eagerly anticipated and at a little after eight o'clock Pat Metheny's John McKee opened the show.

(© Pam)
Morgan's quartet - comprising Mark Williams and Andy Champion, both firmly established on the national stage, and relative newcomer, Harry Keeble - revelled in the material, the occasion and the support of an 'on-side' Blaydon Jazz Club audience. Don't Shoot the Messenger (John Scofield) and Wayne's Thang (Kenny Garrett) were but two first set highlights. And then we heard Yes or No, heard as never before. Wayne Shorter's composition is usually taken at a breakneck tempo, not this evening! An agonisingly slow tempo opened ears, a revelation to some, we were hearing the tune as if for the first time, evoking a Coltrane-like spirituality, quite amazing!

(© Pam)
Jim Hall has been a touchstone at Blaydon Jazz Club over the years and the late, great American guitarist's influence was in evidence once more as bandleader Morgan announced Frisell Frazzle. From one guitarist to another to another...Hall to Frisell to Mark Williams. Marvellous. And another notable six-stringer, John Abercrombie, provided another of the evening's numbers - Jumpin' In. Whichever modern/contemporary chart Morgan threw at his bandmates it didn't faze them one bit. 

Morgan's mastery of his chosen instrument was clear for all to see, at times spinning several plates, the hi-hat working overtime, Branford Marsalis' Mr Steepee no better example, Max, Philly Joe et al, this was some performance. The level of musicianship on display from all four musicians was of the highest order. Russ Morgan has been a big miss, that's for sure. Welcome back! Russell     
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