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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

17395 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 16 years ago. 679 of them this year alone and, so far, 74 this month (Sept. 22).

From This Moment On ...

September

Sat 28: Bellavana @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 6:00pm. Free.
Sat 28: Gramophone Jass Band @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm (6:00pm doors). Free. A supergroup comprising members of the Tenement Jazz Band, Easy Rollers & Magpies of Swing. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sat 28: Paul Edis @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 7:30pm. £15.00. + £0.38 bf.
Sat 28: Taupe + Warp/Weft + Jeepe Zeeberg & the Absolute Pinnacle of Human Achievement @ Cumberland Arms, Byker, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £10.00. Tickets from: www.seetickets.com. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & improvised Music event in association with Endless Window & JNE.
Sat 28: Jason Isaacs @ Spanish City, Whitley Bay. 7:00pm. £38.00. (inc. 3-course meal). Isaacs on stage at 9:00pm.

Sun 29: Musicians Unlimited @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 29: Jason Isaacs @ Seaburn STACK, Seaburn. 2:00-4:00pm. Free.
Sun 29: Ruth Lambert Trio @ The Juke Shed, Union Quay, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 29: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 29: Emma Smith with the Strictly Smokin’ Big Band @ The Common Room, Newcastle. 5:30pm (4:30pm doors).
Sun 29: Laubrock/Rainey/Hunter/Pope @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & improvised Music event in association with JNE & Jazz Alert.
Sun 29: Jazz Jam Sandwich! @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Mon 30: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

October

Tue 01: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Michael Young, Paul Grainger, Sid White.

Wed 02: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 02: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 02: The Horne Section’s Hit Show @ The Gala, Durham. 7:30pm. SOLD OUT!
Wed 02: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 03: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 03: Maggie Nicols & Tim Dalling: Practices of Freedom workshop @ The Tute, Ridley Terrace, Cambois NE24 1QS. 7:30pm. Free. Book at: www.eventbrite.com.
Thu 03: Alcyona Mick + Juliana Day @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.00. & £10.00. + bf. NFOJIM (Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music) in assoc. w. Northern Silents & JNE.
Thu 03: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. Ragtime piano. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 03: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesborough. 8:30pm. Guest band night w. '58 Jazz Collective led by trumpeter Kevin Eland with Paul Donnelly (guitar); Donna Hewitt (saxes); Dave Archbold (keys); John Daniel (bass); Terry Popple (drums). Free.

Fri 04: Satoko Fujii @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. £8.00. NFOJIM in assoc. w. JNE & Lit & Phil.
Fri 04: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 04: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 04: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 04: Amirtha Kidambi w. Manon McCoy @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 6:20pm. £8.00. + bf. NFOJIM in assoc. w. Gem Arts, JNE & Lit & Phil.
Fri 04: Ziv Taubenfeld/Olie Brice/Kresten Osgood + Andy Champion + Izumi Kimura & Gerry
Hemingway @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 7:20pm. £10.00. + bf. NFOJIM in assoc. w. JNE & Lit & Phil.
Fri 04: Maggie Nicols & Tim Dalling: As I Sing & Breathe @ The Tute, Ridley Terrace, Cambois NE24 1QS. 7:30pm. Free. Tickets: www.eventbrite.com. ‘Songs & Improvisations’ - Nicols, Dalling & guests.
Fri 04: Jeremy McMurray & the Pocket Jazz Orchestra @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm.
Fri 04: John Rowland Quartet @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Monday, June 03, 2024

The New Century Syncopated Six @ the Prohibition Bar, Newcastle - June 2

© Russell
Jim McBriarty (alto/soprano sax, clarinet, vocals); Gavin Lee (tenor sax, clarinet); Dave Hignett (trumpet, cornet); Keith Stephen (banjo); Phil Rutherford (tuba); Nick Ward (drums)

A step back in time at the appropriately named Prohibition Bar. The New Century Syncopated Six, an off shoot of the New Century Ragtime Orchestra, played a couple of sets that typified the era of bathtub booze - fortunately the attempt at authenticity didn't stretch that far!

I think the most modern number played last night was composed around 1929 although most were from a year or two earlier. Some familiar and some completely unknown. Still, good music is timeless and if it was good enough for Al Capone who would dare to complain?

The gig was announced as a public rehearsal and we were warned in advance that there may be a glitch or three. Well, maybe there were but they were few and it was a tribute to the band's sight reading ability that, for the most part they went unnoticed.

It was all good fun and the audience of fans and fellow musicians soon formed a rapport with the band.

Guesting with the band was, probably, the world's tallest drummer - Birmingham based Nick Ward - he may also be the world's best in this particular genre. He arrived by Metro complete with folding drum kit!

Jim McBriarty sung and swung, his Boehm system clarinet offering a tonal contrast to Gavin Lee's simple system instrument. Both reedmen sounded authentic on sax, their vibratos spot on.

I understand Dave Hignett is a relative new member of the organisation. Bold and brassy he slotted in nicely.

Phil Rutherford pumped away on tuba and Keith Stephen played banjo, adding to the authenticity of the music.

Holding it all together was the band's Svengali, Dave Kerr, who, as he does with the NCRO, arranged, composed, transcribed and organised much of the music.

A pleasant way to spend a sunny afternoon in Newcastle. Lance

Stomp Your Stuff; Blowing Off Steam; Dinah; Candy Lips; Someday Sweetheart; Riverboat Shuffle; Sunshine; San; Rumba Negra; Chicago Rhythm; Angry; Sobbing Blues; Everybody Loves my Baby; Memories of You; Hot Air

1 comment :

Elizabeth Bacon said...

A really lovely afternoon of superb quality music a fabulous venue too

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