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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

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: 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.

Sat 28: Jason Isaacs @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 11:30am. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 28: Fri 20: Castillo Nuevo @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 5:30pm. Free.
Sat 28: Jude Murphy, Rich Herdman & Giles Strong @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sat 28: Ray Stubbs R & B All-Stars @ Billy Bootlegger’s, Stepney Bank, Newcastle. 9:00pm. Free.

Sun 29: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 29: Alexia Gardner Quintet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

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

Monday, July 29, 2024

Sunday night @ the Globe - The Jeffrey Hewer Collective - July 28

Jeffrey Hewer (guitar); Eliot Richards (tenor sax); Elliot Roffe (bass); Steve Hanley (drums)

After Saturday night's party atmosphere on the streets of Newcastle's city centre, by comparision, Sunday night was relatively quiet. Perhaps the weather had drawn the populace to the sun-kissed beaches of Whitley Bay or South Shields. Certainly the sun hadn't enticed them to the Globe even though it shone brightly through the jazz bar's windows daring the curtains to be drawn to create an intimate jazz club atmosphere. Alas King Sol won the day and the curtains remained undrawn.

At first it looked as though the band were going to outnumber the audience but, as the Hewer Collective prepared to kick start proceedings with a belting original - Westfield Blues - the ratio had risen to over 3:1 in favour of the audience. I was beginning to feel claustrophobic.

Sun or no sun the room should have been crowded. What was there not to like? Without a Song, with a nod towards Sonny Rollins from Richards and to Joe Pass from Hewer (he even looks like the late maestro). This  had the hard bop feel of a night at, say, the Village Vanguard. This was good and it was getting better by the minute.

Steve Hanley, one of the UK's top drummers opted for the most minimalist of drum kits: snare drum, bass drum, hi-hat and a couple of ride cymbals. No tom-toms or tiddly-om-pom-poms. What you saw is what you got and Steve got plenty out of his set-up.

Bass and tenor were new names to me and both were called Elliot/Eliot. I've never came across a band where half of them were called Elliot or a variation of but it seemed to be a good formula.

Polka Dots and Moondreams is a beautiful ballad, despite Johnny Burke's lyric which didn't do the 'pug-nosed dream' any favours as Eliot the sax pointed out. Nevertheless, the tune made up for it as did the band's sympathetic approach.

Back to Bopland for Bud Powell's John's Abbey with a fantastic bass and drums workout. Roffe gets a great bass sound and, even though he isn't called Elliot, Hanley produced some magical sounds from the means at his disposal.

The set concluded with You Stepped Out of a Dream and the band stepped out to catch the setting sun. The audience stayed put. Nobody was leaving.

Cole Porter's Everything I Love was beautifully rendered. A nice easy swing that preceded Hewer's own Lean  In To It which in turn was followed by Embraceable You. The Gershwin tune didn't quite cut it for me although this was possibly because it was bookended by the aforementioned Lean  In To It and Benny Golson's Stablemates - two Derby winners.

Danish drummer Snorre Kirk's Going Up inspired a couple to put some dance moves to the music. The two genres synchronized well.

To finish, what could be better than Dizzy's Woody 'n' You? Some good old bebop served up for today. If you missed it in favour of Acapulco or Cullercoats just remember that your sun tan will eventually fade but music like this is timeless. Lance

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