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Bebop Spoken There

Béla Fleck: “ And that's the great thing about live performances, you take people on a journey. It doesn't have to be like something else they've heard. It's not supposed to be". DownBeat, April, 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

16287 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 16 years ago. 169 of them this year alone and, so far, 41 this month (Mar 18).

From This Moment On ...

March

Thu 28: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 28: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Gateshead Central Library, Gateshead. 2:30pm.
Thu 28: Richard Herdman Quartet @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 28: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm. Guests: Josh Bentham (alto sax); Alan Marshall (tenor sax); Neil Brodie (trumpet); Adrian Beadnell (bass); Graham Thompson (keys); Steve Hunter (drums).

Fri 29: FILM: Soul @ The Forum Cinema, Hexham. 12:30pm. Jazz-themed film animation.
Fri 29: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 29: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 29: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 29: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 6:00pm. Free. POSTPONED!
Fri 29: Thundercat @ Newcastle City Hall.
Fri 29: John Logan @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sat 30: Papa G’s Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sat 30: Pete Tanton’s Cuba Libre @ Whitley Bay Library, York Road, Whitley Bay. 8:00pm.

Sun 31: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay Metro Station. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 31: Ruth Lambert Trio @ Juke Shed, Union Quay, North Shields NE30 1HJ. 3:00pm. Free. Lambert, Alan Law & Paul Grainger.
Sun 31: Sid Jacobs & Tom Remon @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. USA/London jazz guitar duo.
Sun 31: Bellavana @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

April
Mon 01: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 01: Ray Stubbs R&B All Stars @ Billy Bootlegger’s, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 3:00pm. Free.

Tue 02: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Dean Stockdale, Paul Grainger, Abbie Finn.

Wed 03: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 03: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 03: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Friday, February 05, 2010

John Hallam & The Roly Veitch Quartet @ The Saville Exchange, North Shields.

John Hallam (clt/ten/bar), Jeremy McMurray (pno), Andy Champion (bs), Roly Veitch (gtr), John Hirst (dms).
When I was young(er) if someone had asked me to choose my dream concert line-up I may well have came up with; Artie Shaw's Gramercy 5, the Stan Getz Quartet/Quintet, the Gerry Mulligan Quartet and possibly a Benny Goodman small group.
Nobody ever did ask me and, although they are now all dead, tonight the dream came true in the form of John Hallam.
On a wet night in North Shields the somewhat less than capacity audience who braved the unpleasant conditions were rewarded with an evening of musical magic from Manchester's John Hallam and the local Roly Veitch Quartet.
Deep Purple and Do You Know What it Means to Miss New Orleans - both had a Shavian fluency about them - the phrasing and, most of all the sound, were neo-Artie. Later John switched into Goodman mode for Stealing Apples.
On tenor he achieved the cool, without being cold, feel of Stan Getz. Whether on the uptempo Blues in the Closet or the almost sensuous take on A Nightingale Sang in Berkely Square he conjured up an image of Getz's classic 50's small groups.
The same effect on baritone 'cept this time it was Gerry Mulligan who provided the inspiration. Line For Lyons, a few Ellington's including Love You Madly and I Let a Song Go Out of My Heart - all that was missing from this "Mulligan's Stew" was a Chet Baker vocal (wonder where we could have found one of those in this band?).
Behind John, the Roly Veitch Quartet provided not just the kind of support a strolling player needs but they also held their heads up high individually.
Roly, modest and restrained as ever, on his mildly miked-up Epiphone was the epitome of taste and tasty solo flights. Jeremy McMurray, this was his kind of gig and his solos proved it. Andy Champion - the jury returned on Andy a long time ago. The verdict was unanimous: 'guilty as charged of being one of the best bassists around.'
And on drums! John Hirst. A young man capable of crossing many genre and able to say more in his four bar exchanges than some others do in a ten minute solo.
This was an evening of sheer pleasure and a laudable attempt to introduce the Saville audience to jazz sans banjo.
Next month Daryl Sherman and Digby Fairweather.
Lance.

1 comment :

John said...

Thanks for your very generous review of the concert.
It was a pleasure to come along and play with a cracking rhythm section and have such a very attentive audience.
Hope to be able to come up again sometime.

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