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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.

Thursday, June 10, 2010

John Hallam @ Blaydon Jazz Club

John Hallam (clt/ten/bar), Roly Veitch (gtr), Jeremy McMurray (pno), Neil Harland (bs), John Hirst (dms).
Having modestly imbibed at Rosie's during the afternoon I was reluctant to drive to Blaydon. It is a tortuous drive in the early evening as the city's workforce head for home whilst testing their Formula One skills in the process.
I opted for public transport - I've got a pass having lied about my age (that's two lies) - and Metro-ed to Gateshead where I boarded a number 49 bus.
It was a scenic route through a multitude of housing estates each one trying to outdo the other in the number of satellite dishes and flags of St George.
The World Cup approacheth. It wasn't all positive - one household already had the flag at half-mast...
However, I digress, this isn't about football it's about a far more beautiful game - the game of jazz.
John Hallam was superb tonight blowing tenor on Just Friends, a Victor Young tune, Was I to Blame For Falling in Love With You? and a belting Blues in the Closet.
On clarinet we enjoyed Where or When? and Putting on the Ritz before John donned the baritone for a sumptuous Dream a Little Dream of me followed by Ellington's I Let a Song Go Out of my Heart.
This brought us up to the interval where I hit for a bottle of Chianti in the raffle. Coincidentally, earlier in the day I had received a postcard from Colin Aitchison with a drawing of Raffles Hotel in Singapore - was that an omen or was that an omen?
My joys were not over.
After What is This Thing Called Love and Out of Nowhere on tenor came a clarinet feature - I Would Do Anything For You - a Claude Hopkins tune from way back that I picked up again on a Harry Allen CD.
It's been one of my favourite tunes ever since and this was the first time I recall hearing it played live although I'm sure I must have - superb.
It goes without saying the other guys too were great. Roly, I thought, excelled and the sound he got was my kind of guitar sound - nice round tone - he was worried about playing through the PA but he needn't have it was good.
Jeremy, John and Neil were all first class.
It occurred to me that on another night any one of the quartet could be the headline star.
At this point my bus was due so with apologies all round I bounced off into the night still humming I would swim the ocean wide, I would cross the great divide, I would do most anything for you... I love the tune although I'm not sure of the line - I would do most anything for you - most anything? Hardly total commitment. Still I always say total commitment is overrated.
Splendid evening.
Lance.

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