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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.

Monday, March 25, 2013

Compassionate Dictatorship @ The Bridge Hotel, Newcastle.. March 24, 2013

Tori Freestone (tenor saxophone), Jez Franks (guitar), Dave Manington (double bass) & James Maddren (drums)
(Review by Russell)
Another freezing ‘spring’ evening. Will the big freeze ever end? Perhaps global warming has plunged us into twenty thousand years of sub-zero temperatures. Oh, well, the Bridge Hotel’s heating (30 centigrade) did the trick and the hard-core audience turned out to hear Compassionate Dictatorship. It comes to something when just about everyone is on first name terms!
As for the band, co-leaders Tori Freestone and Jez Franks hadn’t been up to Newcastle for a while, bassist Dave Manington’s CD Hullabaloo was reviewed recently in these pages by Debra Milne and first call drummer James Maddren has been to Tyneside so often of late that Honourary Geordie status could soon be conferred upon him! The frontline pairing of Franks (guitar) and Freestone (tenor) write the material and on this occasion the new CD Entertaining Tyrants provided the bulk of the tunes across two sets. Franks’ Ratios and Bubble and Squeak (named after drummer Tim Giles’ children – no, they’re not called that) opened the programme with a first solo for bassist Dave Manington on the latter number. Freestone’s The Chophouse (the name of a pub in Manchester) was written for trumpeter Neil Yates (soon to be heard at this year’s Gateshead International Jazz Festival) and further illustrated the band’s forte - a cohesive group sound, largely devoid of up-front soloing. The first set concluded with Franks’ Anger Management, a tune inspired by a saxophonist. I wonder who it could be? Freestone’s tenor was politely angry - a case of successful anger management!
The interval raffle was re-drawn as the winning ticket holder was thought to be downstairs at the bar (hard luck Bill!) and we cracked-on with the second set. Frank’s Mushroom Effect led to Freestone’s Pottering Around (name the influential tenor player…) which featured a Maddren drum solo. A Franks’ ballad - Sit Tight - confirmed the guitarist’s command of his Gibson. Universal 4, dedicated to the virtuoso vibraphonist Jim Hart (he counts in everything in 4/4 regardless of the time signature - good for a laugh!), ended an enjoyable evening. An encore was called for and Joni Mitchell’s Both Sides Now (arr. Freestone) captured the spirit.  
Russell.             

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