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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.

Saturday, November 15, 2014

Hebrides Ensemble: Dead Elvis @ Sage Gateshead. November 13.

(Review by Russell).
Elvis was in the building, supposedly. Dead or alive, he was keeping a low profile. A cursory glance along the concourse, a look in the café, the bar, the loo, not a sign. The main attraction (for some) couldn’t possibly be a ‘no show’, could he?        
Billed as ‘American classics with a cool vibe’, the Hebrides Ensemble presented six pieces to an attentive, and, belatedly, animated audience in Sage Gateshead’s Northern Rock Foundation Hall. Elvis (dead or alive), was top of the bill. We would have to be patient, other performers and composers were to be heard first. 
Darius Milhaud (a jazz connection via Dave Brubeck) opened the concert with Suite op 157b. Clarinet, piano (Huw Watkins) and viola played as classical musicians do – with precision. Soprano Claron McFadden took to the stage to sing three pieces. The first accompanied by piano, McFadden, seated, found dramatic expression and subtle humour in Thomas Adès’ work. On Stephen Montague’s Wild Nights (Emily Dickinson the source) McFadden stooped under the piano lid breathing life into the strings. Leonard Bernstein’s Dream with Me (an adaptation of JM Barrie’s Peter Pan) heard the soprano in reflective mood, seated once more, working with piano and William Conway’s cello.
The showstopper – Dead Elvis – certainly livened things up. A classical performance with dry ice smoke effects introduced Peter Whelan (aka Elvis). Variously fleet-fingered, brash and convincing (almost!), Whelan/Elvis walked the walk around the hall, turning heads as he and the band played on. So, this is what Elvis has been up to all these years!
Wynton Marsalis. A Fiddler’s Tale Suite. The real jazz element. The band assembled – trombone, trumpet (Ryan Quigley), double bass (May Halyburton), percussion, viola, clarinet and bassoon (a quick change into civvies for Whelan) – under the baton of Conway. Syncopation and swing with a N’Awlins drag, easy for Marsalis, not so easy for a contemporary classical ensemble (familiar with Stravinsky or not). Halyburton and percussionist Oliver Cox brought an element of authenticity to the performance but it just had to be Ryan Quigley to give it the seal of approval. Quigley sat with the others, reading the dots, no grandstanding for him. The final flourish – Marsalis-esque muted trumpet- made the whole endeavour worthwhile. Elvis may well be dead, long live Ryan Quigley!              
Russell.

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