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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, April 29, 2016

The Gala Big Band, @ The Gala Theatre, Durham - April 28

(Review by Jerry)
At the end of a dismal day, weather-wise, this rapidly improving big band (even bigger when augmented with a percussionist) gave a packed Gala audience a musical treat to cheer and warm. It was great fun!
The opener was one of the band’s favourites – Flight of the Foo Birds – and was followed by Miller’s Little Brown Jug featuring an excellent tenor sax solo. My apologies for being unable to name individuals – even the MD, Paul Edis, struggled with that in a name-check towards the end of the evening. My excuse (and his) was that it is a VERY big band.
Next up was a vocalist, Johnny Roxburgh (?) who likes Sinatra and who performs his songs with some panache. Here, it was I’ve Got You Under My Skin and in the second set we had Come Fly with Me: excellent stuff from this young Sage student.
Perdido followed, performed by a “small band” consisting of the rhythm section plus about 9 of the horns – a format repeated on two numbers in the second set: All Blues and Blue Monk.
This “small” format got even smaller as George, the pianist, on his last gig with the band (he will be much missed) did a dreamy duet of A Nightingale Sang in Berkley Square with Paul Edis on clarinet. Next, to wake us all up again, it was carnival time in Durham with the Edis’ original Mighty Samba – apparently inspired by a Nissan Micra! This is a great tune, made all the more Latino-rhythmic by the additional percussion available tonight
Georgia Brown got good applause, as always and then the first set stormed to a close with Techtonic, a high-octane Edis’ original featuring four baritone saxes and “rock” guitar in the talented hands of Francis Tulip
In the second set, All of Me featured Dave Skipsey on trumpet and Tuxedo Junction was greeted with whoops and cheers.
The MD admitted that his inclusion of Summertime in the set-list was ironic in a week which saw hail stop play at Durham’s Riverside Ground! The irony was then compounded in the second vocal offering of the evening with its repeated line about “weather-wise it’s such a lovely day…” Well, a lovely evening, anyway.
Despite one of them being entitled Mercy, Mercy, Mercy, the last two numbers were undiluted joy. First was The Timothys – familiar to all who have the Mr. Hipster CD, but here played with driving electric bass, an infectious guitar riff, and an absolute blast of sound from the many horns. Edis (wearing his MD hat) praised the band for their progress in such a short time, reminding us that this is a “hard tune”. The band absolutely aced it!
Jerry.

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