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Bebop Spoken There

Simon Spillett: “ Bebop and hard bop came naturally to him [Tubby Hayes]". Morning Star, March 28, 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

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.
Fri 29: True Colours @ Barrels Ale House, Berwick. 9:00pm. Blues, jazz & swing.

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.

Thu 04: FILM: Soul @ Forum Cinema, Hexham. 2:00pm. Jazz-themed film animation.
Thu 04: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 04: Funky Drummer @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Thu 04: Eva Fox & the Jazz Guys @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 04: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm.

Monday, September 26, 2016

Scarborough Jazz Festival 2016 - Saturday September 24: Barnes/O’Higgins & the Sax Section

(Review by Russell).
As the Spa festival stage crew prepared the platform for the Alan Barnes/Dave O’Higgins saxophone summit a piano tuner quietly went about his business at the Bösendorfer     grand. This an example of the attention to detail, central to the smooth running of a major jazz festival. The Grand Hall audience took five, the room sweltering on a late September Scarborough afternoon.
Alan Barnes and Dave O’Higgins worked together regularly at the Pizza Express in Soho in the 1980s: ‘every Monday evening for about twelve years’ recalled Barnes. O’Higgins nodded, perhaps pondering the intervening years, one suspects gone in a trice! Here at the 2016 Scarborough Jazz Festival the Barnes/O’Higgins’ Sax Section took to the stage with a casual air, virtuosi ready to go to work. The main men, flanked on their left by Sammy Mayne, described by Barnes as his favourite alto sax player, and on baritone, a favourite of Humphrey Lyttleton, Karen Sharp. To their right, playing tenor sax, Judith O’Higgins.

Behind the front line but well up to the mark, the first rate rhythm section of the depping Gareth Williams (fellow pianist Robin Aspland stranded in motorway traffic!), swinging drummer Sebastiaan de Krom and the impressive double bass player Adam King. Names: Dexter, Wardell, Lockjaw; tunes: The Chase, Chelsea Bridge, Oh, Gee!  Yes, a gig to die for! Band soloists ranged right across the front line and the engine room boys. Ms Sharp found her way around the baritone as if playing a quicksilver alto. Audiences like Karen Sharp! Sammy Mayne, blushing at Barnes’ high praise, played killer alto, yet never took to grandstanding. This wasn’t a ‘blazer and slacks’ gig, at least sartorially, rather in style, musically speaking. The two-tenor O’Higgins’ partnership heard Dave in robust form, a more refined Judith stating her case. Alan Barnes is Alan Barnes, isn’t he? Consistency a byword, Barnes introduced the numbers – End of a Love Affair (a feature for Sharp), the Dexter Gordon/Wardell Gray version of The Chase (arr Dave O’Higgins) and a Barnes’ arrangement of Benny Carter’s Just a Mood.

The Grand Hall audience laboured in the heat, Barnes quipped they were ready for their cocoa! That perked them up, just in time for Lockjaw Davis’ rousing Oh, Gee! The Sax Section is a festival winner – familiar names, likewise tunes, jazz at its best. Adam King impressed. A first in-concert hearing for your reviewer of the young London-based bass player, add the name to the list of ‘first call’ musicians. Lean, at a distance not dissimilar to Andy Cleyndert, then the realisation that King has a similar approach; time, his sound subservient (in the best sense) to the tune. A fine set from the Barnes/O’Higgins’ combo.    

Russell.
Alan Barnes (alto & soprano saxophones, clarinet), Sammy Mayne (alto saxophone), Dave O’Higgins (tenor saxophone), Judith O’Higgins (tenor saxophone), Karen Sharp (baritone saxophone), Gareth Williams (piano), Adam King (double bass) & Sebastiaan de Krom (drums)

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