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Bebop Spoken There

Raymond Chandler: “ I was walking the floor and listening to Khatchaturian working in a tractor factory. He called it a violin concerto. I called it a loose fan belt and the hell with it ". The Long Goodbye, Penguin 1959.

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

16350 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 16 years ago. 230 of them this year alone and, so far, 27 this month (April 11).

From This Moment On ...

April

Sat 20: Record Store Day…at a store near you!
Sat 20: Bright Street Band @ Washington Arts Centre. 6:30pm. Swing dance taster session (6:30pm) followed by Bright Street Big Band (7:30pm). £12.00.
Sat 20: Michael Woods @ Victoria Tunnel, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Acoustic blues.
Sat 20: Rendezvous Jazz @ St Andrew’s Church, Monkseaton. 7:30pm. £10.00. (inc. a drink on arrival).

Sun 21: Jamie Toms Quartet @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm.
Sun 21: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay Metro Station. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 21: Lindsay Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ Holy Grale, Durham. 5:00pm.
Sun 21: The Jazz Defenders @ Cluny 2. Doors 6:00pm. £15.00.
Sun 21: Edgar Rubenis @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Blues & ragtime guitar.
Sun 21: Tweed River Jazz Band @ Barrels Ale House, Berwick. 7:00pm. Free.
Sun 21: Art Themen with the Dean Stockdale Trio @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £10.00. +bf. JNE. SOLD OUT!

Mon 22: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 23: Vieux Carre Hot 4 @ Victoria & Albert Inn, Seaton Delaval. 12:30-3:30pm. £12.00. ‘St George’s Day Afternoon Tea’. Gig with ‘Lashings of Victoria Sponge Cake, along with sandwiches & scones’.
Tue 23: Jalen Ngonda @ Newcastle University Students’ Union. POSTPONED!

Wed 24: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 24: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 24: Sinatra: Raw @ Darlington Hippodrome. 7:30pm. Richard Shelton.
Wed 24: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 24: Death Trap @ Theatre Royal, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Rambert Dance Co. Two pieces inc. Goat (inspired by the music of Nina Simone) with on-stage musicians.

Thu 25: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 25: Jim Jams @ King’s Hall, Newcastle University. 1:15pm. Jim Jams’ funk collective.
Thu 25: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Gateshead Central Library, Gateshead. 2:30pm.
Thu 25: Death Trap @ Theatre Royal, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Rambert Dance Co. Two pieces inc. Goat (inspired by the music of Nina Simone) with on-stage musicians.
Thu 25: Jeremy McMurray & the Pocket Jazz Orchestra @ Arc, Stockton. 8:00pm.
Thu 25: Kate O’Neill, Alan Law & Paul Grainger @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 25: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm. Guests: Richie Emmerson (tenor sax); Neil Brodie (trumpet); Adrian Beadnell (bass); Garry Hadfield (keys).

Fri 26: Graham Hardy Quartet @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. £8.00.
Fri 26: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 26: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 26: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 26: Paul Skerritt with the Danny Miller Big Band @ Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm.
Fri 26: Abbie Finn’s Finntet @ Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. Opus 4 Jazz Club.

Saturday, March 31, 2018

Strictly Smokin’ Big Band @ The Millstone - March 29

(Review by Russell). 
Easter weekend yet the band was just about at full strength, a testament to the commitment of those involved. A three-horn trumpet section plus two top-rank trombone deps, otherwise this was the A-Team ready to go on this the Strictly Smokin’ Big Band’s monthly public rehearsal night. No time to waste as MD Michael Lamb counted them in on Mexicali Nose (from Buddy Rich’s Big Swing Face) followed by Sammy Nestico’s arrangement of Hayburner. A cracking start and it’s a free admission night down at the Millstone!

A three-flute intro courtesy of Messrs Rangecroft, Robinson and Summers encouraged Alice Grace to confide: My Heart Belongs to Daddy. A nice arrangement with Steve Summers’ alto burning it up in advance of a Latin-feel trumpet part for Gordon Marshall. Band vocalist Grace hung around long enough to run through Teach Me Tonight. In fact, there was much more of Ms Grace with her side-kick F’reez elsewhere. An uptempo Beautiful Love, Angel Eyes with Paul Gowland’s breathy tenor, then a new chart – One Note at a Time – from the pen of American Doug Beach.
The SSBB’s pad is nothing if not varied. The reeds excelled on the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis number Groove Merchant as did ex-pat American trumpeter Pete Tanton and the SSBB’s ‘go to’ trombonist David Barnes. More vocal excellence from Alice Grace on Cole Porter’s You Do Something to Me, then a short interval, time for a natter – ‘hello’ to Brian, Jimmy, Jamie, Michael, Pete – and another pint of the Millstone’s tip-top, hard-to-find Bass.

A rip-roaring Ol’ Man River resumed hostilities with bandleader Lamb showing the way with a bold, assertive trumpet solo. More from Lamb as Alice Grace returned to ask How High the Moon? Band participation enabled our vocalist to engage in a fun call and response section on Ella’s early chart success A Tisket A Tasket. Neal Hefti then Rodgers and Hammerstein: Flight of the Foo Birds and My Favorite Things, the latter benefitting from Michael Whent’s in-the-pocket bass line and perhaps the solo of the night from Keith Robinson blowing some incisive alto.

The incomparable Alice Grace returned to see out the night singing Alright, Okay, You Win and an intriguing new chart – to these ears – from Dane Veronica Mortensen of guitarist Ole Frimer’s tune Not Just a Date. Mortensen has worked extensively with small group and big band, notably Aarhus’ Klüvers Big Band. Check out Mortensen’s work, and check out the Strictly Smokin’ Big Band’s gigs – the next public performance is a late Sunday afternoon session at Hoochie Coochie on April 22. 
Russell.                            
Strictly Smokin’ Big Band: Michael Lamb MD, Pete Tanton, Gordon Marshall trumpets; David Barnes, Mark Ferris, Chris Kurgi-Smith, Laura Davison trombones; Jamie Toms, Paul Gowland, Steve Summers, Keith Robinson, Laurie Rangecroft reeds; Pawel Jedrzejewski guitar; Graham Don piano; Michael Whent bass; Guy Swinton (drums); Alice Grace (vocals).

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