Total Pageviews

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, July 09, 2016

Emma Fisk & James Birkett @ The Jazz Café - July 8.

Emma Fisk (vln); James Birkett (gtr).
(Review by Lance).
A violin/guitar duo in The Caff on a Friday night had me wondering if they'd be able to compete with the Friday night ravers - a body not noted for taking vows of silence. However, this was a tribute to the timeless music of Joe Venuti and Eddie Lang who, I'm sure, had noisier audiences to deal with back in the days of prohibition in the speakeasies of Chicago and New York.
As it happened, until The Caff's bathtub gin kicked in, the audience were respectful and only made with the decibels when it mattered i.e. loud and prolonged applause at the end of each number.
Make no mistake, this was a gig that mattered. Truly outstanding performances by two top draw instrumentalists totally au fait with the music they were recreating. 
Emma Fisk swings like few violinists do whilst Jim Birkett (I can't get used to calling him James) can cover just about any style from Lang to Metheny via Django and Christian. Together, it was a musical marriage made in Pink Lane.
The repertoire was the familiar, the not so familiar and occasionally the unknown.
The opener, Pardon me Pretty Baby, set the benchmark which was pretty high and, as the evening progressed, just got higher and higher!
Cheese and Crackers; Summertime; I Can't Give You Anything But Love; I Found a New Baby; Hiawatha's Lullaby; Sunday; Dinah; Georgia on my Mind and Raggin' the Scale.
Halftime and France v Portugal will have to score ten goals each to match this!
My Honey's Lovin' Arms; I'm Confessin' Blue Bottom; Someone to Watch Over me; It Had to be You; Kickin' the Cat; It's Only a Paper Moon; Sunshine and Autumn Leaves brought my evening to a close - Metro beckoned. I say 'brought my evening to a close' but it didn't. The songs, the fiddling, the guitar chords were in my head and I was oblivious to the Friday night mayhem around me. I now know what it's like to live in a parallel universe!
Photos.
Lance.

1 comment :

Lance said...

After this inspiring session I dug out my old Venuti CDs (I've got a couple of 78s too but that would really have been gravedigging!) My thoughts; Firstly, Venuti and Lang were jazz innovators who gave identity to instruments that were still outside of the jazz parameters that history relegated them to and secondly, Fisk and Birkett have carried that flame into the present century without the help of bass sax and piano! I think my Venuti disc is probably deleted which suggests the time is ripe for a Fisk/Birkett Blue Two disc!

Blog Archive