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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.

Tuesday, April 10, 2018

GIJF Day 3: Jambone with special guests Issie Barratt & James Brady – Sage Gateshead, April 8.

(Review/photo by Jerry).
Two contrasting Edis originals opened the set: It Takes Time (Rome Wasn’t Built in a Day) and Hymn Tune. The former could be a motto for aspiring young musicians (or even thirty-something musicians too!) and is cheery and up-tempo while the latter – a thought-provoking “secular hymn” – is beautifully quiet. In total contrast again, James Brady’s first composition of the afternoon, Manhattan, was all loud, brash, honking energy. The horns had a field-day! “I’ve never been to New York, “said Brady, “but this is what I imagine it sounds like.” Me neither, James, but I get what you mean.
Tonight’s musicians overcame any early nerves long before the end of the first number and were in full flow by the second. Issie Barratt later complimented them as being the most “mature” group of their age that she had worked with - an accolade to treasure, coming from this award-winning music educationalist! Both she and James Brady singled out the solidity of the rhythm section. I would add that the ensemble playing was more confident and powerful than I have heard so far from Jambone and there were exceptional solos too. Dylan Thompson’s drums on Barratt’s Largo Days really conveyed the distant thunder she told us to expect and, on the same tune I think, Alex Thompson gave a blistering solo. 

There was some fine work from Megan Robinson on flute and Ryan de Silva on baritone sax while Alex Shipsey brought variety to the rhythm section by switching effortlessly from double bass to electric when required. Ben Lawrence, too, was the best I’ve heard him, so far – really growing in confidence and certainty. Apologies to other band members I’ve not acknowledged here (I should have made notes!) – there were some great trumpet sounds too, for example, from behind the tower of amps which obscured my view of who was doing what!

Before Largo Days we had Issie Barratt’s Upptäckt, a complex Scandinavian- influenced piece which challenged the musicians and the vocalist in particular as the lyrics were in Norwegian! Emily McDermott was unflustered and threw in some scat for good measure – or it might have been more Norwegian, who knows? It all sounded fine as she has a good vocal range, power, clarity of voice and real jazz-style delivery evidenced here and throughout this gig.

The final piece of the evening was Brady’s PRS Foundation commission for the festival, Jambone Set. – a compilation of five North-Eastern folk tunes transmuted into different jazz forms. We had Rothbury Hills, Remember Me, The Waters of Tyne (beautifully sung by Emily McDermott), Byker Hill and finally, topping everything which preceded it, Bobby Shafto(e). Here the golden-haired lad went to sea not in the freezing North-Sea but somewhere in the Caribbean in a glorious, high-energy calypso which had everyone in the audience tapping and swaying and wishing for more. There wasn’t room to dance, or I’m sure we would have! A great finale which underscored the keynote of the whole gig – variety: variety of influences, genres, styles and tempos all carried off with aplomb by these outstanding young musicians.
According to the programme notes: “The musical mission of the band is anything but conventional, aiming to provide a range of fresh repertoire and performance challenges for its members.”  Mission accomplished!
Jerry
Ryan de Silva, Ben Knivett, Haaruun Miller, Christopher Muir, Ella Talbot,  Alex Thompson (saxophones); Jason Holcomb (trombone); Imogen Davies-Pugh,  Megan Robinson (flutes); Lucien Guest, Edward Hogben, James Metcalf (trumpets); Dylan Thompson (drums); Alex Shipsey (bass); Matthew Downey (guitar); Ben Lawrence (piano); Emily McDermott (vocal).

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