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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.

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.

Sunday, January 06, 2013

What I Did in the New Year Holidays by Ann Alex

Reminds you of stuff the teacher made you write in the junior school, doesn't it ?  This blog truly does include many types of writing!  Anyway, I stayed at Brecon in mid-Wales, on a leisure activities holiday, organised by a firm that I travel with regularly.  The subject was The Joy of Music and the tutor was one, Chris Howes, jazz pianist, teacher of adults and skilled raconteur.  Jazzers I've spoken to seem recall the name but not many details.  I think Chris would be amused by this.  Brecon Jazz Festival perhaps?  Anyway, many types of music were explored, with excellent powerpoint presentations.  This tutor is something of an expert on the slave song origins of blues and jazz, so I learned lots. 
Other information conveyed included an analysis of a typical 32 bar song (Blue Moon); a run-down of what was happening musically between Stan Getz (tenor sax) and Kenny Barron (piano) in East of the Sun; then came Frank Sinatra with How Deep is the Ocean, to illustrate Sammy Cahn’s statement that it’s not possible to sing such a song without becoming involved with the meaning of the words.  The song-writing partnership of Rodgers and Hart was interesting.  Apparently Rodgers was quite dour but Hart was an emotional type, and he had the ability to come up with instant rhythmic, rhymed lines as if it was part of normal conversation.  Hart did the words first and Rodgers produced the music later.  Their partnership was far longer than that of Rodgers and Hammerstein.  We were told that jazz musicians find the songs written by Hart much more satisfying to play.  Now I think of it, you don’t hear many jazz musicians playing songs from such shows as Oklahoma, do you?
We learned that pianist Ellis Larkins produced his unusually mellow tone by having the damper pedal on the piano actually tied down, to save having to keep it depressed by foot all the time, as illustrated by his accompaniment for Ella Fitzgerald on You Turned the Tables on Me.  And did you know that Irving Berlin couldn't speak a word of English when he arrived in the States, yet his song-writing shows a good grasp of everyday speech?  And he never really learned to play an instrument properly and played the piano on the black notes only.
Other music we heard included Gil Evans arrangement for the wonderful trumpet version of  the Rodriguez Guitar Concerto by Miles, and Half the Fun from Duke Ellington’s Shakespearean Suite Such Sweet Thunder.  This is the bit about Antony and Cleopatra, and it had a definite Egyptian feel, with an insistent rhythm and excellent percussion.  Apparently the last long sax note has to be done with circular breathing, which isn’t recommended by doctors, we were told.
A good time was had by all – apart from the sad text I received….
Ann Alex.

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