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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.

Saturday, November 01, 2014

Philip Clouts Quartet - Jazz Café. October 31

Philip Clouts (pno); Tom Ward (alt/sop); Tim Fairhall (bs); Dave Ingamells (dms).
(Review by Lance/photo courtesy of Mike Tilley.).
The streets were awash with Draculas, Frankensteins, Ghouls, Wizards and Witches - the children too were dressed for the occasion which of course was Halloween. 
No such frippery at the Jazz Café - the Werewolf was well and truly kept from the door.
Fortunately, the Philip Clouts Quartet were allowed through the portals en route to Carnegie Hall (Dunfermline).
Apart from leader Clouts, the personnel differed from that on their impressive CD The Hour of the Pearl although much of the material played was from that album, an album inspired by a passage from Steinbeck's Cannery Row - "It is the hour of the pearl--the interval between day and night when time stops and examines itself."
However, I digress. The music was varied and never less than compelling. The compositions were all by Clouts who played powerful piano coaxing the best out of the 87.5 keys on the upright. At times he reminded me of Cecil Taylor but that may have been due to the idiosyncrasies of the beast he was taming. Maybe Mike, in the time honoured Jazz Club owner tradition, will offer to get it painted!
Tom Ward excelled on both alto and soprano, Tim Fairhill proved to be a rock on bass and impressive on his occasional solo flights ,whilst Dave Ingamells gave a display that told us his graduation from Guildhall (a First) was no fluke and likewise his Yamaha Scholarship award. At 24, fame and fortune await him. Alternatively he may continue a career in jazz.
Clef Mona, apart from its multi-inspirational sources ie Flamenco/European Folk/African etc., also had some additional effects from the Espresso machine!
On West Hill had a gospel flavour - didn't know whether to clap or to yell "Hallelujah"! Dreamy Driving was cool as was Walking in Starlight - dedicated to Nigerian activist and multi-instrumentalist the late Fela Kuti.
The final Flamingo-ing was calypsotic with a tension building climax that left me breathless. The audience demanded more and got it.
Just time to catch the Metro.
Well, as it turned out, like in Cannery Row and The Hour of the Pearl, time had indeed stopped and examined itself at Central Station where delays on The Metro (Tyneside's 'Rapid Transport System') meant an additional 20 minutes wait before the last train arrived - possibly a Broomstick had broken down.
But this was but a minor irritant (like the noisy revellers) totally eclipsed by the evening's music.
Catch the quartet in Edinburgh, Aberdeen and other kilted communities including the aforementioned Carnegie Hall.
Lance. 

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