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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.

Wednesday, June 29, 2016

Tim Richards Hextet @ The Black Swan Bar and Venue, Newcastle. June 28 - JNE/Schmazz Promotion.

Tim Richards (keys): Dick Pearce (tpt); Ed Jones (ten); Ralph Wyld (vbs); Dominic Howles (bs); Ben Brown (dms).
(Review by Lance/ Photo courtesy of Ken Drew).
I looked out of my living room window, it was raining, hardly the June weather of our youth - or maybe it was! Whatever, it was a night to turn up the central heating, splash the glass with your favourite tipple play a disc or two. Not a night to venture out, even to see the Tim Richards Hextet. However, I thought thar if several thousand fans could brave it to Sunderland to see Beyonce at the Stadium of Light - it would be the best performance that venue would see this year - then surely I could hop a westbound Metro to see the hextet (apart from the spelling, what's the difference between a hextet and a sextet?).
In reality, I had no choice. Paul Bream quoted my glowing review of the band's last CD in his Jazz Alert and in doing so presented me with a fait accompli
It was a worthwhile decision. The all original program consisted mainly of pieces from that CD (Telegraph Hill) plus a couple of ringers from previous albums. As chance would have it, it was Dominic Howles' Like John which wasn't from the album that made the first big impression of the night. The head had a floating Tadd Dameron feel to it that set it up perfectly for the soloists.
Talking of soloists, Wyld - heard previously 'up here' at The Globe with Sammy Eagles - is back at the Jazz Café this Friday (July 1) with John Martin. The young vibes player not only laid down some stunning solos he also provided Storebæltsbroen a piece inspired by a bridge in Denmark which just goes to show that the muse is everywhere, you just have to look.
It's difficult to think of Dick Pearce as having reached pensionable age. His playing still sounds as fresh as ever whilst maintaining the hard bop approach that has ever been his forte. He also supplied Joe's Outside and Airships in a Cloud. Ed Jones - Blue Note/Prestige lives! Ed blew Mobley, Coltrane, Henderson tenor and composed Clandestine, as intriguing a composition as the title implies.
Ben Brown who wasn't on the album (Peter Ibbetson) nevertheless played as if he had been and slotted in well.
Howles had some nice bass lines and wrote Ease Up which is on the album. The remainder were by Richards. The opener Tollbridge; a trilogy comprising Lucid Dreaming, Spirit Walking and Shapeshifting; Discovery and the title track of the CD Telegraph Hill. His keyboard playing, whilst at times a tad overpowering, didn't clash with the vibes but rather complemented or was it vibes-versa?
At the end, the audience demanded the obligatory encore and got Ticket to Tomorrow - solos all-round with a seemingly never-ending coda of cadenzas!
A most enjoyable evening.
Lance.

1 comment :

Steven T. said...

I was really disappointed to miss this. About 15 years ago I saw a group called Great Spirit (I think) in Darlo and, only on buying the CD, realised the common denominator with Spirit Level, possibly the first acoustic(ish)Jazz group I ever saw, at a Newcastle Jazz Festival, somewhere in a university building in the early eighties.

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