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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, February 27, 2018

Didier Lockwood @ Grand Hotel, Lund, Sweden – November 4, 2017.

Didier Lockwood (violin), Adrien Maignard (guitar).
(Review by JC)
On a trip to Sweden late last year to visit an old friend, I spent a few days in the beautiful old university city of Lund in the south of the country. Near the station there is a fine building, appropriately named the Grand Hotel, with large elegant chandeliers, a distinctive staircase, much-polished wood and many brass fittings with smartly dressed staff. Even though Lund is a fairly small place, as luck would have it during my stay the hotel was hosting a musical event called Grand Soul & Jazz. Sweden, of course, has a long and distinguished jazz history with many of the top American musicians of the 50s, 60s and 70s touring Sweden and some like Don Cherry, Red Mitchell and George Russell made their homes in the country (with Dexter Gordon nearby in Copenhagen).

Although the programme was in Swedish I could see it featured several different styles of music, including jazz, soul, blues and hip-hop, however the only name I recognised was that of Didier Lockwood - but only because I had heard of him, not actually heard him play. The structure of the event was that a number of performances took place simultaneously and the artists played two sets so that, with a little planning, you could wander from room to room and hear most of the musicians and bands.  A little advance research had discovered that, as a jazz violinist, Lockwood was an early follower of Stephane Grappelli but was also keen on Jean-Luc Ponty, so he certainly covered the two ends of the jazz violin spectrum.
Picking up part of his first set, it was clear he was a very fine player in the Grappelli improvised style (not so much Hot Club, although he had a very good guitarist with him) and also an entertaining conversationalist. And as promised, he went quite 'Jean-Luc' in the second set, playing a small electric violin with much electronic gadgetry, loops and pedals, etc. On these instruments, he again displayed his excellent musical and technical ability but after about half an hour my friend and I felt we had had an 'ample sufficiency' (as my grandmother used to say) and moved upstairs to hear the soul band. This was not a criticism more a personal preference.
Having heard of his recent untimely death, I am pleased that I had the opportunity to hear him play live and would have liked to have heard him again maybe in a more intimate jazz club setting. Sadly this is not to be.
JC.

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