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Bebop Spoken There

Ambrose Akinmusire: “ I am certainly always aware of what the masses are doing. And when I see too many people going one way, I'm going another way - even when I don't know what's over that way". DownBeat, March, 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

Tue 19: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Michael Young, Paul Grainger, Tim Johnston.

Wed 20: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 20: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 20: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 21: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 21: Castillo Neuvo Trio + Conor Emery & His ‘Bones Band @ The Grove, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 7:30pm (7:00pm doors). £10.00. (£7.00. student).
Thu 21: Remi Banklyn + Chris Corcoran Trio @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.50. Chicago blues. An International Guitar Foundation promotion.
Thu 21: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Ragtime piano.
Thu 21: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm.

Fri 22: Vasilis Xenopoulos & Paul Edis @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. £8.00. SOLD OUT!
Fri 22: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 22: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 22: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 22: Nauta + Remy CB + Last Orders @ Hoochie Coochie, Newcastle. 8:30pm (7:30pm doors). Free.
Fri 22: Vasilis Xenopoulos-Paul Edis Quartet @ Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. £15.00. Opus 4 Jazz Club.
Fri 22: Redwell @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sat 23: Jambone @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 6:30pm. Free (ticketed). End of term performance in the Northern Rock Foundation Hall.
Sat 23: Milne-Glendinning Band @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 23: Red Kites Jazz @ Rowlands Gill Community Centre NE39 1JB. 7:00pm. Tickets: £12.00. (gibsidecommunityfarm@gmail.com). A ‘Build a Barn’ fundraiser. BYOB, tea/coffee available.
Sat 23: New Century Ragtime Orchestra @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £20.00. + bf (book in person at venue - no booking fee!). Featuring pianist Martin Litton.
Sat 23: Pete Tanton’s Cuba Libre @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 24: Musicians Unlimited @ Park Inn, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 24: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:30pm. Free.
Sun 24: Luis Verde @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm. Verde (alto sax); Joe Steels (guitar); John Pope (double bass); John Hirst (drums). Alto sax brilliance!
Sun 24: Elsie Franklin @ The Globe, Newcastle. 3:00pm. £10.00. Country blues. An International Guitar Foundation promotion.
Sun 24: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay Metro Station. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 24: Las Vegas Live with the Rat Pack @ The Forum, Billingham.
Sun 24: Ian Millar & Dominic Spencer @ Otterburn Memorial Hall. 7:30pm. £12.00.
Sun 24: Lindsay Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Note start time - 7:00pm.
Sun 24: Bold Big Band @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 25: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 25: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 6:30pm. Free.

Saturday, March 15, 2014

Gregory Porter @ Hoochie Coochie March 14.


Gregory Porter (vcl); Chip Crawford (pno); Aaron James (bs); Emanuel Harold (dms); Yosuke Sato (alt).
(Review by Lance).
Gig of the year? Gig of the Century - any century!
It was standing room only for the sardines - sorry, fans - sandwiched into Hoochie. I opted for a vantage point next to the fire door, just in case, and the flames that Gregory Porter was igniting on stage made this a distinct possibility!
What a performer! I missed out on seeing him at the Royal Albert Hall  last October but how could that compare with seeing him on stage only a few  feet away?
A richly timbred voice that reverberated around the room - this was the 21st century version of, say, Billy Eckstine or Johnny Hartman, truly as classy an act as has ever graced the stage of a Newcastle club since the halcyon days of La Dolce Vita back in the 1960s.
Predictably most of the material was from his Grammy winning album Liquid Spirit reviewed here last year but hearing it live added a totally new dimension.
Not that this was a one man show, Tokyo born, New York based, altoist Sato unleashed a fireworks display of his own with some awesome playing - this has been a good couple of days for alto saxes at Hoochie!.
At the Steinway (yes a grand piano no less) Crawford gave our man the cushion he needed whilst James and Harold completed the comfort zone.
This was one of those nights to remember forever - you probably only get half a dozen of them in a lifetime - in years to come the old folks will tell their grandchildren "I was there"!
Lance.

4 comments :

Paul Waller said...

Perfect review!

Andrew Collinson said...

Thanks for the card Lance! It was nice talking to you in Hoochie! What a gig!!! It will live long into the memory! I remember turning on a few occasions to one of the people next to me and us laughing at each other because of how good it was! "What's going on" were the words coming out of our mouths on at least a few occasions! Thank you Gregory!

Hoochie Coochie said...

Having now lost GP to the masses I can only be grateful to him for playing Hoochie Coochie after chasing him for over 3yrs. Truly a night to remember & be proud of for us.

Richard Waddington said...

Three years ago people were telling me how fantastic Gregory Porter was live; like Sam Dees at Fleetwood or Maze at Hammersmith. I went to see him at Cheltenham cos Ravi Coltrane was on as well.
Ravi wasn't very good (I've seen him at Leeds since and he was great) but GP was terrific; not as good as I'd been told but better than I expected. However, I did feel that this was a moment in time which I only just caught before he went to the masses; not cos he's that fantastic - he only really has 3 great songs - but the hype evaporated and I was no longer interested in him, which is just as well cos you couldn't get tickets to see him after thaty anyway.

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