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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 18, 2017

Thinking about Gabi & Steve @ Sage Gateshead - March 17

Gabriele Heller (vocals, electronics) & Steve Glendinning (guitar)
(Review by Russell)
The Gold Dust ticket clearly stated: Please arrive 10 minutes beforehand, otherwise you may lose your place. The queue outside the Northern Rock Foundation Hall snaked past the East Door of Sage Two stretching to the (closed) balcony bar. This, twenty minutes before the advertised start time. Clipboard types strolled hither and thither, headsets and Access All Areas tags denoting their status…these were BBC Radio 3 people.
The queue comprised M & S and Waitrose types, Radio 3 their choice of listening, early morning through to late at night. They were here at Sage Gateshead to do some thinking, free thinking. Radio 3 people continued to stroll; clipboards, headsets, AAA tags, bottled water. A senior BBC type walked purposefully towards an AAA behind-the-scenes door, produced a swipe card (confirmation of big cheese status) and disappeared beyond. Bang on ‘start time’ a junior BBC/Sage person wandered along the snaking queue checking for Gold Dust. A BBC type (headset etc) breezed up the stairs from concourse to AAA door, a party of thirteen keen sixth form types following close behind, disappearing beyond the AAA door. Later, the BBC type emerged from beyond, dutiful sixth form ducklings, with munch-on-the-go sandwiches, skipping along to keep up with the Radio 3 Head Duck.
Ten minutes after the advertised ‘start time’, the Northern Rock Foundation Hall’s doors opened. The M & S/Waitrose queue was on the move. A Free Thinking thinker – tweedy jacket and satchel – sauntered past, no doubt looking for a quiet spot to do some thinking. The Gold Dust seats were claimed, the stage stretching from a Steinway on the left to the presenter’s seat away to the right. Minutes before start of the live broadcast of In Tune at Free Thinking presenter Suzy Klein spoke to the M & S/Waitrose assembly: In a moment I will be speaking in my Radio 3 voice. A moment later (live on air) you couldn’t spot the difference…Radio 3 on and off air.

Lars Vogt – leader of the house band, the Royal Northern Sinfonia – sat at the Steinway, chatted to Suzy, played some Beethoven and would later be joined by some of the RNS’s wind players. Antiphon – the Tyne Valley’s Renaissance choir – sang, pianola specialist Rex Lawson, sporting ZZ Top beard, spoke to Suzy and played some tunes, the Waitrose  types craning necks to see what was going on at Lawson’s fingertips and feet. A talking head or two spoke to Suzy, making people think, for free. Radio 3 clipboards ushered the performers on and off stage, taking a break for an on-the-hour news bulletin (the headline item of a former Chancellor of the Exchequer taking up the post of editor of a newspaper met with scarcely suppressed hoots of derision), then, the jazz element emerged from an AAA door, chatted to Suzy, then played some jazz. Welcome Diachronicx. The Gabriele Heller/Steve Glendinning duo is a fixture on the Tyneside jazz scene – Gabi, vocals and a computer-generated soundscape, Steve, the accomplished guitarist. Seated, appearing to be relaxed (hearts beating fast, no doubt), Gabi and Steve acquitted themselves well. How their performance registered in Radio 3 Waitrose homes is for others to judge. Suzy Klein thanked Sage Gateshead’s Free Thinking audience then returned the listener to the studio for the final edition of this week’s Composer of the Week programmes (focusing on Peter Maxwell Davies). Broadcast done, the audience huddled around Rex Lawson’s pianola (see photo). Mr Lawson graciously answered questions about his pride and joy. Lars Vogt made his way over to Sage One to prepare for a concert performance with the RNS of Beethoven, Haydn and Prokofiev to be broadcast live on Radio 3. More Free Thinking to come this weekend including a live broadcast of Jazz Record Requests (Saturday, Radio 3, 4:00pm) presented by Alyn Shipton featuring a live performance by pianist Paul Edis. 
Russell.                                                 


3 comments :

Steve T said...

About thirty years ago, Different struck up a conversation with me on a coach coming back from London. I know he was called Different cos he kept saying 'I'm Different'.
He'd been to Knebworth which was the nearest equivalent to Glastonbury at the time and, no disrespect to Cliff and his fans, but he felt he was out of place amongst the gods of rock Clapton, Phil Collins and Paul McCartney. No disrespect to Sir Eric, Phil and Sir Paul but, excepting the late sixties, early seventies and about four minutes in 1966 respectively, I felt Sir Cliff was in precisely the correct company.
When he asked why I'd been to London I told him I'd been to see the Ojays, who he'd never heard of, despite four of five sizeable UK hits in the preceding decade and a half. A soul group I advised him. Phil Collins did some soul he said no he didn't I didn't waste my time.
He told me his name again and I often wonder if he ever spotted any irony, or whether he shops at M and S or Waitrose.

Hugh said...

Nothing wrong with shopping at M & S or Waitrose. Nothing wrong with being a Radio 3 listener. I agree with Russell that there may be a big overlap (think Venn diagrams) between these three groups - and told Russell so in person yesterday. I think you may also find that the average punter attending jazz gigs in the UK will fit into at least one of the circles in this triumvirate of associations!

Steve T said...

I wish I could afford to shop at M+S, Whenever I'm in the Toon I always get some caviar from Waitrose, but only the cheap stuff. I'm afraid my default in the car is Radio 2 but with dozens, probably now hundreds of CDs unplayed, I never listen for long.
I do think there's a certain irony in the BBC, the most powerful Ideological State Apparatus in the Land, who spend millions of our money telling us what to think, within narrow parameters with a tiny bit of hegemony, put on an event about free thinking.
However, anything that invokes discussion must be a good thing.

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