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Bebop Spoken There

Simon Spillett: “ Bebop and hard bop came naturally to him [Tubby Hayes]". Morning Star, March 28, 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

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.
Fri 29: True Colours @ Barrels Ale House, Berwick. 9:00pm. Blues, jazz & swing.

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.

Thu 04: FILM: Soul @ Forum Cinema, Hexham. 2:00pm. Jazz-themed film animation.
Thu 04: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 04: Funky Drummer @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Thu 04: Eva Fox & the Jazz Guys @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 04: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm.

Saturday, April 30, 2016

John Bailey Quintet @ The Jazz Café. April 29

John Bailey (guitar), Tim France (tenor saxophone), Richard Iles (flugelhorn), Garry Jackson (double bass) & Steve Hanley (drums)
(Review by Russell/Photos courtesy of Mike Tilley.)
Godin Guitars endorsee John Bailey has a nice line in self deprecation. The truth behind song titles – and their meaning, if any – has been exposed by the amiable Leeds College of Music graduate: Google ‘Song Name Generator’, said Bailey. The home page asks an important question: Feeling lazy? Fill entire form with random data. The end result? An entirely random (meaningless) song title!     

John Bailey sat behind and to one side of the front line horns. Nylon string guitars lightly amplified, the horns playing acoustically, the bandleader cut a figure of band mate rather than out front, obvious band leader. His music did the talking; challenging compositions, the senior men in the band – Tim France, tenor saxophone and Richard Iles, flugelhorn – fully concentrated on the charts in front of them, the rhythm section more than regulation timekeepers, drummer Steve Hanley especially inventive.
Ted’s Entrance opened the programme. Strength in Numbers followed. The former a tune about Ted the collie (not a Google creation!), can be found on the album Heart Horizons, the latter from the recent release Black Ship Bright Sea. Bailey apologised for not having brought some CDs with him. Perhaps his current preoccupation – being on a fifty-six date nationwide tour with operatic tenor Russell Watson – excuses his somewhat disorganised merchandising operation! Little Bird flew kind of modal (Iles’ flugelhorn) to free, the bass and drums pairing – Garry Jackson and Steve Hanley – excelling. The first set came to an end with Regression. An attentive audience showed its appreciation. A minor reservation, and it is very much minor scale, with horns in full cry it was, at times, difficult to hear the nylon string guitar in the hands of Bailey. When the horns dropped out the accomplished guitarist was heard to best effect, straddling and indeed combining jazz and contemporary classical genres with enviable facility.
Second set: probably randomly generated, nevertheless a good title with which to resume – Positive Thinking. Bassist Garry Jackson’s robust, singing solo set the tone, France and Iles picked up on it with solid statements of their own and the main man, J Bailey, began to open up. A hint of Al Di Meola and Paco de Lucia, perhaps Bailey has checked out the Extrapolation period of John McLaughlin.
It’s a Strange World, said Bailey. Strange indeed; a pop-operatic gig with Russell Watson the previous evening at Whitley Bay Playhouse, this Jazz Café gig a welcome change and the very next night back to the world of popular arias at Leeds Grand Theatre. What odds would you offer for the following being true? Bailey introduced Sfumato suggesting it is a term used to describe a painting technique known to scholars of the Italian Renaissance. Correct. Fellow Leeds College of Music alumnus Matt Anderson (tenor saxophone) has a tune of his own (heard at a gig in Newcastle) titled…Sfumato. Leicester City started this season as 5000-1 outsiders to win the Premier League. Two young jazz musicians, both graduates of LCoM, both come up with the same title. What odds would you offer? The erudite Bailey referenced Benjamin Britten, happily talked about another nonsense title – Amoeba Men – and closed the set with Lightning Workshop. John Bailey has assembled a stellar line-up, the presence of Franks and Iles’ an indication of the standing of the young man on the jazz scene. It will be interesting to see where John Bailey goes from here.     
Russell.

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