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Bebop Spoken There

Simon Spillett: “ Bebop and hard bop came naturally to him [Tubby Hayes]". Morning Star, March 28, 2024.

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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.

Thursday, August 16, 2018

To clap or not to clap? That is the question

Applause after solos in the mid-performance of a piece has long been a tradition in jazz albeit not a tradition applauded by everyone.
In other forms of music such as grand opera applause is only given at the end of an aria when the rendition has, by general consensus, been sufficiently outstanding to merit the disruption of the show whereas, in jazz, the audience tends to clap irrespective of merit. And, if the audience doesn’t oblige, I know one bandleader that practically orders them to put their hands together and woe betide those who don’t.

The old Alex Welsh band were the first name band I encountered who used similar tactics. After a solo by one of his sidemen, Alex would exhort the crowd to ‘make him happy’ irrespective of how unhappy the player had made the audience feel although, I must confess, that I can’t recall any of the Welsh band making this listener feel unhappy. But the principle is there, after all, you don’t applaud dropped catches in cricket or missed ‘sitters’ in football.

I remember reading in an old Jazz Journal of film star Judy Holliday who, at the time was in a relationship with Gerry Mulligan, standing at the edge of the stage egging-on the audience to applaud a performance by the Mulligan Quartet at a concert in Paris.
Then there are bands who introduce the players before they’ve played a note and expect us to clap even though we have yet to hear what they can do.

And, of course, the listeners themselves fall into a host of different categories when it comes to applauding:
     1) The I can clap louder and longer than you. These are determined to have the last clap even though the rest of the audience has long since ceased to applaud.

    2) The should I or shouldn’t I clap? Terrified of being a voice in the wilderness, they wait until their neighbour takes the lead.

     3) The vocal applauder. Not content with clapping louder and longer than anyone else, this one also yells ‘Yeah man!’ or some other passé expression. This person is most frequently heard after drum solos and stratospheric trumpet choruses but never after bass solos.

     4) The strategic drinker. This one times it so that, at the moment of applause, he just happens to be picking his drink up and is therefore unable to join in the applause whilst having an excuse for not doing so.

      5) The ‘mother’ superior is of either gender and doesn’t applaud until the end of the piece (as we do at symphony concerts) but when the jazz pianist runs out of ideas and sticks in a quote from Way Down Upon the Swanee River he smiles and nods knowingly as if he’s the only person in the room who recognised those few bars.

Mind you applause can, at times, enhance the listener’s pleasure even though it doesn’t always enhance the music. The old JATP recordings wouldn’t be the same without the Rabelaisian crowd seeking blood and pushing the trumpets to play higher, the tenors to honk and squeal, the drummers to do battle. Without the crowd, the excitement would become boring.

So, at the end of the day, it’s up to you whether you applaud or not and whether you do it because the solo is worthy of it or out of common courtesy to save hurting the player’s feelings.
Lance.

1 comment :

Hugh C said...

Great piece, Lance. If there were the facility to "Like" it, I would give it a multitude of Likes!

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