Total Pageviews

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.

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Bebop Spoken Here Interviews Darius Brubeck

Prior to their forthcoming concert - Brubecks Play Brubeck - at The Sage, Gateshead, I conducted a telephone interview with Darius Brubeck.
LL: Firstly, let me ask you about Dave - how is he?
DB: Dave's well, he played a concert two nights ago and he'll be playing The Blue Note on Thanksgiving, that's Thursday the 25th and (pause) you know he's actually amazing in what he still does.
LL: He must be just about the oldest, active, living jazzman.
DB: I hesitate to say that but if he's not the oldest he's certainly among them. One thing he doesn't do any more is tour internationally you know he won't ever be coming to Europe, to England again.
LL: He's always been much loved and well-respected up in this neck of the woods - North East England - is he a hard act to follow?
DB: Not to follow, I'd say he's a hard act to equal - there's a difference. No the name is a good platform for us, but it's the music that counts - it's the music that is a good platform for us. Like it's a tribute to him really as he turns 90 on December 6.
LL: How's the tour going so far?
DB: It's going very well. We opened in Liverpool on the 20th and then we did Edinburgh on the 21st, Manchester was last night then we drove all the way down to Croydon which is where we are now. We'll be playing there tonight (Tuesday). And so it goes. No really all of the concerts have been good I've been very heartened by the people showing up who really show an understanding of the music which is very welcoming and, as you might know as a Jazz Blogger, Ronnie Scott's was sold out. But that's London you know the whole risk is can we draw crowds away from the Metropole?
LL: I'm rather curious about your choice of Dave O'Higgins. The reason I say that is a tenor as opposed to an alto, British rather than American? Don't get me wrong, I think you've made a very good choice.
DB: Ok I'll tell you how that came about. it's really pretty simple. I was in South Africa for about 25 years teaching there and I first met Dave O'Higgins when he went on tour in South Africa and subsequently when I came up here I've played with him a few times and we've developed a really good relationship and also I wanted a British musician with his own following to add to it and he's a fantastic player. And that question leads up to something I want to put into the interviews and that is that this is the first time this group has been on tour. People might assume we've done it all around the world and everywhere but that's not the case. Brubecks plays Brubeck was put together for this occasion, this time of year, leading up to the birthday and Clint Eastwood produced a film that's going out and we're doing an all Brubeck program which we haven't done before so this is really a special occasion.
LL: Did Dave, your father that is, have any influence on what instruments you chose when you were kids?
DB: I think what it comes down to is it relates to birth order really. I was the first born, and therefore the first one to take up an instrument and naturally it was piano and Chris and Dan came along. Chris could play and does play piano a bit but we saw them rehearsing at home but, after a while, there was always a drum kit set up in the house and a bass under the piano it was pretty natural for us to turn into a rhythm section and then Chris took up trombone and he's a really great trombonist and he's written a couple of trombone concertos and he's done a lot of composing for orchestras so he has those sort of chops too.
LL: Your program on the tour - is it all tried and tested Brubeck stuff or do you have anything of your own in?
DB: We have two numbers of our own - we could do more but we recognise the obligation to play the hits that people want so they will get Blue Rondo, Take Five and they will get the things that they recognise.
LL: I also liked the earlier stuff - Jazz At Oberlin, even the Octet things.
DB: Well that's good. You know a lot of Jazz At Oberlin - most of those albums - were standards.
We thought about this and came to the conclusion that really the best thing would be to present Dave's own material but from every period so I've programmed Two-Part Contention for instance, like the Octet stuff it uses a lot of counterpoint, and we have The Duke and In Your Own Sweet Way and a couple of numbers from Jazz Impressions of Eurasia, Nomad and the Golden Horn. So we haven't restricted it just to the pops.
LL: Does Dave, your father, still keep a fatherly eye on your playing?
DB: When we visit sometimes we play a little two pianos. It's more that I keep a filial eye on his playing and listening to him practice and he has a great big studio adjacent to the bedroom where my wife and I usually stay in and sometimes I just lay on the bed and listen to some of the literally thousands of standards that he knows. Very occasionally we'll play some of his own stuff on two pianos because he has two grand pianos in his studio. Sometimes, it's not often, but sometimes he'll ask me to play some Bach for him and to talk about it or he'll take out some other classical music that he's interested in. Neither of us could play it at a performance level but he's interested in all kinds of music and it's very nice when those dialogues happen.
LL: I think we're running out of time I know I'm looking forward to hearing you play at The Sage, Gateshead.
DB: We've never played there. I've heard its a good venue.
LL: Yes it's really good - some say the best in Europe if not the world.
DB: Good to talk.
Lance.
Brubecks Play Brubeck. Tuesday Nov 30 The Sage, Gateshead. 7:30pm. £21.50.

1 comment :

Unknown said...

What a great interview Lance so knowledgeable.
Well done!!

Blog Archive