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Bebop Spoken There

Branford Marsalis: "As ignorance often forces us to do, you make a generalisation about a musician based on one specific record or one moment in time." - (Jazzwise June 2023).

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!"

Postage

15491 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 512 of them this year alone and, so far, 133 this month (May 31).

From This Moment On ...

June
Thu 01: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 01: Thursday Night Prayer Meeting @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Donations.
Thu 01: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Ragtime piano. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.
Thu 01: Jake Leg Jug Band @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Thu 01: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 02: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 02: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 02: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 02: Joseph Carville Trio @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm.
Fri 02: Claire Martin & Her Trio @ The Witham, Barnard Castle. 7:30pm. £25.00., £20.00. Feat. Jim Mullen, Alex Garnett & Jeremy Brown.
Fri 02: Guy Davis + Michael Littlefield & Scott Taylor @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. Doors 7:30pm. Blues double bill.
Fri 02: Anders Ingram @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Blind Pig Blues Club. Country blues. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

Sat 03: Newcastle Record Fair @ Northumbria University, Newcastle NE8 8SB. 10:00am-3:00pm. Admission: £2.00.
Sat 03: Pedigree Jazz Band @ St Augustine's Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm.
Sat 03: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. Tutor: Sue Ferris. £25.00. Enrol at: www.jazz.coop.
Sat 03: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 6:00pm. Free.
Sat 03: Rendezvous Jazz @ Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.
Sat 03: Papa G's Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

Sun 04: Smokin' Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm.
Sun 04: Central Bar Quintet @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00-4:00pm. £5.00. The Central Bar Quintet plays Sonny Rollins' Saxophone Colossus. Featuring Lewis Watson.
Sun 04: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 3:00pm.
Sun 04: Struggle Buggy + Michael Littlefield @ Tyne Bar, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. Acoustic blues.
Sun 04: Swinging at the Cotton Club: Harry Strutters' Hot Rhythm Orchestra @ The Fire Station, Sunderland. 7:30pm.
Sun 04: Richard Jones Trio @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Sun 04: Jam No. 18 @ Fabio's Bar, Saddler Street, Durham. 8:00pm. Free. All welcome. A Durham University Jazz Society event.

Mon 05: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

Tue 06: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 06: Jam session @ Black Swan, Newcastle Arts Centre. 7:30pm. House trio: Stu Collingwood (piano); Paul Grainger (double bass); Sid White (drums).

Wed 07: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 07: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 07: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 7:00pm.
Wed 07: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Paul Edis’ Improvisation & Ear Training Workshop @ The Lit & Phil. September 24

(Review by Russell).
Stormy Weather felled Autumn Leaves. Hatches battened, this was Key Largo writ large but Gumshoe Bebop was determined to spend some shoe leather in pursuit of Improvisational Enlightenment.
In Toon, t-shirts and mini skirts defied stair rods, seeking shelter in the next nearest gin joint, then the next. Up ahead, on the corner of Collingwood and Westgate, the Lit & Phil’s lamplight looked so inviting (in the Gallery of Imaginary Bebop Art there is a little known Edward Hopper streetscape depicting the façade of this inner-city seat of learning and self-improvement. If you haven’t seen it, it’s the one with oddball characters entering and exiting the building: the steam train buff, the U3A student, the über-cool chanteuse).
Inside, a coffee pot struck up conversation with life-long friends and made new acquaintance. Pianist and educator Paul Edis chatted with the keen and the curious and the drenched ahead of his Improvisation & Ear Training workshop. Dr Edis had prepared well. Laptop, notes, hand-outs – all were at hand. A piano made for the elephant in the room. The workshop didn’t start on time. Or maybe it did. It depends who counts it in. Edis did (he is a jazz musician).
Improvisers, would-be improvisers and the curious (Gumshoe Bebop) assembled in numbers many a promoter would be delighted to see at a gig - classical musicians (there were admissions of bafflement about the Misterioso world of improvisation), folkies and rockers. The jazz scene was represented – Debra and Gabi, Mike and Ruairidh. Edis said he would like to begin by talking about intervals. Gumshoe Bebop thought to himself: We’ve only just started. Much talk of extensions and triads, flattened fifths. Edis said: Improvisation is making decisions. Gumshoe Bebop decided to listen, listen hard.
Dr Edis sat at the piano. He demonstrated the ascending melodic minor. The assembled hummed in unison. Gumshoe Bebop took notes. The Lydian scale, quarter notes, semi tones. His head began to hurt – it felt like he’d fallen over a Down Beat paving stone and had an argument with terra firma. Regaining his senses he heard a familiar sound..So What brought him round.
The interval – the kind understood by Gumshoe Bebop – offered the welcome prospect of a refill and a chat. The assembled assumed Gumshoe Bebop played an instrument. He found this amusing. Dr Edis resumed his deliberations. More talk of modes and scales. More notes. More music from Edis, Miles and Trane. In no time it was over. Time to step out into the night. Gumshoe Bebop decided to aquaplane home. Riding the rapids at Gallowgate, deep in thought, a discarded, shredded umbrella almost brought him down as he was preoccupied with the thought that perhaps he should take up the challenge and
buy a banjo.
The Paul Edis Trio can be heard on Thursday night (27 September) playing the music of Bill Evans at the Queen’s Hall in Hexham. The second installment of Dr Edis’ workshop series continues at the Lit & Phil on Monday 8 October. The confirmed starting time is 7:15 pm for 7:30 pm. It is free to attend. Seek it out and you may find Improvisational Enlightenment.
Russell (AKA Gunshoe Bebop).     

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