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Bebop Spoken There

Steve Fishwick: “I can’t get behind the attitude that new is always somehow better than old” - Jazz Journal, April 15, 2019,

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...

Postage

16034 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 1041 of them this year alone and, so far, 73 this month (Nov. 27).

From This Moment On ...

December

Sun 03: Smokin’ Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:30pm. £7.50.
Sun 03: The Central Bar Quartet @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £10.00. The Central Bar Quartet plays Lou Donaldson’s Gravy Train. Featuring Jamie Toms.
Sun 03: Paul Skerritt @ Smith’s Arms, Carlton, Stockton-on-Tees. 7:00pm.
Sun 03: Johnny Hunter Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Sun 03: Jam session @ The Schooner, Gateshead. 8:00pm. Free.

Mon 04: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Mon 04: Northern Monkey Brass Band @ People’s Kitchen, Bath Lane, Newcastle. From 5:30pm. On-street gig supporting the work of the People’s Kitchen charity. Wrap up warm! Donate!
Mon 04: Michael Young Trio w Lindsay Hannon @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 7:00pm. Free.
Mon 04: James Birkett Trio @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £8.00.
Mon 04: Durham University Jazz Orchestra + Durham University Big Band @ Durham Castle DH1 3RW. 8:30pm. £6.00.; £5.00. concs; £4.00. DSM. ‘Jazzy Christmas’.

Tue 05: Customs House Big Band @ All Saints Church, Cleadon. 7:00pm. Concert in the church hall. BYOB.
Tue 05: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Michael Young, Paul Grainger, Sid White. The best free show in town!

Wed 06: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 06: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 8:00pm. Free. Note later start time, concert performance (open to the public).
Wed 06: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 07: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free CANCELLED!
Thu 07: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Spanish City, Whitley Bay, Newcastle. 12 noon - 4:00pm. £26.00 (inc 3-course meal in in St Mary's Lighthouse Suite). SOLD OUT!
Thu 07: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Gateshead Central Library, Gateshead. 2:30pm. All welcome.
Thu 07: Thursday Night Prayer Meeting @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.Donations. Feat. Mark Sanders.
Thu 07: Indigo Jazz Voices @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:45pm. £5.00. Downstairs.
Thu 07: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 08: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 08: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 08: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 08: Hayley's Little Big Band @ Woodland Village Hall, Bishop Auckland. 7:00pm. £12.00.
Fri 08: Sleep Suppressor + Redwell @ Head of Steam, Neville St., Newcastle. 8:00pm. £10.00. (£8.00. adv); £5.00. student.
Fri 08: Hot Club du Nord @ St Cuthbert's Church, Shadforth, Co. Durham.
Fri 08: Têtes de Pois + Nauta @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.00., £8.00.

Sat 09: Castillo Nuevo Trio @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 5:30pm. Free.
Sat 09: Abbie Finn Trio @ Claypath Deli, Durham. 7:00pm.
Sat 09: Hayley's Little Big Band @ Middleton & Todridge Village Hall, Morpeth. 7:30pm. £12.00., £6.00.
Sat 09: Paul Skerritt @ Slaley Hall, Hexham NE47 0BX. 7:30pm. From £42.00.

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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