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Bebop Spoken There

David Hadju: "It was kind of a lightning bolt [seeing a photo of a hi-fi store that's now occupied by a phone store]. Everyone had hi-fi systems, now everyone has a phone" - (DownBeat May 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

15478 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 499 of them this year alone and, so far, 120 this month (May 27).

From This Moment On ...

May 2023

Sun 28: Bradley Creswick's Western Swingfonia @ Whitley Bay Carnival. Free. Plaza Arena stage. 12 noon.
Sun 28: MSK @ Whitley Bay Carnival. 12:15pm. Free. Marquee stage. MSK - Steve Glendinning, Katy Trigger, Martin Douglas.
Sun 28: Musicians Unlimited @ The Park Inn, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 28: Back Chat Brass @ Whitley Bay Carnival. 1:30pm. Free. Marquee stage.
Sun 28: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 28: Tim Kliphuis Trio @ St Mary's Church, Wooler NE71 6BZ. 3:00pm. £15.00 standard; £5.00 student/unwaged; free under 18. Afternoon Cocktail, a Wooler Summer Arts' concert promotion. Kliphuis (violin); Nigel Clark (guitar); Roy Percy (double bass).
Sun 28: Back Chat Brass @ Whitley Bay Carnival. 3:00pm. Free. Plaza Arena stage.
Sun 28: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 3:00pm.
Sun 28: King Bees @ The Delaval Arms, Old Hartley NE26 4RL. 5:00pm. Free. Chicago blues at its best!
Sun 28: Matt Anderson Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Anderson (saxophones); Jamil Sheriff (piano); Andy Champion (double bass); Dave Walsh (drums).

Mon 29: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

Tue 30: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 30: Big Chris Barber Band @ Whitley Bay Playhouse. 7:30pm.

Wed 31: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 31: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 31: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 7:00pm.
Wed 31: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

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.

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Jack DeJohnette Group/Polar Bear @ The Sage, Gateshead.

Jack DeJohnette (dms); Don Byron (ten./sop.clt); George Colligan (keys/tpt); Marvin Sewell (gtr); Michael Mondesir (bs).
(Review by Lance)
DeJohnette took his seat (throne?) behind the kit and made various adjustments as the audience sat in hushed silence awaiting to hear the great man speak. This he eventually did, introducing the members of the band by name before setting the ball rolling with a drum introduction to his own composition - Blue. In fact all five extended pieces were DeJohnette originals.
Colligan was the first up to the plate blowing a pocket trumpet from which he produced a big fat sound. I'd liked to have heard more trumpet from him but, for the rest of the 90 minute set he concentrated on the assortment of keyboards he was surrounded by - occasionally playing different keyboards simultaneously as well as the concert grand. 
Byron impressed on tenor but I was somewhat surprised that the regular Down Beat poll winner on clarinet seemed to be playing exclusively in the higher register - or was it a soprano clarinet? From where I was sitting way back it did appear to be shorter than the standard Bb instrument.
Marvin Sewell played some powerful solos and former Jazz Warrior Mondesir was equally impressive.
Unusually for a drummer/leader we weren't overpowered by a barrage of drum solos. Where DeJohnette really came into his own was in his ability to vary the pace and the mood to suit the soloist. 
It was a good gig that, if it didn't set The Sage on fire, certainly kept it warm and was surely deserved of a larger audience.
Programme: Blue; One For Eric; Tango African; Lydia (dedicated to his wife); Ahmad the Terrible.
Earlier, British experimental band Polar Bear - Seb Rochford (dms); Mark Lockheart, Pete Wareham (ten); Tom Herbert (bs); Leafcutter John (electronics) - played an opening set that was well received by most of the audience.
Lance.

1 comment :

John Moles said...

I have to say that at least on the night I thought 'Polar Bear' was the better band: more 'composed through' (or at least 'arranged through' compositions), more variety in all departments, better bass (moving to see the old upright form playing such a varied and pivotal role), better group interaction, and better solo-ing (maybe also better drumming). De Johnette's group was 'jazzier' (not that 'Polar Bear', despite funkiness, wasn't squarely within the tradition) but lacked solist distinction (essential in such contexts). The keyboards were OK (certainly not helped by back facing the audience on the grand), the guitarists competent but undistinguished, Byron surely a major disappointment. Though the clarinet imported interesting and distinctive sonorities, the soloing itself wasn't great and the man himself seemed an ironic and detached figure. We had to leave at 10 (train to catch) and perhaps it got better, but the 'London Jazz Review' was surely way over the top.

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