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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.

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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