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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 ...

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.

Thu 08: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free. CANCELLED! BACK ON JUNE 15.
Thu 08: Easington Colliery Brass Band @ The Lubetkin Theatre, Peterlee. 7:00pm. £10.00.
Thu 08: Faye MacCalman + Blue Dust Archive @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 08: Dilutey Juice + Ceramic @ The Ampitheatre, Sea Road, South Shields. 7:00pm. Free. A South Tyneside Festival event.
Thu 08: Lara Jones w. Vigilance State @ Lubber Fiend, Blandford Square, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 08: Michael Littlefield @ the Harbour View, Roker, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Country blues.
Thu 08: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 09: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 09: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 09: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 09: Castillo Nuevo @ Revolución de Cuba, Newcastle. 5:30-8:30pm.
Fri 09: Emma Rawicz @ Sage Gateshead. 8:00pm.

Sat 10: Miners' Picnic @ Woodhorn, Ashington. Music inc. Northern Monkey Brass Band (3:00-3:50pm); New York Brass Band (4:00-4:55pm).
Sat 10: Front Porch Three @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. Americana, blues, jazz etc.
Sat 10: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

Sun 11: WORKSHOP: Tim Richards' Jazz Piano Workshop @ JG Windows, Newcastle. Time TBC. Further details tel. 0191 232 1356.
Sun 11: Jeremy McMurray's Pocket Jazz Orchestra @ Ropner Park, Stockton TS18 4EF. 2:00-4:00pm. Free.
Sun 11: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:30pm. Free.
Sun 11: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 3:00pm.
Sun 11: Groovetrain @ Innisfree Sports & Social Club, Longbenton NE12 8TY. Doors 6:30pm. £15.00 (£7.00. under 16).
Sun 11: Jeffrey Hewer Collective @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 12: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

Sunday, December 02, 2012

trio VD @ The Sage December 1

Chris Sharkey (guitar & electronics), Christoph de Bezenac (alto saxophone & electronics) & Chris Bussey (drums & electronics)
(Review by Russell)
The Sage was busy. The Messiah in Hall One and Martin Simpson in Hall Two both doing brisk business. In the Northern Rock Foundation Hall it was a different matter. For some reason trio VD didn't pull a crowd. Last time, in the same room (during the Gateshead Jazz Festival) the Leeds based outfit drew a big crowd and won many new admirers. So, where were these converts last night? Fair weather jazz (festival) fans? Stay at home CD types? trio VD (a word of explanation - it is lower case t in trio) further confuse matters by disparaging the J word, although in truth they are telling the truth - what they do isn't jazz (or is it?). 
Have you noticed that jazz is the one form of music that practitioners (and listeners) frequently feel compelled to ‘explain’, in some cases issuing a pre-performance apology! Was it really daggers drawn back in the day…Traddies versus Dirty Boppers? trio VD take the argument into another realm. What these guys have is chops…jazz chops, schooled at that. They have chosen a different path. Good on them. They play it loud. They incorporate electronics. It sounds like rock music (to some). Dig it, put it in a bag…or not.

The support act, for one reason or another, didn't appear, so trio VD decided to play a support set too…trio VD! Sharkey, de Bezenac and Bussey walked onto stage without fanfare and without name. 

A short first set (in the tradition of support acts) made full use of the electronic gadgetry. The Apple Mac, loops, delays, pedal boards (guitarist Sharkey’s array lit up like fairy lights strewn across the flight deck of a transatlantic airliner), all preoccupied the trio for some time. 

Suddenly Chris Bussey remembered he was a drummer. He picked up his sticks and started to play. Altoist de Bezenac blew a few notes then took time out to process them. Meanwhile, back on the flight deck, Sharkey set off a sonic boom, twiddled and recycled it. Scary stuff. Time for a break. The trio’s new CD Maze was available for sale. Family and friends of the band were in attendance. 

Second set, more electronic manipulations and more playing, real playing. At times - it is a stated objective - lines became blurred. Was that sound played by Sharkey? Did de Bezenac play that or did it come from Bussey? Precision playing, at lightening fast tempi, Bussey delighting in changing time - time and time again. Stunning. I don’t know how they do it. Yes I do, they are superb musicians. Was it jazz? Discuss.    
Russell.                       

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