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Bebop Spoken There

Art Blakey: "You [Bobby Watson] don't want to play too long, because you don't know they're clapping because they're glad you finished!" - (JazzTimes, Nov. 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!"

Postage

15848 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 855 of them this year alone and, so far, 53 this month (Sept. 18).

From This Moment On ...

September

Thu 21: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 21: La Malbec Orchestra @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Thu 21: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Ragtime piano. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.
Thu 21: Linsday Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ Harbour View, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 21: Ray Stubbs R & B All Stars @ The Schooner, Gateshead. 8:30pm. Free.
Thu 21: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 22: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 22: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 22: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 22: Brief Encounter @ Bardon Mill Village Hall, Northumberland. 7:00pm. Tickets: £10.00. adv from 07885 303166; £12.00. on the door. Chris & Veronica Perrin improvising to a screening of the 1929 'Jazz Age' silent film Piccadilly (Dir. Ewald André Dupont).
Fri 22: Paul Edis & Graeme Wilson + Three Tsuru Origami @ Jesmond United Reformed Church, Newcastle. 7:30pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Fri 22: Crooners @ Tyne Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm.
Fri 22: Abbie Finn's Finntet @ Traveller's Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. Opus 4 Jazz Club.

Sat 23: Tyne Valley Big Band @ Tanfield Railway, Gateshead. 2:00-4:00pm. Free. A '1940s Weekend' event.
Sat 23: Jason Isaacs @ Stack, Seaburn. 3:30-5:30pm. Free.
Sat 23: Andrew Porritt & Keith Barrett @ Cullercoats Watch House, Front St., Cullercoats NE30 4QB. 7:00pm.
Sat 23: Michael Woods @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig. Country blues.

Sun 24: Musicians Unlimited @ Park Inn, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 24: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.

Mon 25: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Mon 25: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 7:00pm.

Tue 26: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.

Wed 27: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 27: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 27: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Friday, May 17, 2013

Mike Papapavlou’s Finals Recital @ Newcastle University. May 16, 2013

Mike Papapavlou (guitar) + accompanists Paul Gowland (tenor saxophone), Ruairidh Patfield (electric bass) & Lewis West (drums)
(Review by Russell)
Summer term is nearing its end. Cramming, late nights, its examinations time! In the  basement of the Music Studios on the main campus of Newcastle University a procession of final year music students were in the spotlight, no, make that under the microscope. At five o'clock jazz guitarist Mike Papapavlou stood on stage awaiting his turn. If he was nervous he didn't let it show. The examiners were delayed…five minutes, then ten. At a quarter past five they arrived, took their seats and it was all eyes (and ears) on Papapavlou. The place was packed. Was this a recital or a gig? If Mike wasn't nervous then some of us in the audience were!
The programme was well chosen and well balanced. The first piece, a Papapavlou composition - Dorios - went well, better than well. The tune incorporated elements of the Dorian mode, the harmonic structure based on minor thirds.  We were willing the genial guitarist to do himself justice. Sharing the stage with him were student friends bassist Ruairidh Patfield and drummer Lewis West. We shouldn’t have worried. The applause told us things were going well. The examinee invited tenor saxophonist Paul Gowland to join him on stage to blow on Half Nelson. Foil or contrast, Gowland gave sterling support to the main man.
The boys in the band were stood down to allow Papapavlou to play solo. Bemsha Swing and When You Wish Upon a Star examined tone and volume control - they could not have been better - and Mike P’s sense of time was spot-on (foot tapping clearly audible). This was Joe Pass and Martin Taylor - bass lines running simultaneously with streams of improvisatory invention…this was Mike Papapavlou! At the conclusion of the Disney song a perceptive listener said: Beautiful! Quite so, sir.
Messrs. Gowland, Patfield and West returned to the stage and the band - and it was a band - nailed it on Coltrane’s Syeeda’s Song Flute. It was at this point that this reviewer forgot this was an examination, this was a gig! Free entry too! The final piece - From Seed to  Bloom -  proved to be a revelation. The guitarist’s helpful notes informed the reader that this was a composition by the Cypriot piano trio Anakreon. Some of us will be seeking out recordings of this trio. The recital at an end, the applause said it all. Mike thanked his band mates; Paul Gowland was an inspired choice for the occasion, drummer Lewis West played a blinder and Ruairidh Patfield’s bass playing was bang-on. It was a privilege to be present on such a triumphant occasion.     
Russell.   

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