Total Pageviews

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

15867 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 874 of them this year alone and, so far, 72 this month (Sept. 25).

From This Moment On ...

September

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.

Thu 28: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 28: Alice Grace Quartet @ King's Hall, Newcastle University. 1:15pm. Free.
Thu 28: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Gateshead Central Library, Gateshead. 2:30pm. All welcome.
Thu 28: Faye MacCalman + Snape/Sankey @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 28: Zoe Rahman @ Jesmond United Reformed Church, Jesmond, Newcastle. 7:30pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Thu 28: '58 Jazz Collective @ Hops & Cheese, Hartlepool. 7:30pm.
Thu 28: Speakeasy @ Queen's Hall, Hexham. 7:30pm. £15.00. A Southpaw Dance Company presentation. Dance, audio-visuals, Count Basie, Benny Goodman, swing dancers etc.
Thu 28: Mick Cantwell Band @ Harbour View, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Ace blues band.
Thu 28: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 29: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 29: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 29: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.

Sat 30: John Pope Quintet + Late Girl + Shapeshifters @ Bobik's, Jesmond, Newcastle.
Sat 30: Papa G's Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

OCTOBER

Sun 01: Smokin' Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm.
Sun 01: Dulcie May Moreno sings Portrait of Sheila @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £10.00. Moreno sings Sheila Jordan with Giles Strong, Mick Shoulder & John Bradford.
Sun 01: Middlesbrough Jazz & Blues Orchestra @ Saltburn Community Hall. 2:00pm.
Sun 01: The Easy Rollers @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £13.70., £11.55.
Sun 01: Brand/Roberts/Champion/Sanders @ Blank Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Sun 01: Papa G's Troves @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 02: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Mon 02: FILM: Wattstax; 50th Anniversary @ Forum Cinema, Hexham. 8:00pm.

Tue 03: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 03: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. House trio: Michael Young (piano); Paul Grainger (double bass); Paul Wight (drums).

Monday, May 13, 2013

Miles Ahead by BOP @ Tyne Theatre May 5, 2013


Dollie Henry (choreographer) Paul Jenkins (musical director/flugel) Jason Yarde (alto) Julian Seigel (tenor) Jay Phelphs (trumpet) Jo Caleb (guitar) Graham Harvey (piano) Neil Charles (bass) Shane Forbes (drums)
(Review by Dave Parker)
This was an unusual evening’s entertainment put on by an innovative company with a total commitment to jazz. Sadly there was only a small audience to enjoy it.
Body of People (aka BOP) is a contemporary jazz dance and music theatre company set up in 1999 by choreographer Dollie Henry and jazz trumpeter Paul Jenkins. BOP aims to promote and develop jazz music and dance through performance and education.
The first half of the show was called Footprints in Jazz and it told the story of jazz from African roots to West Side Story. It was 40 minutes of creative dance sequences involving different combinations of the nine dancers. The music featured Paul Jenkins’ clever arrangements of Footprints, Blues in the Night, Caravan and other standards but it was all recorded. I was beginning to think I had been misled about the live music.
I was relieved when the second half started and there, on stage, were eight of the UK’s finest jazz professionals playing Miles Davis’ compositions including All Blues, Solar, Flamenco Sketches, So What, Milestones, Tutu and more. This wasn’t a tribute band, it was contemporary interpretation of well known tunes with top quality improvisation. Jason Yarde’s alto solos were fast and furious, Seigel on tenor was masterful and Phelps’ muted trumpet at times sounded just like Miles. Some numbers featured just the band, others featured the dancers who clearly responded to the live music.
This was exciting music, expressive dance and excellent entertainment. So why did so few people come to see it? Perhaps it is the problem of being a cross-over concept – jazz enthusiasts may not want dance to ‘spoil their music’ while ‘jazz’ sounds old fashioned to many contemporary dance lovers. A show like this needs a lot of promotion – which it didn’t get.  
But there’s hope for the future. The majority of the small audience was teenage girls, probably aspiring dancers and they will have learned something about jazz in general and Miles Davis in particular. Also they will have heard for themselves how exciting live improvised music can be.
Dave Parker.

No comments :

Blog Archive