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Bebop Spoken There

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The Things They Say!

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The Strictly Smokin' Big Band included Be Bop Spoken Here (sic) in their 5 Favourite Jazz Blogs.

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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

17346 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 16 years ago. 630 of them this year alone and, so far, 35 this month (Sept. 11).

From This Moment On ...

September

Sat 14: Jeff Barnhart’s Silent Film Fest @ St Augustine's Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. Darlington New Orleans Jazz Club.
Sat 14: Customs House Big Band w. Ruth Lambert @ St Paul’s Centre, St Paul’s Gardens, Spennymoor DL16 7LR. 7:00pm (6:45pm doors). Tickets £10.00. from the venue or tel: 01388 813404. A ‘BYOB’ event.
Sat 14: Emma Wilson @ Claypath Deli, Durham. 7:00pm. £12.00. Acoustic blues.
Sat 14: Rat Pack - Swingin’ at the Sands @ Billingham Forum. 7:30pm.

Sun 15: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 15: Jude Murphy, Steve Chambers & Sid White @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 15: Tweed River Jazz Band @ Barrels Ale House, Berwick-upon-Tweed. 7:00pm. Free.
Sun 15: Panharmonia @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 16: Swing Manouche @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 1:00pm. £9.00.
Mon 16: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 16: John Hallam with the James Birkett Trio @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00. A Blaydon Jazz Club 40th anniversary concert!

Tue 17: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Victoria & Albert Inn, Seaton Delaval. 12:30pm. £13.00. Tel: 0191 237 3697. ‘Indian Summer Afternoon Tea’.
Tue 17: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Joe Steels (guitar); Paul Grainger (double bass); Abbie Finn (drums).

Wed 18: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 18: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 18: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 18: Hot Club of Heaton @ Elder Beer, Heaton, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘third Wednesday in the month’ session.

Thu 19: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 19: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Ragtime piano. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 19: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesborough. 8:30pm. Free. THC with guests Kevin Eland, Dan Johnson, Jeremy McMurray, Ron Smith.

Fri 20: Lindsay Hannon’s Tom Waits for No Man @ Gala Theatre, Durham. 1:00pm. £8.00.
Fri 20: Rob Hall & Chick Lyall @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Free (donations). SOLD OUT!
Fri 20: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 20: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 20: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 20: Leeway @ 1719, Hendon, Sunderland. 7:30pm. The Old Black Cat Jazz Club. CANCELLED!
Fri 20: Gaz Hughes Trio @ Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. Opus 4 Jazz Club.

Sunday, September 29, 2013

CD Review: Paul Edis Not Like Me

Paul Edis (piano).
(Review by Russell)
Paul Edis deservedly won praise for his sextet’s debut album There Will Be Time and his first solo piano recording is set to win further plaudits. This review of twelve tracks (nine of them composed by Edis) was undertaken without the usual accompanying notes indicating titles and running times. So, in a blindfold test, what to make of it? The album title is intriguing… Not Like Me. Having heard Edis in concert on numerous occasions,  one observation is that this is just like him!

It is evident that a fine piano was at his disposal and Edis makes best use of it. The opening track signals a conversational style; simple right hand motif, left hand explorations and a wonderful sudden ending. Notes made during the second track read ‘ballad…flowing…contemporary composition’. But was this an original composition? Difficult to tell. A good sign. The first of the standards  - Round Midnight - features Edis’ thoughtful approach to classic jazz material. How to say something new about Monk.? Play the tune, let it happen. Edis does just that. 
Another Edis composition has the pianist under the lid to attend to the plumbing. A mid-tempo, down beat melody develops into complex textures, punctuated by a dark chord change, then another. Track five, hinting at My Favourite Things, highlights flowing two-handed piano as the composer gets inside the tune, thoroughly examining it with another great ending. 
A slower tempo number reveals the melody-rich Edis, the sort of tune a vocalist could pick up on. The seventh installment, with an element of nursery rhyme, hears solid two handed playing, sustained notes ringing out. The eighth reminds the listener of Edis’ classical background - an introspective intro of descending lines which wouldn't be out of place on the concert platform. 
My Favourite Things swings with a blues feel and a  touch of stride. Hear Edis play this live and you will struggle to suppress the cry Bravo!  The penultimate number has to be heard. Bring Me Sunshine is a tour de force; comic, pub sing-a-long, (the brilliant) Les Dawson and the equally brilliant Dudley Moore. Bravo!  The final composition sketches delicate improvisations across an uncluttered, quiet canvas. Not Like Me is, at present, available as a download. Essential listening. www.pauledis.co.uk
Russell.

2 comments :

Paul Edis said...

Thanks for the great review! Apologies for the lack of track listings - I thought I'd put a sleeve with the CD...in case you're still curious(?!) the tracks are as follows
1 Pulse
2 From Nothing to Nowhere
3 Round Midnight
4 Eastern
5 Not like me
6 For Bill
7 Vignette
8 Olivier
9 My Favourite Things
10 Beneath the Surface
11 Bring Me Sunshine
12 Sunrise
Thanks again!

Anonymous said...

I've occasionally heard Paul Edis play solo pieces at gigs where he is part of a group but sadly have never had the opportunity to get to one of his solo piano performances, so what a delight to discover he has made a solo album. I'm a CD (or vinyl) man myself but in this case an instant download was required. What a great album and what a variety of styles and influences! Russell did a very good job in his 'ears only' review picking up on the sources Edis has integrated into the tracks - Bill Evans, Monk, classical, improv, stride and I think I can hear Tatum come in the door a few times. However, while the shade of Les Dawson does hang over Bring Me Sunshine, surely the credit should go to Eric M and Andre Preview (and the notes are still not in the right order!).
JC

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