Total Pageviews

Bebop Spoken There

Wendell Brunious: "Because the blues is not 1,4 and 5 or 1,4,5,2,1. You could wake up with a flat tyre or a headache this morning, that's the blues, man" - (DownBeat, Oct. 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

15878 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 885 of them this year alone and, so far, 83 this month (Sept. 30).

From This Moment On ...

October

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); Sid White (drums). CANCELLED!

Wed 04: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 04: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 04: Paul Skerritt @ Vespa Italian Bar & Steakhouse, Primrose Hill, Jarrow. From 7:00pm. To book a table - 0191 483 3355.
Wed 04: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 05: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 05: Sound the Trumpets @ King's Hall, Newcastle University. 1:15pm. Free.
Thu 05: Hot Club du Nord @ The Lubetkin Theatre, Peterlee. 7:00pm. £10.00. POSTPONED!
Thu 05: Thursday Night Prayer Meeting @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.
Thu 05: Tommy Bentz Trio + Mark Croft Duo + George Shovlin & George Lamb @ The Harbour View, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Harbour View Speakeasy's USA blues double bill + Shovlin & Lamb!
Thu 05: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Ragtime piano. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.
Thu 05: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 06: Alcyona Mick @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Fri 06: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 06: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 06: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 06: WORKSHOP: Philosophy of Arts & Entertainment @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 2:00pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Fri 06: Balo @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 6:20pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Fri 06: Paul Skerritt @ 3Sixty Champagne Lounge, Hadrian’s Tower, Newcastle. From 7:00pm. To book a table - 0191 933 8591.
Fri 06: Lexer/Mayes/Noble + Semay Wu + Miman @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 7:20pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Fri 06: Dulcie May Moreno @ The Vault, Hexham. 7:30pm. £20.00. Book in advance. Moreno with Alan Law, Paul Grainger & John Bradford.
Fri 06: Dean Stockdale Quartet @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm. 'Celebrating Oscar'.
Fri 06: Nu Brass Sounds: Big Brass Bash @ Billy Bootlegger’s, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free.
Fri 06: TBC @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Blind Pig Blues Club. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

Sat 07: WORKSHOP: Philosophy of Arts & Entertainment @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 10:15am. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Sat 07: Hot Club du Nord @ St Augustine's Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm.
Sat 07: Bugge & Niccols + Moore & Fairhall @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Sat 07: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. Tutor: Steve Glendinning - All the Things You Are. £25.00. Enrol at: www.jazz.coop.
Sat 07: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 6:00pm. Free.
Sat 07: Rie Nakajima @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 6:20pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Sat 07: Paul Skerritt @ 3Sixty Champagne Lounge, Hadrian’s Tower, Newcastle. From 7:00pm. To book a table - 0191 933 8591.
Sat 07: Samuel Blaser Trio + Toxvaerd & Zeeberg + Muramatsu & Welch @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 7:20pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Sat 07: Anth Purdy @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Sat 07: Rendezvous Jazz @ Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.

Sun 08: Zoë Gilby Quintet + Ubunye @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Line-up inc. Tony Kofi. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Sun 08: Tommy Bentz Band @ Tyne Bar, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. USA blues band.

Saturday, November 30, 2013

Sonsale + Collaborations Trio @ Sage Gateshead. November 28

(Review by Russell)
A double bill of familiar names and faces: regionally based musicians (bassists Andy Champion and John Pope), national names (Corey Mwamba, Chris Biscoe and Roger Turner) and from France, Valentin Ceccaldi and Sylvain Darrifourcq. The Northern Rock Hall at Sage Gateshead attracted the committed. Chris Biscoe performed earlier in the day at Newcastle University as ‘Biscoe & Co,’ and the same line-up – Biscoe (reeds), John Pope (double bass) and Roger Turner (percussion) – played a set of approximately one hour as the ‘Collaborations Trio’ offering four freely improvised pieces. The quality of the acoustic was in marked contrast to the ‘difficult’ space of the King’s Hall.
The musicians performed close up, the audience in raised tiers. Biscoe, in casual lounge suite, displayed a mastery of his instrument, be it alto, soprano or bass clarinet. The Cat with the Hat, John Pope, stood his ground, looking and sounding all the more at home having come through with flying colours at their lunchtime gig. The Gateshead man made less use of the bow and his contribution was all the better for it. Drummer Roger Turner is a treat anytime – visually as well as musically. Eyes closed, deep in concentration, he picked up sticks, brushes, sticks, more sticks, the tools of his trade. The drumming fraternity should have turned out in droves, in the event, two or three were there. There was much to admire and learn from someone of Turner’s pedigree.
The other half of the bill – Sonsale – returned to Tyneside, the place where it all began. One senses a real friendship between the four musicians. Corey Mwamba (vibes) is a frequent (and most welcome) visitor to Tyneside and has struck a vital partnership with bassist Andy Champion. The Frenchmen – Sylvain Darrifourcq (drums) and cellist Valentin Ceccaldi – are master musicians and all round good guys. The Paris-based duo work across the spectrum, largely Leftfield, contemporary ‘new’ musics. Darrifourcq, an impish character right out of a Godard movie, is a phenomenal talent. Some dyed in the wool jazzers would, no doubt, struggle to hear ‘jazz’ in his playing. No matter, he is one of those musicians you have to hear before you die (guitarist Mike Papapavlou, currently studying in NYC, should check him out. Another one for your list Mike!).
Darrifourcq played jazz kit plus. The ‘plus’ being the entire collection of his (mother’s?) kitchen pots and pans, alarm clocks and a zither! An amazing musician and well worth a trip to Paris to hear him.
Valentin Ceccaldi made a major contribution to this Sage performance. Diminutive, seated (all the more so), he straddles the ‘out’ scene and conventional strings’ settings. This gig heard him in out mode. And how! Is it legal to inflict violence on a defenceless cello? In a sustained, brutal attack he set up a glorious finale. Smiles beamed – Mwamba to Darrifourcq, Darrifourcq to Mwamba. Andy Champion, with ‘game face’ on, couldn’t resist an approving glance, a nod to Ceccaldi to his right. The Girl from Ipanema sprung from Mwamba’s vibes (your reviewer didn’t pick up on this at the time), the ever alert Champion latched on to it, one of the joys of the music. There is talk of Sonsale performing in France. As and when dates are confirmed they will be posted to this blog and it is recommended flights be booked to Paris
Russell.                      

No comments :

Blog Archive