Total Pageviews

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: 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: 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.

Saturday, August 09, 2014

The Mark Williams Trio @ The Cherry Tree, August 4

Mark Williams (guitar); Andy Champion (double bass); Rob Walker (drums). (Review by JC).
By my reckoning the Cherry Tree has been running its free Monday night jazz sessions for at least five years and as far as I am aware, the sessions have taken place every Monday regardless of summer holidays and other events. This probably makes it the most consistent jazz session in the North East, which is no mean achievement. As I live just a couple of drumbeats away I have been there on quite a few occasions and have always had a good time both musically and gastronomically. I have heard all the best local and regional musicians in a variety of different bands some longstanding formations, others creatively brought together for the occasion. Also, musicians and singers from further afield pass through and often present a feast of great jazz.
So, bearing in mind the quality of the music, I have often mused to myself why more of the local jazz audience don't drop in from time to time. Although entrance is free, admittedly there is an expectation that people will eat and drink something while they are there. But with two courses for £16 and a couple of drinks it should be possible to keep the bill to about 25 quid. Then again maybe jazz enthusiasts figure that a restaurant with jazz equals bland, background music. Nothing could be further from the truth and the group tonight illustrated this beautifully.
The flyer said the Mark Williams Trio but the MW Super Trio would have been more like it. What a line-up! Any of these musicians can (and do) play free improv, scorching modern jazz, jazz prog-rock, beautiful lyrical ballads and their own compositions, and at least two had recently returned from performing at the Manchester Jazz Festival and other concerts further south. From the off it seemed clear that the tunes were carefully chosen for their melodic qualities and the opportunities they allowed for each of the band to explore their possibilities. Williams' guitar work had a beautiful bell-like tone with gently assertive runs and sweet chord sequences. Rob Walker sat in his usual pleasantly sphinx-style pose, which belies the intricate rhythms on the drums produced by his hands. On double bass, as always, Andy Champion wove intricate patterns around the basic bass notes. On one tune he played a long solo introduction, setting out and extending the tune's melody almost like the lead instrument. Some of the tunes were familiarly unfamiliar to me but that didn't matter, as it was the sound and the interplay between the musicians that was sumptuous. Others I could put a name to, like My One and Only Love, a fabulous version of My Favourite Things with a brilliantly subtle solo from Rob Walker. But the standout was Smoke Gets In Your Eyes, as it happens my parents 'special song', which was exquisitely played with Williams delicately bending the strings to send wisps of sound into the air.
Jazz fans give yourselves a treat, get along to the Cherry Tree.
JC

No comments :

Blog Archive