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Bebop Spoken There

Orrin Evans: “I’d like to see a younger audience and an audience that looks more like me at the clubs.” – (Down Beat November 2014).

Kevin Flanagan: "Besides, I'd got sick of playing jazz to people who looked like my father." - (Straight No Chaser Issue 0ne Summer 1988.)

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Today Saturday August 19

Afternoon
?????
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Evening
Lin Lee Wong (solo piano) - Cherry Tree, 9 Osborne Rd., Jesmond, Newcastle NE2 2AE. 7:30pm. No cover charge.
Smokehouse Blues Band - Billy Bootleggers, 28 Nelson St., Newcastle NE1 5AN. 9pm. Free.
Sokool Band - The Globe, 11 Railway St., Newcastle NE4 7AD. 8pm. £5. Brenda Sokell w. quartet.
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Rendezvous Jazz - Durham Cathedral. 7:30pm. £12 (£10 - Friends of Durham Cathedral).
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To the best of our knowledge, details of the above events are correct but may be subject to alteration.

Wednesday, March 11, 2015

Bird Lives!

Alto saxist Mark Toomey tells me that he had a great gig at Saltburn on Friday recreating the original line up and arrangements of the legendary Charlie Parker With Strings sessions.
Over a hundred people turned out to celebrate this timeless music.
It was a tribute to Charlie Parker who died 60 years ago tomorrow (March 12, 1955). 
It also happens to be Mark's birthday today (it's been a good week for birthdays!) and we'd like to wish him many happy gigs and may he continue to spread the gospel according to St. Bird.
As an afterthought, if it can pull 100 people in Saltburn then this show deserves to be heard further afield.
Lance.
Mark Toomey (alto); Kevin Eland (trumpet); Jeremy McMurray (piano); Peter Ayton (bass); Kevin O’Neal (drums); Philip Cull (oboe/cor anglais); Gordon Dyke, Geo Dyke, Anna Dyke (violins); Bruce Taylor (viola); Anita Aslin (harp)
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4 comments :

  1. Well done Mark. A fantastic effort and a long time ambition fulfilled.
    Congratulations.

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  2. Great idea! It would be great to see this in the Newcastle area - I've always loved those records!

    ReplyDelete

  3. Hi Lance, I forgot to list the Cello player Gordon Callander who also did a great job of setting up the sound system for the gig. Kevin Eland played the French Horn parts on his Flugal Horn which worked great. We also played some quintet numbers as a contrast to the strings. I used the original arrangements (transcribed) from the 1945 Dizzy Gillespie / Charlie Parker quintet and some from the band that he had with Miles Davis.

    ReplyDelete

  4. Brilliant night of music, really enjoyed it. The band played so well together. Thanks Mark and the rest of the band.

    ReplyDelete

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About this blog - contact details.

Bebop Spoken Here -- Here, being the north-east of England -- centred in the blues heartland of Newcastle and reaching down to the Tees Delta and looking upwards to the Land of the Kilt.
Not a very original title, I know; not even an accurate one as my taste, whilst centred around the music of Bird and Diz, extends in many directions and I listen to everything from King Oliver to Chick Corea and beyond. Not forgetting the Great American Songbook the contents of which has provided the inspiration for much great jazz and quality popular singing for round about a century.
The idea of this blog is for you to share your thoughts and pass on your comments on discs, gigs, jazz - music in general. If you've been to a gig/concert or heard a CD that knocked you sideways please share your views with us. Tell us about your favourites, your memories, your dislikes.
Lance (Who wishes it to be known that he is not responsible for postings other than his own and that he's not always responsible for them.)
Contact: lanceliddle@gmail.com I look forward to hearing from you.

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