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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

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); 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.

Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Jazz North East presents Splinter @ the Bridge, with OZMA meets Buster – Sept. 13

Julien Soro (saxophones); Paul Jarret (guitar); Edouard Séro-Guillaume (bass); Stéphane Scharlé (drums).
(Review by Steve H./Photos courtesy of Ken Drew) 
Last month a packed St Gabriels Church in Heaton hosted the Buster Keaton classic Steam Boat Bill Junior with a live accompaniment from TV star and silent movie expert Neil Brand. It was a fantastic evening as the movie is a classic and Brand is clearly a very accomplished musician. My wife looked sceptical when on the way home I remarked how much more I would have enjoyed it had the music been of the improvised jazz variety.
Well on Sunday at the Bridge Hotel I was granted my wish as this French band produced a live performance to accompany Buster Keaton’s 3 Ages of Man. The film, Keaton’s first full length feature as director, may not be his finest but it is still very funny. 
The film’s themes focus on man’s perennial attempts to win the girl from a love rival. Each segment of the courtship is shown in 3 different eras, Stone Age, Ancient Rome and 1920’s New York. All the thrills of a classic Keaton film are on show providing an inspirational backdrop for the band to improvise with.
My own favourite scene is when Buster has to take on his adversary in a chariot race in Ancient Rome so as to impress his prospective beau’s parents. As the race is about to start there is a snow storm so Buster replaces the wheels on his chariot with skis and the horses with huskies. All is going well until a conspirator of his rival lures the dogs away with the aid of a small kitten. Our hero captures the kitten attaches it to a stick which he then dangles in front of the huskies who in their frantic attempt to reach the kitten carry him to victory. All the action of the film was wonderfully augmented by the quartet who caught the relevant moods perfectly. At the conclusion of the film the near capacity crowd responded with rapturous applause.
For the second set the quartet played a selection of their own composition and what a treat it was. The band have known each other since attending the conservatoire together in Strasbourg in 2001 and this was reflected in the wonderful empathy they had with each other. The music was powerful, original, creative and exhilarating. All 4 players were fabulous but there was a particular guitar solo by Paul Jaret at the start of a piece that was best thing I have heard all year. The response at the conclusion of the final piece was even more enthusiastic than that given at the interval. Indeed certain members of the audience could be overheard plotting the logistics of a trip to Berwick on Friday night where the band will be performing at ‘The Maltings’.
All in all, a great start to Jazz North East’s monthly Sunday night Splinter season.
Steve H.

2 comments :

Ken Drew (on F//b) said...

Lovely review, Steve of a wonderful performance. A gig of two distinct halves - literally - and quite exhilarating all the way through. A fantastic start to the new season of jazz from Jazz North East

Paul Bream said...

I agree entirely with Steve and Ken about the quality of the performance. Most musicians playing accompaniments to silent movies seem to feel that they have to work broadly in the musical style of the film's own era, but what was fantastic about the OZMA performance was that the music was uncompromisingly contemporary, yet worked perfectly with the images on screen - a demonstration that great art (and in this case I mean the film and the music) has the capacity to work across the (three) ages.

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