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Bebop Spoken There

Billy Boy Arnold: “As long as you don't think old you're good.” - DownBeat, December, 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!"

Simon Spillett: A lovely review from the dean of jazz bloggers, Lance Liddle...

Postage

16051 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 1058 of them this year alone and, so far, 12 this month (Dec. 6).

From This Moment On ...

December

Mon 11: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 11: Interim Final Recitals @ Newcastle University. Details TBC.

Tue 12: Stu Collingwood Organ Trio @ Forum Music Centre, Darlington. 7:00pm. £10.00.

Wed 13: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 13: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 13: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 13: Bold Big Band @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:30pm.
Wed 13: Giles Strong Quartet @ Alphabetti Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 14: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 14: Hot Fingers @ The Lubetkin Theatre, Peterlee. 7:00pm. £10.00.
Thu 14: After Hours Student Jazz Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 14: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. . Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 14: Niffi Osiyemi Trio @ Harbour View, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 14: Mo Scott ‘Little Mo’s Festive Appearance’ @ The Schooner, Gateshead. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 14: Tees Hot Club w. Kevin Eland, Josh Bentham, Garry Hadfield, Adrian Beadnell @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 15: Paul Edis @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 15: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 15: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 15: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 15: Paul Skerritt @ Black Horse Inn, Crook. From 7:00pm.
Fri 15: Paul Edis: A Jazzy Christmas @ St Cuhtbert's Centre, Crook. 7:30pm. £15.00. SOLD OUT! Waiting list open.
Fri 15: Zoë Gilby Trio @ Seventeen Nineteen, Hendon, Sunderland. 7:30pm. £12.00. POSTPONED!
Fri 15: Strictly Smokin' Big Band @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 8:00pm. First night of two. SOLD OUT!
Fri 15: Darlington Big Band @ Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. £10.00. Opus 4 Jazz Club.
Fri 15: Baghdaddies @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £14.00.; £10.00.

Sat 16: Paul Edis: A Jazzy Christmas @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 2:00pm. A Jazzy Christmas + Jambone.
Sat 16: Porritt & Barrett & Friends Xmas Special @ Cullercoats Watch House. 7:00pm. £4.00.
Sat 16: Milne-Glendinning Band @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 16: Red Kites Jazz Band @ The Staithes Café, Gateshead. 7:00pm--9:00pm.
Sat 16: Hayley's Little Big Band @ Ellingham Village Hall, Chathill. 7:30pm. £12.00., £8.00.
Sat 16: Paul Edis: A Jazzy Christmas @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm.
Sat 16: Strictly Smokin' Big Band @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Second night of two.

Sun 17: Red Kites Jazz Band @ Gibside Chapel, nr. Rowlands Gill. 1:00-2:30pm.
Sun 17: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm.
Sun 17: Revolutionaires @ Tyne Bar, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. Rock ‘n’ roll excellence!
Sun 17: Tweed River Jazz Band @ Barrels Alehouse, Berwick. 7:00pm. Free.
Sun 17: The Globe Xmas Party @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. Multi-bill inc. David Gray’s Flextet + jam session.
Sun 17: Paul Edis: A Jazzy Christmas @ Queen's Hall, Hexham. 7:30pm. £17.00., £15.00.
Sun 17: Hayley's Little Big Band @ Amble Parish Hall. 7:30pm. £12.00., £6.00.
Sun 17: Snake Davis Trio @ St John’s Hall, Snods Edge, Shotley Bridge DH8 9TJ. 7:30pm. £15.00. from 07766 037893.

Sunday, September 20, 2015

Paul Edis & Graham Hardy @ The Jazz Café. September 19

Paul Edis (piano) & Graham Hardy (trumpet & flugelhorn)
(Review by Russell/Photo courtesy of Mike Tilley).
It was busy in town; an Indian summer’s day, the Toon stung by the Hornets, university hopefuls by the thousand visiting our seats of learning and staying over, South Tyneside rockers the Wildhearts packing out the Academy. The ‘jazz institute’ on Pink Lane, the Jazz Café that is, offered a free course in the art of jazz playing. Lecturers Paul Edis and Graham Hardy were gratified to see their ‘students’ made the effort to be in attendance, some taking notes!
This was, of course, another duo concert performance at the Jazz Café. Pianist Paul Edis teamed up with dapper brass man Graham Hardy (see photograph). Saturday evenings in the Caff are intimate affairs; just the two of them and their audience. Brotherhood of Man and Black and Tan Fantasy (Hardy muted) opened the programme. A couple of originals followed – You Talkin’ to Me? (this one would have come in useful later in the evening) and Boot Tree Blues (referencing Heaton Park’s community arts creation). Pianist Edis, as usual, got the best out of the house upright Hyundai and Hardy reminded us why he is an in demand brass player, equally adept on flugelhorn as trumpet.
Kenny Wheeler’s For Jan, with a waltz-like feel, featured flugelhorn (the late Canadian’s compositions have, of late, featured in set lists at several gigs). Audience numbers grew, the garrulous prominent amongst them, as the first set culminated with a brace of tunes – the first of which prompted the question ‘Who wrote it?’ Edis’ sheet music said M. Davis whereas Hardy’s indicated W. Shorter. Your reviewer sided with the latter. Late night post-gig research suggested the latter, Wayne Shorter. Oh, the tune…ESP. The musicianship of the highest order, the duo upped the ante on Parisian Thoroughfare. Superb playing, worth the admission charge, had there been one.
Second set the place was heaving. A minor expletive deleted spat between two patrons – a rare occurrence indeed – threatened to get out of hand. Oh, for De Niro’s one-liner! In time honoured fashion, the band played on. And how! Passion Dance heard playing as if commanded by the Axeman of Jazz! The ‘You lookin’ at me?’ stand off at the bar a long-forgotten side show, an Edis/Hardy arrangement of My Funny Valentine took a new look at the classic number – impressive! Edis at the Jazz Café wouldn’t be Edis without Monk and trumpeter Hardy was more than happy to comply – flat cap in place of pork pie (see photograph). JS Bach made it onto the set list; a two part invention (no.4). Fantastic! In an instant we had a trio of improvisers – Edis, Hardy and Bach. The Baroque in a bar on a Saturday night. To close, Edith Piaf. La Vie en Rose. Huge applause. ‘You lookin’ for jazz? You got it at the Jazz Café.
Earlier a short visit to the Vermont Hotel found the place doing good business. A seven o’clock engagement with Ruth Lambert in the company of Teessider Jeremy McMurray served as an aperitif. Some Where over the Rainbow as defined by Ms Lambert. Perched on a bar stool, pianist McMurray the sensitive accompanist at her side, Lambert’s love of the Gas Book evident. A mischievous hotel guest asked: Do you know any Nirvana? Of course, replied Lambert, but not on this occasion. An interval chat with the duo; rugger, football, cliff-hanging houses, grand pianos and Dolly Parton. Lambert and McMurray had to get back to work, the Jazz Café beckoned. Lover Man. Class at the Vermont.            
Russell            

1 comment :

stevebfc said...

Great playing but I bet St James Park was quieter than cacophony raised by some of the drinkers at the back.

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