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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

Thu 28: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 28: Alice Grace Quartet @ King's Hall, Newcastle University. 1:15pm. Free.
Thu 28: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Gateshead Central Library, Gateshead. 2:30pm. All welcome.
Thu 28: Faye MacCalman + Snape/Sankey @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 28: Zoe Rahman @ Jesmond United Reformed Church, Jesmond, Newcastle. 7:30pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Thu 28: '58 Jazz Collective @ Hops & Cheese, Hartlepool. 7:30pm.
Thu 28: Speakeasy @ Queen's Hall, Hexham. 7:30pm. £15.00. A Southpaw Dance Company presentation. Dance, audio-visuals, Count Basie, Benny Goodman, swing dancers etc.
Thu 28: Mick Cantwell Band @ Harbour View, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Ace blues band.
Thu 28: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 29: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 29: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 29: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.

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); Paul Wight (drums).

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.

Sunday, September 27, 2015

Swing Manouche/ The Early Bird Band @ Ushaw College, Durham - Sept. 25

Mick Shoulder, guitar, Giles Strong, guitar, Neil Harland, bass and Paul Edis, clarinet.
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Matthew McKellar, drums, Dan Lawrence, bass, Francis Tulip, guitar, Ben Lawrence, trumpet (led by Paul Edis, clarinet / piano).
(Review/photos by Jerry)
Busy Friday - a new year, my 67th, a new venue for me and a new band, Swing Manouche, on their Durham début concert.
Ushaw, an imposing former Catholic seminary ten minutes’ drive from Durham city centre, has successfully reinvented itself as (among other things) a venue for live music and entertainment.  The concert hall,  a huge, rectangular room with a bar (bottled ales) at one end and, at the other end in front of a massive panelled fireplace, the performers. A mix of tables and chairs, settees and coffee-tables give a jazz-lounge atmosphere and friendly (volunteer?) staff made the audience feel welcome.
And so to Mick Shoulder’s Swing Manouche – more distinct from Djangologie  than the name might suggest, not least because only Giles Strong remains in his familiar berth whilst the introduction of clarinet in place of violin makes for a different overall sound. The set list, while still consisting mainly of Reinhardt compositionss (both Django and Lulu) and Mick Shoulder originals inspired by the same, was unexpected, to me, in its inclusion of “standards” such as All of Me, It Had to Be You and Roses of Picardy. Mick explained that these, and many other such “standards” often featured in the repertoire of gypsy bands, adapted to their own style – as Swing Manouche successfully did here. On these three numbers the clarinet featured prominently thus highlighting this new combo’s distinct approach. Midway into the second set came another surprise to me – a tune by Sacha Distel! Inspired by Django he became, apparently, an excellent gypsy jazz guitarist and composed Ma Première Guitare in honour of the first one he ever bought. All this was long before the crooning, velvet jacket era which put him, in my eyes (and Mick’s too, it would seem), right up there with Charles “Aznovoice” in the Pantheon of French vocalists!
In their first set we had been in more familiar territory: Coquette was a lively opener while Douce Ambience had a snappy finish and the slower, more romantic Shoulder original, Cigano Bolero had a lovely quiet ending…..after which Mick complained, tongue in cheek, that everyone’s solos were being applauded bar his and that our silence “wounded” him! Cue Django’s J’Attendrai and he got what HE was waiting for – loud applause! Playing bass, he said, was so much easier! Neil Harland, who makes everything look easy, just smilingly concurred. Anyway, maybe Mick had been in need of more obvious encouragement after all? He got plenty for the rest of the evening and was positively flying in the second half!
Nuit Solitaire, one of several tunes where the guitarists swapped roles, saw Giles solo-ing on an original described by Mick as “a sad one”: can bowed bass, with which this ended, ever be other than sad? Next up was a new Shoulder original, composed extempore (almost) and in mortal terror of Giles Strong’s large Alsatian, Gonzo, with which Mick found himself alone. Music, especially waltz tempo, seemed to soothe the “beast”, so Mick played on. Thus Valse á Gonzo was born. Lulu’s Swing took us into the interval….And Minor Swing took us out of it emphasising that, for all the differences with Djangologie, both bands are all about swing. Which theme continued with another new-to-me original, 51 Swing, some parts of which put me in mind of My Heart Belongs to Daddy. 26 Rue Norvins, in Montmartre, where there was a regular artistic “salon” from the 1930’s onwards, gave its name, R Vingt-Six, to another Django number – a fast one with lots more clarinet. Lulu Reinhardt’s Noto Swing was supposed to be the final number but the audience demanded an encore and got the traditional gypsy jazz closer, Dark Eyes, to send them home happy. Great stuff!
If you missed it, catch them next Friday at the Jazz Café.

Earlier, the Early Bird Band kicked off proceedings with last Friday’s line-up augmented by Ben Lawrence on trumpet. Art Blakey’s bluesy, Moanin, was their opener, featuring the first of several well-received solos by him. Their 4 numbers were by fine composers such as Blakey, Jerome Kern, Sonny Rollins and Francis Tulip! OK, admittedly this last still has a reputation to make but on the basis of his solos tonight and the quality of his Blues for Big Steve (for his Dad’s birthday!) he may do just that!  On this original, Matthew McKellar (using sticks tonight, except on Jerome Kern’s Yesterdays) got to solo as did Dan Lawrence, largely invisible behind his brother and some large speakers! Invisible but always much in evidence, especially on Rollins’ St. Thomas (appropriate in a former seminary), where, after a drum intro he and McKellar drove things along in fine style. Another great learning experience for these talented lads – and great fun for the audience again, too.
Jerry.

1 comment :

Jo Edis (on F/b) said...

A really great night. I can also recommend Ushaw as a venue - roomier than most jazz places plus free parking as well as an interesting building. There are pot holes on the drive though so take care.

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