Total Pageviews

Bebop Spoken There

Ambrose Akinmusire: “ I am certainly always aware of what the masses are doing. And when I see too many people going one way, I'm going another way - even when I don't know what's over that way". DownBeat, March, 2024.

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...

Josh Weir: I love the writing on bebop spoken here... I think the work you are doing is amazing.

Postage

16287 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 16 years ago. 169 of them this year alone and, so far, 41 this month (Mar 18).

From This Moment On ...

March

Tue 19: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Michael Young, Paul Grainger, Tim Johnston.

Wed 20: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 20: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 20: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 21: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 21: Castillo Neuvo Trio + Conor Emery & His ‘Bones Band @ The Grove, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 7:30pm (7:00pm doors). £10.00. (£7.00. student).
Thu 21: Remi Banklyn + Chris Corcoran Trio @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.50. Chicago blues. An International Guitar Foundation promotion.
Thu 21: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Ragtime piano.
Thu 21: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm.

Fri 22: Vasilis Xenopoulos & Paul Edis @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. £8.00. SOLD OUT!
Fri 22: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 22: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 22: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 22: Nauta + Remy CB + Last Orders @ Hoochie Coochie, Newcastle. 8:30pm (7:30pm doors). Free.
Fri 22: Vasilis Xenopoulos-Paul Edis Quartet @ Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. £15.00. Opus 4 Jazz Club.
Fri 22: Redwell @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sat 23: Jambone @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 6:30pm. Free (ticketed). End of term performance in the Northern Rock Foundation Hall.
Sat 23: Milne-Glendinning Band @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 23: Red Kites Jazz @ Rowlands Gill Community Centre NE39 1JB. 7:00pm. Tickets: £12.00. (gibsidecommunityfarm@gmail.com). A ‘Build a Barn’ fundraiser. BYOB, tea/coffee available.
Sat 23: New Century Ragtime Orchestra @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £20.00. + bf (book in person at venue - no booking fee!). Featuring pianist Martin Litton.
Sat 23: Pete Tanton’s Cuba Libre @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 24: Musicians Unlimited @ Park Inn, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 24: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:30pm. Free.
Sun 24: Luis Verde @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm. Verde (alto sax); Joe Steels (guitar); John Pope (double bass); John Hirst (drums). Alto sax brilliance!
Sun 24: Elsie Franklin @ The Globe, Newcastle. 3:00pm. £10.00. Country blues. An International Guitar Foundation promotion.
Sun 24: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay Metro Station. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 24: Las Vegas Live with the Rat Pack @ The Forum, Billingham.
Sun 24: Ian Millar & Dominic Spencer @ Otterburn Memorial Hall. 7:30pm. £12.00.
Sun 24: Lindsay Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Note start time - 7:00pm.
Sun 24: Bold Big Band @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 25: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 25: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 6:30pm. Free.

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.
----- 
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.

Blog Archive