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Bebop Spoken There

Abbie Finn: "Even though there's a lot of great work being done to promote women in jazz, I still come up against some attitudes! I pulled up at a recording session with my drums in the car and the studio owner said, 'I'm sorry, this space is reserved for the drummer!'" - (Jazzwise April 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!"

Postage

15229 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 248 of them this year alone and, so far, 61 this month (March 20).

From This Moment On ...

March

Fri 24: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 24: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 24: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 24: FILM: Mo' Better Blues @ Forum Cinema, Hexham. 7:00pm.
Fri 24: Ian Millar & Dominic Spencer @ Scarth Hall, Staindrop, Co. Durham. 8:00pm. £10.00.
Fri 24: Archipelago + Bulbils @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.

Sat 25: Vermont Big Band @ Walker Community Centre, Walker, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Fundraiser for Benfield Juniours Football Club. Hot food available, BYOB.
Sat 25: John Logan & Friends @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Rat Pack, Motown etc. 8:00pm. Free (donations).

Sun 26: Musicians Unlimited @ Park Inn, Hartlepool. 1:00pm.
Sun 26: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 3:00pm.
Sun 26: Outlines @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. JNE promotion (upstairs).

Mon 27: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

Tue 28: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 28: Sanaz Lavasani Trio @ Black Swan, Newcastle Arts Centre. 8:00pm. £12.00 (£10.00. adv).

Wed 29: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 29: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 29: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 7:00pm.
Wed 29: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 30: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Gateshead Central Library. 2:30-4:30pm. £2.00. All welcome.
Thu 30: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. Back to 1:00pm stomp off. Free.
Thu 30: '58 Jazz Collective @ Hops & Cheese, Hartlepool. 7:30pm. Free.
Thu 30: Lindsay Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ Harbour View, Sunderland. 8:00pm.
Thu 30: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Monday, October 26, 2015

Double Bill @ Ushaw – Paul Edis & Vasilis Xenopoulos/The Gala Big Band Ushaw College, Durham - October 24

Paul Edis (piano); Vasilis Xenopoulos (tenor sax). (Apologies to Gala Big Band – not all names known.)
(Review by Jerry)
If, on my first visit here, I found the bar/café area impressive, the theatre is jaw-dropping! I know as much about architecture as I do about jazz and I guess this is neo-gothic with its panelling and its statues projecting from the beams like benevolent gargoyles. I think I like neo-gothic: I know I liked the jazz!
The opener, Almost Like Being in Love, showed, immediately, the intuitive understanding these two musicians have after a decade or more of playing together. Vas joked that they were like “an old married couple” – each able to finish the other’s musical sentences before they got there themselves. I hope, as half of an old married couple, that this was meant to be a positive! Either way, the interplay between the two instruments/musicians throughout the set was almost uncanny!
Alone Together showed they could do quiet and thoughtful while Night and Day, Latin style as played by Getz, demonstrated that magical interplay to perfection.
Michel Legrand’s sensitive, romantic What Are You Doing for the Rest of Your Life? had the audience thinking “sitting here to listen to you, if that’s OK?” then Monk’s quirky, spiky Well You Needn’t, with a nod to Georgia Brown (who always gets in somewhere, when Vas is playing!) had them tapping their feet again.
A playful Alice in Wonderland followed before Denzil Best’s foot-tapping Move drummed us to the interval. Terrific!
If I (jazznoramus) had to sum up the appeal of Vas as a saxophonist I’d describe it as understated brilliance: no seeking to dazzle with tricks or faze you with too many notes – just sensitive, technically accomplished renditions of great music.
After the interval, Paul Edis donned his musical director/conductor hat while Vas became a guest front-man (on some numbers) with The Gala Big Band…….who were great. I enjoyed seeing them about 12 months ago in Durham and (I hope this is not seen as a “cack-handed compliment” from one who keeps emphasising his lack of musical knowledge) they have come on a ton since then with more “oomph” to the ensemble work and much more confidence with the solos. According to their leader, they are also tackling “more challenging music.”
There was “comfortable” swing with On the Sunny Side of the Street and Li’l Darlin’, which featured a muted trumpet solo by Dave Skipsey. The closing number, Basie’s One o’Clock Jump, had several well-received solos including trombone, trumpet and bass (sorry if I’ve missed anyone!).
In between these we had Edis originals, including some flagged up as “world premières”. Straight to the Point featured solos by one of the youngest, and possibly one of the oldest band members, Francis Tulip on guitar and George Hetherington on piano, which summed up, for me, the laudably inclusive nature of this ensemble.
In the Nick of Time, a filmic piece which felt as though it really ought to have a narrative, gave Matthew Mackellar a chance to solo on drums. But the “stand-out” piece of the set was Techtonic (I hope I got that spelling right as I think there should be a deliberate “h” in there, but haven’t had a chance to check it) which was a jazz-rock fusion on which the baritone saxes and Francis Tulip (very amplified and in his element) moved plates in the distant café! The audience cheered it to the echo!
Jerry.

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