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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.

Saturday, November 21, 2015

Paul Edis - Not Like Me / Just Like Me Album Launch @ The Lit & Phil. Nov. 19

Paul Edis (piano)
(Review by Jerry)
I have always found it difficult reviewing gigs involving my son and have usually sought to deflect accusations of bias by ensuring that most of my comments focus on other performers in the band or at the microphone. A solo concert affords no hiding place! However, consanguinity should be no barrier to plain speaking so here’s a fact: that I am biased does not mean that Paul is not brilliant. He is: the gig was and the double CD will be! (I have still not heard it all on disc and look forward to seeing it reviewed by impartial listeners on this blog and elsewhere). Paul, being (in the words of another audience member) “so self-effacing”, will probably be mortified by the foregoing parental effusion but no matter – all three of our children are familiar with the old saying: “You can choose your friends but….”
The concert was well attended (30 – 40 people) and quickly took on an intimate, almost party-like atmosphere as Paul’s introductions , delivered without microphone, developed into chats with the audience. Two sets covered 20 tunes in all – 6 from the first CD, Not Like Me (till now available only as downloads), 11 from the new CD, Just Like Me and 3 that Paul announced as “off-piste”. These last required no apology consisting as they did of Jobim’s One Note Samba (played as an encore), a beautiful version of Gershwin’s Someone to Watch Over Me and Paul’s frantic, funny anthem to ADHD, Distraction(dedicated to the i-phone generation)!
Beautiful, funny, dexterous and sensitive are the adjectives cropping up most in my notes and, in a way, summing up both the compositions selected and the manner in which they were performed. Bring Me Sunshine (here dedicated to two family members who loved this version), Distraction and My Favourite Things all demonstrated amazing dexterity and raised smiles of recognition all round. Coltrane’s Giant Steps, played “slowly” (really???) and in the manner of “Art Tatum on a very, very bad day” drew whoops of appreciation having incorporated stride and several other styles I am unable to name before finishing with an outrageous glissando. “I never said it would be tasteful”, said Paul.
A new tune to me was Nostaloptimist – a coinage for someone who is simultaneously nostalgic and optimistic. As a Sunderland fan, I AM such a person (1937, 1973 and Premiership Champions 2016/7!) and enjoyed this suitably light, jolly tune with hints of Secret Love and all sorts of echoes of TV themes from the 60’s onwards.
For “beautiful” and “sensitive” there was the Gershwin and the Monk (Round Midnight) and two originals, For Kathleen and Sunset. This last was introduced (self-effacingly?) as a “kind of ballad”. That both were “tasteful” goes without saying. Greensleeves and Country Gardens were both tasteful and dexterous and along with Cerebral (with references to Bach) and Vince (with references to Wagner) illustrate an eagerness to embrace all musical genres – if it’s good music, it’ll make good jazz!
As a last word on the dexterity of performance, it was noticeable that about two thirds of the audience chose to sit at the far end of the room where there are good sight-lines to the keyboard and the performer’s hands. Says it all, really.
There are 24 tunes on the double CD which is attractively packaged with design input, as always, from Paul’s “wonderful wife”, Kate. Both discs were recorded at the Lit & Phil with Adam Sinclair overseeing production – so the quality is assured. A snip at £10 but don’t take my word for it – check it out yourselves!
Jerry (Edis)

1 comment :

Anne DeVere Harper (on F/b) said...

amazing talent wish we could come over more often!!!

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