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Bebop Spoken There

Branford Marsalis: "As ignorance often forces us to do, you make a generalisation about a musician based on one specific record or one moment in time." - (Jazzwise June 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

15491 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 512 of them this year alone and, so far, 133 this month (May 31).

From This Moment On ...

June

Sat 03: Newcastle Record Fair @ Northumbria University, Newcastle NE8 8SB. 10:00am-3:00pm. Admission: £2.00.
Sat 03: Pedigree Jazz Band @ St Augustine's Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm.
Sat 03: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. Tutor: Sue Ferris. £25.00. Enrol at: www.jazz.coop.
Sat 03: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 6:00pm. Free.
Sat 03: Rendezvous Jazz @ Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.
Sat 03: Papa G's Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

Sun 04: Smokin' Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm.
Sun 04: Central Bar Quintet @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00-4:00pm. £5.00. The Central Bar Quintet plays Sonny Rollins' Saxophone Colossus. Featuring Lewis Watson.
Sun 04: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 3:00pm.
Sun 04: Struggle Buggy + Michael Littlefield @ Tyne Bar, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. Acoustic blues.
Sun 04: Swinging at the Cotton Club: Harry Strutters' Hot Rhythm Orchestra @ The Fire Station, Sunderland. 7:30pm.
Sun 04: Richard Jones Trio @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Sun 04: Jam No. 18 @ Fabio's Bar, Saddler Street, Durham. 8:00pm. Free. All welcome. A Durham University Jazz Society event.

Mon 05: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

Tue 06: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 06: Jam session @ Black Swan, Newcastle Arts Centre. 7:30pm. House trio: Stu Collingwood (piano); Paul Grainger (double bass); Sid White (drums).

Wed 07: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 07: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 07: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 7:00pm.
Wed 07: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 08: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free. CANCELLED! BACK ON JUNE 15.
Thu 08: Easington Colliery Brass Band @ The Lubetkin Theatre, Peterlee. 7:00pm. £10.00.
Thu 08: Faye MacCalman + Blue Dust Archive @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 08: Dilutey Juice + Ceramic @ The Ampitheatre, Sea Road, South Shields. 7:00pm. Free. A South Tyneside Festival event.
Thu 08: Lara Jones w. Vigilance State @ Lubber Fiend, Blandford Square, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 08: Michael Littlefield @ the Harbour View, Roker, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Country blues.
Thu 08: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 09: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 09: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 09: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 09: Castillo Nuevo @ Revolución de Cuba, Newcastle. 5:30-8:30pm.
Fri 09: Emma Rawicz @ Sage Gateshead. 8:00pm.

Wednesday, March 30, 2016

CD Review: Graeme Wilson Quartet – Sure Will Hold a Boat

Graeme Wilson (tenor saxophone), Paul Edis (piano), Andy Champion (double bass) & Adam Sinclair (drums)
(Review by Russell)
Graeme Wilson made his home on Tyneside for several years during which time he made a considerable impact on the local music scene. A founding member of GIO – the hugely influential Glasgow Improvisers Orchestra – Wilson’s involvement in numerous regional projects has left a lasting legacy. First heard as accompanist to vocalist Ruth Lambert, an array of key jobs soon came his way; the tenor chair in Voice of the North Jazz Orchestra (composing and arranging for the band and John Warren’s group), an original member of the superb saxophone quartet Saxophonics, gigging and recording with Andy Champion’s ACV and running his own band. His band – the Graeme Wilson Quartet – continues to perform and record. Sure Will Hold a Boat is Wilson’s latest CD and it’s a gem.
Wilson’s tenor playing is never less than commanding. A cast iron technique and mature tone mark out the Scot’s sound from most other tenor players. Searchlight Nevada opens the album. A tale – a fanciful tale? – about John Coltrane getting lost in the desert rips it up. The leader’s band mates are first call musicians. Pianist Paul Edis wears many hats – composer/arranger, big band MD, educator, recording artist. Bassist Andy Champion can be said to have a similar, busy schedule and drummer Adam Sinclair finds time to play in a number of bands when he isn’t in the studio working as a successful engineer/producer.  
Stellar playing from all concerned, the standard set, it’s as good as this throughout.
Nine tracks, all composed by Wilson, were recorded in the Reid Concert Hall, Edinburgh in May 2015. Some of the tunes will be familiar to gig-goers in the north east and further afield. The Sycamore and The New Wallaw were vehicles for Voice of the North (an Arts Council-funded outfit and the brainchild of Adrian Tilbrook). The compositions emerged from a Rednile project based around a closed, decaying cinema in once prosperous Blyth, a south east Northumberland town servicing the northern coalfields. The Sycamore refers to a tree taking root in the crumbling brickwork of the Art Deco building. The companion piece – The New Wallaw – bristles with optimism. Little did Wilson know that a well-known pub chain, noted for renovating and reviving some of the more interesting buildings on our high streets, would rescue the building!
Five Floors Up closes the album. Repeated listening has elevated this tune to the top of a long list of favourites. Taken at a leisurely tempo, the tenor playing is masterful, as is the piano playing. Bass and drums (Sinclair’s brushes) take it out to the accompaniment of a whistling Wilson.     
Sure Will Hold a Boat should be on any jazz fan’s ‘must have’ list of CDs. In a star rating system of 1-5 Sure Will Hold a Boat scores 6. Graeme Wilson Quartet Sure Will Hold a Boat (GBWQ002) is available now. Visit: www.graemebwilson.co.uk 
Principal CD credits: Adam Sinclair engineer, Kevin Hay assistant engineer.
Adam Sinclair mixing and mastering, Cath Reay cover photography, Lindsay Duncanson band photography.
Russell
The Graeme Wilson Quartet’s next gig on Thursday 31 March at the Davenham Theatre, Nantwich, Cheshire starts at 8:00pm. Highly recommended. Take home a CD. 

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