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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

Wed 27: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 27: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 27: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

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).

Thursday, September 01, 2016

Alan Barnes & Bruce Adams with Paul Edis Trio @ Ushaw Durham Jazz Festival. August 27

 Alan Barnes (alto & baritone saxophones, clarinet), Bruce Adams (trumpet & flugelhorn), Paul Edis (piano), Andy Champion (double bass) & Russ Morgan (drums)
(Review by Russell/photo left and below, courtesy of Eric Robertson/photo right courtesy of John Marlor)
Festivals book big attractions. The inaugural Ushaw Durham Jazz Festival booked two of the biggest names on the circuit. Wisely, three of the very best musicians around were on the gig, ostensibly supporting the headliners, in truth deserving of star billing themselves. Alan Barnes and Bruce Adams have won international acclaim and, in time, there is little doubt the supporting trio will win similar acclaim.

The Exhibition Hall filled up with many familiar and not so familiar faces. Jazz at Ushaw is well and truly on the map! Cannonball Adderley, Jimmy McGriff and Horace Silver. A set list to set the pulse racing: ‘blistering’, ‘swift’, ‘up-tempo’, whatever the tag this was a swingarooney of a gig. Alan Barnes’ Mr TC featured the composer on baritone and side kick Bruce Adams projecting his plungered horn to the back of the hall. The trio ‘cooked’ – for the non-jazzer there’s no higher praise! Cannonball – dedicated to you-know-who – threatened to set off the fire alarm with Barnes’ simple instruction: Four bars alto. What followed was killer playing from the quintet. Yes, a ‘quintet’... ‘two stars plus’ doesn’t do justice to a band of equals playing brilliantly from first to last.          
The Harmon Blues (comp. Barnes) took it down, allowing Bruce Adams’ slow blues horn to tell us all about it. Blue Mitchell’s Fungii Mama, given a Latin treatment, produced the now familiar Barnes’ bucket full of quotes on baritone; fleeting, fun, and masterful. Russ Morgan’s superlative drum solo (part hand drumming) confirmed his ‘first call’ status. A bass intro to Spontaneous Combustion similarly opened the eyes – more importantly ears – of those hearing Andy Champion for the first time. ‘First call’ Champion, as simple as that. As for the tune…woah!!! Post-bop fireworks! Jazz Lives!

First there was the blistering, then the becalmed. Walls of Jericho trumpet playing from a firing Adams on Quicksilver, a ‘no flies on me’ round of fours and Barnes’ killing alto. In marked contrast, Adams’ flugelhorn and Barnes’ baritone on Skylark prompted one sage judge to suggest this to be a best ever rendition of Hoagy’s masterpiece. Pianist Paul Edis covered every move by the front line stars; the right chord, phrase and occasional solo. A typically brilliant performance by the pianist, arranger, workshop leader, festival director, sound engineer and on-hand dep. Alan Barnes said we (north east jazz fans) were lucky to have him. Quite.

To close a wonderful concert Alan Barnes praised Edis, Champion and Morgan for being great buskers and great readers. He wondered how good they were at reading minds. The mischievous Barnes indicated there would be an unusual ending to Jimmy McGriff’s tune Motoring Along. Would the trio nail it? You bet they did! And, for good measure, Andy Champion played a solo that went off the scale! Barnes and Adams said good night with the brass master indulging in his two horn (trumpet/flugelhorn) party piece on Hollywood Stampede. It doesn’t get any better than this.    

Russell

2 comments :

Steven T said...

The highlight of a festival full of highlights. Saturday night and I'm fetching bottles of stella two at a time, the theatre beginning to look like something from a fairy-tale and the best example I've seen in years of one of the greatest inventions of the C20th - the Standard Jazz. Quintet.

Dave Parker said...

This was the outstanding concert of a wonderful first Ushaw Jazz Festival. Congratulations and thanks to all the people involved in making this a success.

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