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Bebop Spoken There

Delfeayo Marsalis: "Slide Hampton once told me that it's not always the person that is playing the highest or playing the fastest that's making the greatest impact." - (DownBeat March 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

Mon 20: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Mon 20: Central Bar Quintet plays Wes Montgomery @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 7:30pm. Feat. Joe Steels.

Tue 21: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 21: Jam session @ Black Swan, Newcastle Arts Centre. 7:30pm. House trio: Jacob Egglestone (guitar); Jamie Watkins (bass guitar); Bailey Rudd (drums).

Wed 22: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 22: Darlington Big Band @ Traveller's Rest, Cockerton. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public). Note change of venue - this week only.
Wed 22: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 7:00pm.
Wed 22: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 23: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 4:00-6:00pm. Free.
Thu 23: NUJO Jazz Jam @ Bar Loco, Newcasatle. From 6:30pm 'til late. Free. Newcastle University Jazz Orchestra jam session. All welcome (students & non-students).
Thu 23: Kerrin Tatman + John Garner & John Pope @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 23: Sunna Gunnlaugs & Julia Hülsmann @ Sage Gateshead. 8:00pm. A two-piano gig. A Sage Gateshead-JNE promotion.
Thu 23: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Ragtime piano.
Thu 23: Sleep Suppressor @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £10.00., £8.00. adv. Upstairs.
Thu 23: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

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.

Monday, October 24, 2016

Vasilis Xenopoulos with the Paul Edis Trio @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. October 23

 Vasilis Xenopoulos (tenor saxophone), Paul Edis (keyboards), Mick Shoulder (double bass) & Russ Morgan (drums) + Matthew McKellar (drums)
(Review by Russell/Photos courtesy of Jerry Edis)
Vasilis Xenopoulos Part Two. Following Friday’s gig at the Traveller’s Rest, Darlington, London-based tenor saxophonist Xenopoulos made a welcome return to the Black Bull in Blaydon. It had been a busy few days for the Greek saxophone colossus: a workshop with students at Sage Gateshead, the Darlington gig, a stopover in Cumbria to play a couple of duo engagements, concluding with this Blaydon Jazz Club date.
The Black Bull’s lounge soon filled up with all seats occupied. Two of the young musicians were in attendance to hear Xenopoulos. Other music students in the region were conspicuous by their absence – they will be marked down accordingly! Hearing Vasilis Xenopoulos is an education. The lesson was about to begin.

This I Dig of You is where we came in at the Traveller’s Rest. A welcome reprise. A Kenny Burrell classic – Midnight Blue – from the eponymous Blue Note album gave Vasi the opportunity to stretch out; full, warm-toned tenor, ‘old school’ in the best sense. Mick Shoulder, long-time associate of Paul Edis, impressed with a solo spot, the first of many.
Xenopoulos is developing a new project: Tales of a Travelling Man. The three-part suite; Exile, The Journey and The Return – a 2017 recording/touring schedule is in the pipeline – has been worked on in public performance and Blaydon Jazz Club heard Exile (Part II) and later in the second set The Courtyard. The latter will make the purchase of a copy of the forthcoming CD a priority in the New Year. This was excellent stuff and bassist Mick Shoulder strolled through it, effectively sight-reading the part and soloing to boot!     
       
The spirit of Dexter Gordon was with VX. The twelve bar blues Society Red and a terrific take on Second Balcony Jump (from Gordon’s album Go!)  featured first VX, then pianist Edis, going through the gears before drummer Russ Morgan had his say. World class!

A full house on Bridge Street, Blaydon, makes all the difference. Interval chatter crackled and the raffle went the way of others – nothing new there! The Black Bull’s regulars were out in force and many others (including discerning Darlington jazz fans) made the trip out to the western side of the Borough of Gateshead.

Earlier in the first set Xenopoulos played a request (not a regular occurrence), suggesting he didn’t know the tune: It Never Entered My Mind. VX said they would busk it. Well, of course he/they knew it! Masterful.
Second set VX invited Matthew McKellar to join him to play Lee Morgan’s Cesora. Russ Morgan took the opportunity to go to the bar. Young Matt played the Latin-feel rhythm with aplomb. Vasilis tested him with a rapid-fire fours feature and MM more than held his own. As Matt vacated the stage Russ Morgan shook the young man’s hand. Class.

Xenopoulos marked the forthcoming 90th birthday (October 25th) of saxophonist Jimmy Heath by playing his fellow saxophonist’s arrangement of Ferdie Grofé’s composition On the Trail from his Grand Canyon Suite. Evidently Vasilis has studied past masters! As the set approached its end our tenor star pondered whether or not to play a ballad with ‘extraneous’ noise seeping through from the bar. We the audience thought he should, and so he did – For Heaven’s Sake, reharmonised. And to close, as at Darlington, When Will the Blues Leave? Ostensibly an unlikely choice, Ornette Coleman reinterpreted by Vasilis Xenopoulos made perfect (musical) sense. A contender for Gig of the Year.
Next month at Blaydon Jazz Club: the Dean Stockdale Trio on Sunday 20th November at the Black Bull. Eight o’clock start, arrive early to be sure of a seat to hear a fine piano trio.                         

Russell

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