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Bebop Spoken There

James Brandon Lewis: "Sometimes I'm not thinking about anything other than blowing the paint off the walls, and other times I'm narrating a story about my life." - (DownBeat 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

15516 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 536 of them this year alone and, so far, 25 this month (June 7).

From This Moment On ...

Sat 10: Miners' Picnic @ Woodhorn, Ashington. Music inc. Northern Monkey Brass Band (3:00-3:50pm); New York Brass Band (4:00-4:55pm).
Sat 10: Jeffrey Hewer @ The Vault, Darlington Covered Market, Darlington. 6:00-8:00pm. Free.
Sat 10: Front Porch Three @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. Americana, blues, jazz etc.
Sat 10: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

Sun 11: WORKSHOP: Tim Richards' Jazz Piano Workshop @ JG Windows, Newcastle. Time TBC. Further details tel. 0191 232 1356.
Sun 11: Jeremy McMurray's Pocket Jazz Orchestra @ Ropner Park, Stockton TS18 4EF. 2:00-4:00pm. Free.
Sun 11: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:30pm. Free.
Sun 11: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 3:00pm.
Sun 11: Groovetrain @ Innisfree Sports & Social Club, Longbenton NE12 8TY. Doors 6:30pm. £15.00 (£7.00. under 16).
Sun 11: Jeffrey Hewer Collective @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Sun 11: Jam No. 19 @ Fabio's Bar, Saddler Street, Durham. 8:00pm. Free. All welcome. A Durham University Jazz Society event.

Mon 12: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

Tue 13: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 13: Infusion Trio @ Forum Music Centre, Darlington. 7:30pm.
Tue 13: Alice Grace & Pawel Jedrzejewski @ Black Swan, Newcastle Arts Centre. 8:00pm. £12.00 (£10.00. adv.).

Wed 14: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 14: NUJO Final Jazz Jam @ Bar Loco, Newcastle. 6:30pm. Free. Newcastle University Jazz Orchestra's final jam session of the academic year. All welcome.
Wed 14: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 14: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 7:00pm.
Wed 14: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 15: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 15: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Gateshead Central Library. 2:30-4:30pm. £2.00. All welcome.
Thu 15: Castillo Nuevo @ Revolución de Cuba, Newcastle. 5:30-8:30pm.
Thu 15: Alexander Ord Trio @ Tynedale Beer & Cider Festival, Tynedale Rugby Club, Corbridge. Evening, time TBC.
Thu 15: Têtes de Pois + Nauta @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. Time TBC.
Thu 15: Indigo Jazz Voices @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:45pm. £5.00.

Fri 16: Sue Ferris Quintet @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 16: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 16: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 16: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 16: Stu Collingwood @ Baltic, Gateshead. 7:00pm. £15.75. A Let's Caper event featuring exhibitions, food, music etc.
Fri 16: Steve Beresford-Hannah Marshall-John Butcher @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 7:30pm. JNE promotion.
Fri 16: James Taylor Quartet @ Fire Station, Sunderland. 7:30pm.
Fri 16: Customs House Big Band @ Customs House, South Shields. 7:30pm.
Fri 16: Sue Ferris Quintet @ Traveller's Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm.
Fri 16: New Orleans Brass Band @ Billy Bootlegger's, Arch 2, Stepney Bank, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. NOBB directed by Jason Holcomb.

Tuesday, November 22, 2016

David Murray, Terri Lyne Carrington, Geri Allen @ Cadogan Hall, EFG London Jazz Festival - November 19 - 19th Nov.

David Murray (tenor, bass clarinet), Geri Allen (piano), Terri Lyne Carrington (drums).
(Review by Steve T)
This was the big Jazz night. Kandace was as much soul, Blood was as much funk and Billy Bell was all about the soul. The second Saturday promised two premier league female Jazz artists and a pair of tenor titans.
The last time I saw these two ladies they were with a third; one Esperanza Spalding who caused a veritable tsunami with a vocal performance fifty minutes in and turned up at Sage Gateshead with Jack Dejohnette and Joe Lovano a few months later.
This time out they were joined by saxophone colossus (is this title transferable?) David Murray.
The absence of bass is a central premise of the group, but a recent interview with Murray didn't really illuminate whether the three would fulfil the function on their respective instruments or whether the absence itself becomes a stylistic feature.
Most of the set was pulled from their recent album Perfectionand while it's a perfectly good album, the absence of bass, at best makes no difference and at worst, doesn't work. Indeed, the strongest track is Ornette’s Perfection where they're joined by other musicians, including Charnett Moffett on bass.
Murray was dominant from the off, encompassing the entire history of his instrument but remaining distinctly now: powerful, inventive, sensitive and soulful with flawless technique.
Terri Lyne Carrington didn't initially spread much TLC around her kit, proving herself a powerhouse player across her expansive setup, making her the heir to Billy Cobham, though she hasn't earned her second bass drum yet. However, as it went on, she revealed a lighter touch and a varied palette of percussion instruments during quieter moments.  
The bass was mostly missed when the piano was out, though Geri is a pianist who can and does play everything, and the rapport between the two ladies was evident. It may be contentious (moi?) to suggest the piano doesn't do it like a Hammond does.
Amongst the finer moments were the exchanges between sax and drums - Murray signalling Gerri when to drop out - but were enhanced exponentially by the jouissance accompanying the return of the piano.
Overall it was very free with abrupt endings, motifs unresolved and a general un-fulfilment of themes, accompanied by the inevitable early departures from the audience, though the majority seemed appreciative to be part of it.
Murray switched to bass clarinet, popping notes out on Father Peter O’brienthe most structured and traditional  of the set which Gerri Allen hoped would capture the joyfulness of the man she wrote it for. 
As great as Carrington is, we didn't need two drum solos but I'm knit-picking. A great performance from three premier practitioners of their generation on the cusp of becoming elder statespersons. It didn't particularly miss the bass but didn't benefit from its absence either.
Geri did most of the announcements with the others chipping in, the set featuring originals from each of them. It was recorded and will be on BBC radio on 28th.

Support came from Nerija, a seven piece, all-female band featuring guitar,bass, drums, bone, alto, tenor and trumpet. Jazz, hi-life and Afro-beat - add funk, reggae and soca/ calypso with some Spanish sounds. One to watch.
Steve T.

4 comments :

Anonymous said...

OMG!! The guitarist in Nérija is Shirley Tetteh. Nothing male about her! Despite the short hair and lack of make up. They are a seven piece female collective out of the well known educational set up of Tomorrows Warriors. Please amend pronto!

Lance said...

Amended pronto and with apologies. Our reviewer is on his way to Specsavers as we speak.

Anonymous said...

Great! Apology accepted.

Steve T said...

Specsavers don't do it for me anymore. I've been advised to go to proper opticians from now on and was there on Friday morning though the glasses haven't arrived yet.
I thought she was a bit good.
Apologies.

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