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Bebop Spoken There

Kurt Elling: ''There's something to learn from every musician you play with''. (DownBeat, December 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

17602 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 16 years ago. 876 of them this year alone and, so far, 21 this month (Dec. 11).

From This Moment On ...

December

Fri 13: Dean Stockdale Trio @ Auckland Castle, Bishop Auckland. 1:00pm. £8.00.
Fri 13: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 13: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 13: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 13: Bellavana @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 3:00-5:00pm. Free.
Fri 13: Joe Steels Trio @ The Pele, Corbridge. 7:00pm. Free.
Fri 13: Customs House Big Band @ Stocksfield Community Association. 7:00pm. Featuring Ruth Lambert.
Fri 13: Paul Edis & Friends: A Jazzy Xmas @ St Cuthbert’s Centre, Crook. 7:30pm. £15.00.
Fri 13: Strictly Smokin’ Big Band @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 8:00pm (doors 7:30pm). £19.00. + bf. First night of two.
Fri 13: Fiona's Jazz Express @ Flash House Brewing Co., Northumberland St., North Shields NE30 1DS. 8:00pm. Free. Featuring: Fiona Finden (tenor sax); Stu Finden (flugelhorn); Lara Hopper (trumpet); Keith Barrett (guitar); Andrew Porritt (double bass); Neil Hopper (drums).
Fri 13: Ransom Van @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Fri 13: Boys of Brass @ Hoochie Coochie, Newcastle. 9:00pm. £10.00.

Sat 14: Jambone @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 6:15pm. Free but ticketed.
Sat 14: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm.
Sat 14: Red Kites Jazz @ Staiths Café, Autumn Dr., Gateshead. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 14 Lapwing Jazz Trio @ Three Sheets to the Wind, Alnwick. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 14: Strictly Smokin’ Big Band @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 8:00pm (doors 7:30pm). £19.00. + bf. Second night of two.
Sat 14: Papa G’s Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 15: Musicians Unlimited @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 12 noon. £8.50. Xmas party feat. Musicians Unlimited + Customs House Big Band. SOLD OUT!
Sun 15: Paul Edis & Friends: A Jazzy Xmas @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 2:00pm.
Sun 15: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 15: Mitch Laddie Band @ Tyne Bar, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. Superb blues power trio.
Sun 15: Leeway @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 15: Tweed River Jazz Band @ Barrels Ale House, Berwick. 7:00pm. Free.
Sun 15: Paul Edis & Friends: A Jazzy Xmas @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm.
Sun 15: Alligator Gumbo @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 16: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 16: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Wheatsheaf, Benton Sq., Whitley Road, Palmersville NE12 9SU. Tel: 0191 266 8137. 12 noon. £9.95. ‘Festive Turkey Dinner’. Book now: 0191 266 8137.
Mon 16: Paul Edis & Friends: A Jazzy Xmas @ The Fire Station, Sunderland. 7:30pm.

Tue 17: Paul Edis & Friends: A Jazzy Xmas @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 7:30pm.
Tue 17: BBC Big Band @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 7:30pm. ‘A Swinging Xmas’.
Tue 17: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Alan Law, Paul Grainger, Abbie Finn.
Tue 17: Bellavana @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 7:45-9:35pm. Free.

Wed 18: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 18: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 18: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 18: Hot Club of Heaton @ Elder Beer, Heaton, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘third Wednesday in the month’ session.

Thu 19: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Spanish City, Whitley Bay. 12 noon. £27.00. (inc. three -course meal).
Thu 19: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. ‘Christmas comes, but once a year: seasonal tracks & annual quiz’.
Thu 19: Jude Murphy & Dan Stanley @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 19: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm. Free. Guests: Josh Bentham (sax); Dan Johnson (sax); Graham Thompson (keys); Adrian Beadnell (bass).

Reviewers wanted

Whilst BSH attempts to cover as many gigs, festivals and albums as possible, to make the site even more comprehensive we need more 'boots on the ground' to cover the albums seeking review - a large percentage of which never get heard - report on gigs or just to air your views on anything jazz related. Interested? then please get in touch. Contact details are on the blog. Look forward to hearing from you. Lance

Wednesday, November 16, 2016

"James "Blood" Ulmer @ Rich Mix, Bethnal Green. EFG London Jazz Festival - November 13

James "Blood" Ulmer (guitar, vocal), Mark Peterson (bass guitar), Aubrey Dayle (drums).
(Review by Steve T).
This is my fifth consecutive London Jazz Festival but the first time I wanted to go for the endurance, or at least nine out of the ten nights. Things were already skewered by events back home in the North East, including The Cookers and Robert Glasper swapping nights with London. I knew early on I was going to the second Saturday so Plan A was Tuesday to Sunday. When James ‘Blood’ Ulmer was announced for the first Sunday, two trips became the only solution.

Ulmer’s music is widely heard as a blend of Jazz, blues, funk, rock and punk-rock, though I would refute the latter; I doubt very much that he spent his time listening to the Sex Pistols and the Clash or even the New York Dolls and Ramones. I suspect his indifference to tonality and revolutionary instincts come from Hendrix, Zappa, Beefheart, his blues influences (John Lee Hooker, Alberts King and Collins), his funk influences (particularly the P variety) and his old boss Ornette Coleman.
He has claimed nothing has happened with the guitar since Hendrix - not a view I share - but, despite his greatness and importance, Hendrix' music was mostly riff, verse, chorus, solo, mostly in 4/4. It would be impossible to accuse Blood of that. As a guitarist he's not really a virtuoso - that isn't the point - he's rough and raw and roars; there's nothing much by way of melody to whistle along to - and on occasion, pieces seem to just come to a sudden abrupt ending, and, as with Beefheart, - my guess as to the punk-rock confusion - there's far more going on than first meets the ear.
When playing in a bass-less violin trio he strings his guitar differently and occasionally employs horns and backing vocals in much bigger bands, the focus and emphasis of styles shifting accordingly. Tonight was about the power trio and the album Are you Glad to be in Americacoincidentally the only vinyl album I had by him and, while it's readily available in that format, a CD would cost a couple of limbs and whichever of my bright fancy, shirts I was wearing at the time. Instead, I bought nine albums, all of them good, and all a similar mix of styles but with the focus shifting according to the band and the musicians in that band. 

Rich Mix had wisely removed all chairs since they hosted Kandace Springs the previous evening. The faithful formed a tight throng emanating out from the stage, anticipation of greatness in the atmosphere. Anybody who turned up because it was a Jazz gig, anticipating silence from the audience and polite applause between solos, was destined for disappointment. Likewise, anyone who thought they were in for a bit of nostalgic hopping and hockling, with police riot squads arriving on cue, like we get from the BBC every time punk rock is mentioned. Although the throng noticeably thinned, numbers largely held up.

My plus one for the evening, a lifelong Bowie fanatic which has spilled over to Iggy and, early on, I turned to him and said Raw Powerthe title of one of Mr. Pops most famous albums. A couple next to us danced throughout - soul/ jazz-funk style - and I commended him on his lady, pointing out that my missus only allows this kind of thing under suffrage. A chap at the bar engaged me about the respective ages of Blood and Hendrix, was the latter still alive?
When you have a 'runaway train' like Blood and it feels like anything can happen, it's sometimes necessary to have a bass and drums pairing to keep it grounded, and I don't believe anybody could have done a better job than Peterson and Dayle in keeping this difficult music together.
The bass solo began fairly low key, but, once he got his funk on, it seemed to last the remainder of the set. I've seen so many slap bass players over the years that I tend to take most of them for granted but he seemed to find even more notes! Like Jaco in the live version of Badia/Boogie Woogie Waltz from 8:30.
Singling out individual pieces would be pointless, even though the venue very helpfully provided me with a set-list (as well as the names of the band), but I only recognised a few, even though I've heard them all. It was about being there, living the moment, a little imbibing and lots of camaraderie among the faithful making it, not just a fantastic concert but a great night all round.  

Steve T.

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