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Bebop Spoken There

Phillip Lutz: ''That [sight-reading], in turn, led to session work that was well-paying but unsatisfying and, after 18 months, he [John McLaughlin] unceremoniously quit. But he fortuitously hooked up with a couple of fellow northerners, organist Mike Carr and drummer Jackie Denton. They provided entrée to London's premier jazz club, Ronnie Scott's, periodically playing opening sets''. (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

17586 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 16 years ago. 860 of them this year alone and, so far, 5 this month (Dec. 2).

From This Moment On ...

December

Thu 05: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 05: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. ‘George - named musicians, vocalists & composers (Chisholm, Duke, Lewis, Shearing, Benson, Melly, Gershwin et al)’.
Thu 05: Jools Holland’s R & B Orchestra @ Newcastle City Hall. 7:30pm.
Thu 05: Indigo Jazz Voices @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:45pm. Free.
Thu 05: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesborough. Guest band special with the Middlesbrough Jazz and Blues Orchestra 8pm. Free.

Fri 06: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 06: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 06: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 06: Sue Ferris Quintet @ The Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. Opus 4 Jazz Club.

Sat 07: New Century Ragtime Orchestra @ St Augustine's Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. Darlington New Orleans Jazz Club.
Sat 07: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. £25.00. Tutor: Steve Glendinning. Enrol at: learning@jazz.coop.
Sat 07: Hot Club du Nord @ St. Cuthbert’s Church, Shadforth DH6 1LB. Tel: 01429 823400. 7:30pm. £15.00. (inc. refreshments).
Sat 07: NUJO Jazz Jam @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £3.00.
Sat 07: Bellavana @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 7:45-9:45pm. Free.
Sat 07: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.
Sat 07: Bluebell Swing @ Repas7 by Night, West St., Berwick. 8:00pm.

Sun 08: The New ’58 Jazz Collective @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free. A ‘second Sunday in the month’ residency.
Sun 08: Learning & Participation Showcase @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. Free. Multi-genre event followed by a jam session. All welcome.
Sun 08: Zoë Gilby Quintet @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £10.00.
Sun 08: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 08: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 08: Jason Isaacs @ Hoochie Coochie, Newcastle. 5:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Sun 08: Paul Skerritt @ The Black Candle, South Shields. 6:30pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 08: Redwell @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 08: Durham University Big Band + Durham University Jazz Orchestra: Jazzy Christmas @ Sir Thomas Allen Assembly Rooms Theatre, North Bailey, Durham DH1 3ET. 7:30-9:30pm. £7.00., £6.00. concs., £5.00. Durham Student Music member. Durham University Jazz Ensembles’ annual charity event.
Sun 08: Jools Holland’s R & B Orchestra @ The Globe, Stockton. 7:30pm.
Sun 08: Mick Beck, Dominic Lash, Paul Hession @ the Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm (doors 7:30pm) JNE. £10.

Mon 09: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 09: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Wheatsheaf, Benton Sq., Whitley Road, Palmersville NE12 9SU. Tel: 0191 266 8137. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 09: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 6:30-8:30pm. Free.
Mon 09: Trio Grand @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free.
Mon 09: James Birkett Trio @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00.

Tue 10: Customs House Big Band @ All Saints Church Hall, Cleadon. 7:30pm. £6.00. The CHBB’s annual Xmas concert featuring Ruth Lambert. A BYOB gig!

Wed 11: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 11: Cath Stephens’ improvisation workshop @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 4:30-6:00pm. Collaborative group focusing on vocal improvisations.
Wed 11: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 11: The Tannery Jam Session @ The Tannery, Gilesgate, Hexham. 7:00-9:00pm. Free. Second Wednesday in the month.
Wed 11: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

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, February 08, 2017

Southport Jazz Festival - The Train & the River. February 4.

Jeremy Price (trombones), Andy Panayi (reeds), Jez Franks (guitars).
(Review by Steve T/Photos courtesy of Neil Hughes/copyright Robert Burns)
Iconic in its own way was how this was introduced. It's based on one of the highlights of the Jazz on a Summer’s Day film which gives the Southport Festival its name, Jazz on a Winter’s Weekend.
The Train & the River, by the Jimmy Giuffre Trio (Giuffre, tenor, Bob Brookmeyer, valve trombone, Jim Hall, guitar) one of the outstanding memories of that film and one to treasure.
Jeremy Price, on valve and slide trombones, did the introductions. As head of Jazz at the Birmingham Conservatoire, I'd met him before, I'd heard Jez Franks play with Ingrid Jenson at The Black Swan in Newcastle, but a third member of staff from the conservatoire, Andy Panayi was unknown to me and a revelation, bringing an ECM feel early on, and it's no exaggeration to put him with the likes of Andy Sheppard, Gary Burton and Jan Garbarek.
After their signature piece we got It Could Happen To You, Price told us,  from the category of 'let's see what happens' and unleashed the first Franks’ solo, switching between two Gibsons throughout the set, which the other two had allegedly scheduled to cause him maximum discomfort. The banter was relaxed and good-humoured throughout, with Jez at one changeover claiming he's like Pat Metheny, a cr^p Pat Metheny. He's certainly like Pat Metheny but definitely not cr^p.
Pony Express was followed by Mike Gibbs Tennis Anyone, originally for sextet and this was a huge part of the appeal of this band, recreating something with a seemingly unlikely trio of instruments.
We got Think of One from the Brummy Annual Monkathon, where the staff and students trawl through all seventyish Monk compositions, the junior students doing the simpler stuff, the staff taking the middling stuff and the advanced students doing the really tough stuff.
A few more empty seats after the break, which wasn't surprising given the nature of the music, but most stayed, which was brilliant. For a nation generally conservative in our choice of music, the rest of us do like something unusual and exotic.
The second set opened with Saturday Night Dance, as Jeremy said, to wake everyone up. Apparently , one punter described the first set as sophomoric, which he insisted was a compliment.
My One and Only Love, a beautiful ballad, Warm Rocky Place by Saltzman, a bit Spanish, a bit of a sketch, and Pannonica, the second middle name of one of the daughters of Price; should have got a cat. Some flute (yay) and a refreshing change as we're told he's actually a flute player who also plays sax, and it showed. It was just the reinvigoration of the second set needed at just the right moment. More Saltzman with You've Read the Book and more flute (yay).    
Appropriately they returned to the original source material for the final piece, The Big Pow Wow.
It was a brave and bold venture to put this on, the kind of thing you'd struggle to take on tour, but perfect for a slot at a festival, and all credit to the three musicians, all at the top of their game, and the festival organisers. A triumph. 
Steve T.

1 comment :

Steve T said...

If nobody clicks on the Jez Franks photo then they won't find out that particular guitar isn't a Gibson.
Must have looked at the same one twice.

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