Total Pageviews

Bebop Spoken There

Ambrose Akinmusire: “ I am certainly always aware of what the masses are doing. And when I see too many people going one way, I'm going another way - even when I don't know what's over that way". DownBeat, March, 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

16287 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 16 years ago. 169 of them this year alone and, so far, 41 this month (Mar 18).

From This Moment On ...

March

Tue 19: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Michael Young, Paul Grainger, Tim Johnston.

Wed 20: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 20: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 20: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 21: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 21: Castillo Neuvo Trio + Conor Emery & His ‘Bones Band @ The Grove, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 7:30pm (7:00pm doors). £10.00. (£7.00. student).
Thu 21: Remi Banklyn + Chris Corcoran Trio @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.50. Chicago blues. An International Guitar Foundation promotion.
Thu 21: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Ragtime piano.
Thu 21: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm.

Fri 22: Vasilis Xenopoulos & Paul Edis @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. £8.00. SOLD OUT!
Fri 22: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 22: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 22: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 22: Nauta + Remy CB + Last Orders @ Hoochie Coochie, Newcastle. 8:30pm (7:30pm doors). Free.
Fri 22: Vasilis Xenopoulos-Paul Edis Quartet @ Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. £15.00. Opus 4 Jazz Club.
Fri 22: Redwell @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sat 23: Jambone @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 6:30pm. Free (ticketed). End of term performance in the Northern Rock Foundation Hall.
Sat 23: Milne-Glendinning Band @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 23: Red Kites Jazz @ Rowlands Gill Community Centre NE39 1JB. 7:00pm. Tickets: £12.00. (gibsidecommunityfarm@gmail.com). A ‘Build a Barn’ fundraiser. BYOB, tea/coffee available.
Sat 23: New Century Ragtime Orchestra @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £20.00. + bf (book in person at venue - no booking fee!). Featuring pianist Martin Litton.
Sat 23: Pete Tanton’s Cuba Libre @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 24: Musicians Unlimited @ Park Inn, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 24: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:30pm. Free.
Sun 24: Luis Verde @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm. Verde (alto sax); Joe Steels (guitar); John Pope (double bass); John Hirst (drums). Alto sax brilliance!
Sun 24: Elsie Franklin @ The Globe, Newcastle. 3:00pm. £10.00. Country blues. An International Guitar Foundation promotion.
Sun 24: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay Metro Station. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 24: Las Vegas Live with the Rat Pack @ The Forum, Billingham.
Sun 24: Ian Millar & Dominic Spencer @ Otterburn Memorial Hall. 7:30pm. £12.00.
Sun 24: Lindsay Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Note start time - 7:00pm.
Sun 24: Bold Big Band @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 25: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 25: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 6:30pm. Free.

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.

Blog Archive