Total Pageviews

Bebop Spoken There

Branford Marsalis: "As ignorance often forces us to do, you make a generalisation about a musician based on one specific record or one moment in time." - (Jazzwise 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

15491 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 512 of them this year alone and, so far, 133 this month (May 31).

From This Moment On ...

June

Sat 03: Newcastle Record Fair @ Northumbria University, Newcastle NE8 8SB. 10:00am-3:00pm. Admission: £2.00.
Sat 03: Pedigree Jazz Band @ St Augustine's Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm.
Sat 03: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. Tutor: Sue Ferris. £25.00. Enrol at: www.jazz.coop.
Sat 03: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 6:00pm. Free.
Sat 03: Rendezvous Jazz @ Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.
Sat 03: Papa G's Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

Sun 04: Smokin' Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm.
Sun 04: Central Bar Quintet @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00-4:00pm. £5.00. The Central Bar Quintet plays Sonny Rollins' Saxophone Colossus. Featuring Lewis Watson.
Sun 04: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 3:00pm.
Sun 04: Struggle Buggy + Michael Littlefield @ Tyne Bar, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. Acoustic blues.
Sun 04: Swinging at the Cotton Club: Harry Strutters' Hot Rhythm Orchestra @ The Fire Station, Sunderland. 7:30pm.
Sun 04: Richard Jones Trio @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Sun 04: Jam No. 18 @ Fabio's Bar, Saddler Street, Durham. 8:00pm. Free. All welcome. A Durham University Jazz Society event.

Mon 05: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

Tue 06: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 06: Jam session @ Black Swan, Newcastle Arts Centre. 7:30pm. House trio: Stu Collingwood (piano); Paul Grainger (double bass); Sid White (drums).

Wed 07: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 07: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 07: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 7:00pm.
Wed 07: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 08: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free. CANCELLED! BACK ON JUNE 15.
Thu 08: Easington Colliery Brass Band @ The Lubetkin Theatre, Peterlee. 7:00pm. £10.00.
Thu 08: Faye MacCalman + Blue Dust Archive @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 08: Dilutey Juice + Ceramic @ The Ampitheatre, Sea Road, South Shields. 7:00pm. Free. A South Tyneside Festival event.
Thu 08: Lara Jones w. Vigilance State @ Lubber Fiend, Blandford Square, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 08: Michael Littlefield @ the Harbour View, Roker, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Country blues.
Thu 08: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 09: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 09: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 09: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 09: Castillo Nuevo @ Revolución de Cuba, Newcastle. 5:30-8:30pm.
Fri 09: Emma Rawicz @ Sage Gateshead. 8:00pm.

Monday, April 03, 2017

GIJF Day 3: Sulzmann/Iles Duo & Trish Clowes 'My Iris' Quartet - Sage Gateshead - April 2

Stan Sulzmann (tenor); Nikki Iles (piano).
(Review by Lance/Photos courtesy of Russell).
Some, but not all, of the material was from the duo's 2014 album Stardust and, like the album, made for a pleasurable listening experience albeit not an earth-moving one.
The musicianship was faultless. How could it not be with two such seasoned professionals?
Polished and polite - what else could you expect from a duo playing indoors on a sunny Sunday afternoon? Binker and Moses they weren't and I'm sure they'd probably never want to be either but I did miss bass and drums. Perhaps if the tenor had been miked up a bit more or it had been a late evening session in more intimate surrounds, who knows?
Nevertheless, and whilst it didn't totally float my boat, it didn't sink it either!
During the interval, holding a referendum with other members of the Jazz Constabulary, it came across as a 50/50 hung jury. Such is the appeal of jazz and music in general - it's in the ear of the beholder. 

Trish Clowes (tenor/soprano); Ross Stanley (Hammond/piano); Chris Montague (guitar); John Blease (drums).
The set that followed by the Trish Clowes 'My Iris' Quartet was very much an up-front in your face contrast to what had preceded. After a seemingly interminable, long sustained notes introduction on soprano, Clowes finally hit the deck and she was going for gold - the soprano was on fire and any snakes she may have charmed were burned alive. Switching to tenor, Professor Clowes - yes the gal is a Professor of Jazz and Improvisation at the Guildhall, like our policemen, our professors are getting younger - blew the cobwebs away. I wonder, was Binker ever one of her students? Electronic effects were used sparingly and didn't detract too much from the music.
On guitar, Gateshead lad Chris Montague returned to his hometown and showed them how it's done whilst, dep drummer John Blease sailed miraculously through the charts.
Ross Stanley is no stranger to the northeast and it's a rare travelling band that doesn't include Ross in the lineup. Tonight he switched from Hammond to Steinway and back again. Trish introduced one of the more balladic numbers as a chance to hear Ross on the Steinway and, to quote, he did treat it in a fine way!
All of the compositions, I think, were from Ms. Clowes current album - My Iris, reviewed by Russell back in January.
Lance.

2 comments :

Unknown said...

I must take issue with your review. It's Stan Sulzman not Steve and the concert was on Sunday afternoon not Saturday. Polite yes but what a rare pleasure to hear unamplified tenor sax. With amplification you lose much of the breathiness and richness of the sound. Let's have more acoustic instrumental performances.

Lance said...

Hi Robert, yes Stan it is as I've been reminded on an hourly basis! As a fan of Stan's for many years I can only claim a 'senior moment' for this error. Likewise the Saturday in the text as opposed to the correct date in the heading. But, thanks Robert for correcting me. I need readers like yourself to keep me up to speed. As regards the actual gig, I stand by my measured enthusiasm. Changing the subject, a lot of emerging talent at the Caff tonight!

Blog Archive