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Bebop Spoken There

Abbie Finn: "Even though there's a lot of great work being done to promote women in jazz, I still come up against some attitudes! I pulled up at a recording session with my drums in the car and the studio owner said, 'I'm sorry, this space is reserved for the drummer!'" - (Jazzwise April 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

15245 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 264 of them this year alone and, so far, 77 this month (March 25).

From This Moment On ...

March

Sun 26: Musicians Unlimited @ Park Inn, Hartlepool. 1:00pm.
Sun 26: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 3:00pm.
Mar 26: Pop Jazz @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. 'Jazzified' tunes by the likes of Sylvester, Bowie, the Monkees etc., feat. Alan Law, David Gray, Richard Herdman & Jude Murphy.
Sun 26: Outlines @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. JNE promotion (upstairs).

Mon 27: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

Tue 28: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 28: Sanaz Lavasani Trio @ Black Swan, Newcastle Arts Centre. 8:00pm. £12.00 (£10.00. adv).

Wed 29: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 29: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 29: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 7:00pm.
Wed 29: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 30: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Gateshead Central Library. 2:30-4:30pm. £2.00. All welcome.
Thu 30: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. Back to 1:00pm stomp off. Free.
Thu 30: '58 Jazz Collective @ Hops & Cheese, Hartlepool. 7:30pm. Free.
Thu 30: Lindsay Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ Harbour View, Sunderland. 8:00pm.
Thu 30: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 31: Lewis Watson Quartet @ Bishop Auckland Town Hall. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 31: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 31: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 31: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm. CANCELLED! Back next week (April 7).
Fri 31: Jasmine Myra + Waclaw Zimpel @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Fri 31: The Revolutionaires @ The Shack, Boldon Colliery. 7:30pm. £10.00. The Revolutionaires' big band (horn section) line-up.
Fri 31: Andrew McCormack @ Maltings, Berwick. 8:00pm. £20.00.

April
Sat 01: The Big Easy @ St Augustine's Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm.
Sat 01: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. Tutor: Steve Glendinning - In a Minor Key. £25.00. Enrol at: www.jazz.coop.
Sat 01: Hot Club du Nord @ Pleased to Meet You, Bridge St., Morpeth. 8:00pm. £79.00. A charity fundraising event.
Sat 01: Boys of Brass @ Stack, Seaburn. 7:00-9:00pm.
Sat 01: Rendezvous Jazz @ Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00. RESCHEDULED to next week (Sat 08).

Friday, May 05, 2017

Chris Potter Quartet @ Pizza Express Stage, Cheltenham Jazz Festival - April 30.

Chris Potter (saxophones), David Virelles (piano), Joe Martin (bass), Marcus Gilmore (drums).
(Review by Steve T)
Finally got around to buying the Aziza album as preparation for this and was struck, given Chick Corea would be the preceding gig, how it reminded me of Return to Forever. I nearly saw Aziza (Potter, Dave Holland, Lionel Louke and Eric Harland) at London last year and was surprised to be told I saw Potter with Pat Metheny a few years back.
With the education system, private tuition, brilliant educators and more money to pay for them all, it's perfectly possible to produce musicians approximating the calibre of McCoy Tyner, Elvin Jones, Jimmy Garrison and even Trane. They can make great music but the shock factor of the propulsion into unchartered territory has gone. 
Lance has just reviewed the album from which much of this set was taken, and while ostensibly we seem to disagree, I totally agree this music looks forward as well as back as it seems to stand outside time. I once read that the world would never catch up with Beethoven or Trane, and while I don't think that's true of Ludvig Von, I suspect it is of Trane and I wish I could recall who said it as I often taunt Trane deniers with it.
That's not to say this is in any way a Trane tribute band as I hear countless influences in their music, but to recognise the pervasive influence of Trane on every Jazz musician since, and particularly saxophonists.
Some pieces were more melody driven than others but there was lots of freedom throughout, Potter taking the most solo time, though straightforward definitions were often mute. All are superb musicians and Potter quite extraordinary. Piano solos seemed shorter or were perhaps more easily pinpointed and the first drum solo earned him rapturous applause.
Potter made announcements every couple of pieces, advising us they would finish with the title track of the album - the Dreamer is the Dream - where he played the intro on soprano before switching back to tenor, followed by a blues. Martin took the obligatory bass solo but only really got to show his chops during a sprint to the finish, as piano dropped out. Bass followed leaving an incredible sax/drums workout before the goosebumps’
moment when piano and bass came back in but, great as he was, we didn't need another drum solo, but audiences seem to love them at a time when most rock bands are trying to lose them.
It should have been brilliant and it was, so why didn't it feel like it? It could have been me but others agreed. 
Steve T.

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