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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

Friday, July 28, 2017

Misha Mullov-Abbado Group @ the Jazz Café , Newcastle – July 25

Liam Dunachie (piano); Misha Mullov-Abbado (bass); James Davison (trumpet, flugel); Matthew Herd (alto sax); Alex Hitchcock (tenor sax); Scott Chapman (drums)
(Review/photos courtesy of Ken Drew)
Jazz North East's end-of-the-month Schmazz concert (and the end of JNE's Summer season too) concluded with a performance from another young, vibrant group of musicians with the focus again entirely on their own original material. A London based sextet led by double bassist and composer Misha Mullov-Abbado, son of Russian classical violinist Viktoria Mullova and the late Italian conductor Claudio Abbado (who’s own father was a violinist). Yet despite his distinguished classical upbringing, Mullov-Abbado chose to pursue a career in jazz and, in 2014, he became a winner of the Kenny Wheeler Music Prize (he also picked up a Dankworth Prize for jazz composition). To date, MM-A has released 2 CDs (the first with a little help from his Mum on one track).
Tonight’s line up included album personnel Davison, Herd, Dunachie and  Chapman with Alex Hitchcock (tenor sax) standing in for Sam Rapley, and of course the man himself  Misha Mullov-Abbado on double bass. Over the course of two sets of material written exclusively by Mullov-Abbado the group presented compositions from both albums, as well as some newer, as yet unrecorded pieces.
 First set, first tune was fast and energetic. A breath of fresh air. Second tune - a slow one. Then continuing with a nice variety and contrasting styles, with various rhythms, pace, energy and fun. Good occasional solos across the band giving each an opportunity to breathe and stretch. The flugel was used sparingly but provided a good soft contrast to the trumpet, although their playing by Davison was never in doubt.  Comments overheard after their first set were very positive and complimentary. In fact a great first set.  We shouldn't have been too surprised, the pre-publicity was very enticing, and after that first set it was obvious that 'it does what it says on the tin' .... and a lot more as it turns out !! 

Second set - tunes played included the title track from their latest CD New Ansonia (reviewed previously by BSH on its release). Lil'  Bear (unrecorded as of yet) - slow & steady, raunchy rhythmic bass and slightly more edgy than previous tune. The repetitive bass line gave an edgy/moody feel along with some improvised sounds from drums & saxes, yet totally accessible through the melodic threads. To me it was fleetingly reminiscent of Nature Boy in parts but it had a unique and solid feel to it overall.  Gromit's Grand Outing is a very lively and fun tune, which segued into the next, starting with a superb extended solo from Hitchcock, then supported by the bass and developing further. What a great sounding and fun tune. Hair of the Bop (or was it ...of the Fox?) from the second CD Cross-Platform Interchange starting with a fine bass intro.  Finally ending with a very lively tune with a deceptively simple melody with good interchange across the band with long solos from Dunachie and Chapman. The audience were engaged throughout and delighted by what they saw (enthusiastic and often smiling musicians, especially Mullov-Abbado) and heard. They demanded more through their rapturous applause and were rewarded by an encore (see video on JNE page).

What a great set of varied compositions brilliantly played by a band 'in concert' with each other. Good sound from the brass section individually and collectively (aren't trumpets rather loud at times!!) and each piece was brought alive by a superb set of musicians all enjoying the ride.  Overall, straight ahead jazz, all original material and a truly well synchronised set of musicians who collectively provided much more than the simple sum of the parts. Excellent music, pure jazz, and an excellent night. This had a really good Jazz Club feel to it throughout. Noted that the audience was swelled by quite a few new faces for a Schmazz concert - the pre-publicity must have had some attraction - let's hope it sticks.

The next Jazz North East performance is after the Summer break on Sunday 3rd September at The Bridge with The Improvisors' Workshop on the afternoon and 'The Spirit Farm' in the evening. Then look out for 'Perpetual Motion Machines' and a brand new Trio from Adam Sinclair featuring Paul Edis and Jon Proud, plus at the end of September it's the 'Newcastle Festival of Jazz and Improvised Music' with a heap of great artists including Zoe Rahman, Troyka, Schnellertollermeier, Mette Rasmussen and Julien Desprez to name but a few .... phew !!! 
Ken Drew
Video (the encore after the 2nd set):


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