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Bebop Spoken There

Béla Fleck: “ And that's the great thing about live performances, you take people on a journey. It doesn't have to be like something else they've heard. It's not supposed to be". DownBeat, April, 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

Thu 28: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 28: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Gateshead Central Library, Gateshead. 2:30pm.
Thu 28: Richard Herdman Quartet @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 28: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm. Guests: Josh Bentham (alto sax); Alan Marshall (tenor sax); Neil Brodie (trumpet); Adrian Beadnell (bass); Graham Thompson (keys); Steve Hunter (drums).

Fri 29: FILM: Soul @ The Forum Cinema, Hexham. 12:30pm. Jazz-themed film animation.
Fri 29: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 29: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 29: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 29: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 6:00pm. Free. POSTPONED!
Fri 29: Thundercat @ Newcastle City Hall.
Fri 29: John Logan @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sat 30: Papa G’s Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sat 30: Pete Tanton’s Cuba Libre @ Whitley Bay Library, York Road, Whitley Bay. 8:00pm.

Sun 31: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay Metro Station. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 31: Ruth Lambert Trio @ Juke Shed, Union Quay, North Shields NE30 1HJ. 3:00pm. Free. Lambert, Alan Law & Paul Grainger.
Sun 31: Sid Jacobs & Tom Remon @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. USA/London jazz guitar duo.
Sun 31: Bellavana @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

April
Mon 01: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 01: Ray Stubbs R&B All Stars @ Billy Bootlegger’s, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 3:00pm. Free.

Tue 02: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Dean Stockdale, Paul Grainger, Abbie Finn.

Wed 03: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 03: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 03: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Sunday, November 19, 2017

Funchal Fiesta:CD in the Offing? Paul Edis Sextet @ St. Cuthbert’s Centre, Crook, November 17.

Paul Edis (Piano), Mick Shoulder (Bass), Russ Morgan (Drums), Graeme Wilson (Tenor Sax / Flute), Chris Hibbard (Trombone) and Graham Hardy (Trumpet and Flugelhorn).
(Review by Jerry/Photos courtesy of Jerry)
The band started with a standard, Out of Nowhere, despite having memories of getting parking tickets while playing it as an opener at the Whitley Bay Festival! I was there, as Max Boyce used to say. No worries here - Crook is always friendly! The rest of an excellent set-list consisted of originals, some familiar from the sextet’s previous albums, others being “newer tunes” (in some cases totally new to me).
The familiar tunes included Dorian Grey, Blues for Dad, Mr.Hipster and Better than a Punch in the Face. Dorian alludes to something musically complex (i.e. beyond me!) but I can’t help visualising the eponymous hero just about to pull the cover off the portrait…Blues for Dad raised the tempo and featured a great bass solo from Mick Shoulder and Russ Morgan’s excellent drumming. Russ was depping for Adam Sinclair who was unavailable due to some Children in Need-related duties. As anyone who saw the marvellous Blaydon gig in October (Vasilis Xenopoulos & Nigel Price) will know, Russ Morgan is a (more than) safe pair of hands. Mr. Hipster featured a five-star solo by Graham Hardy on flugelhorn. Better than a Punch in the Face was sassy and brassy and saw Chris Hibbard in fine form on trombone.
Though I have heard it once before, It’s Been, It’s Gone, It’s Happened, is definitely a “newer” tune. Written for the bandleader's mum (“it’s cheaper than buying presents”!), it is an instantly memorable ballad with hints of Country and Western in some of the piano parts and hints of Auld Lang Syne in the brass. An eclectic mix, I know, but effectively conveying the message of “get over it/get on with it”. This should definitely be a CD track!
As should Madeira, inspired by the sights, the sounds, the colours and the vibrancy of that island. Muted trumpet and flute featured on this lively, rhythmic “fiesta” tune with an excellent extended flute solo by Graeme Wilson carrying the mood. I loved it! Wilson also starred, with sax this time, on his own composition which closed the second set, Brand New Mountain. I’d like this on the CD as well: so far I know it’s a mountain in Japan, or a sculpture of a mountain on the island of Hokkaido. The CD sleeve notes could fill in rest of the back-story, perhaps…
The band-members’ composing skills were further showcased at the start of set 2 with Graham Hardy’s The Pounce - inspired, apparently, by his kitten! This piece, understandably, gave the front three plenty to do as did another “newer” piece, Cluster Fluster. This also alludes to something musical (i.e. beyond me) but what struck me was the contrast between the almost classical piano and the wah-wah-wah-wah of the brass, muted trumpet and all. More variety for my would-be CD!
Add in the two remaining tunes, Muddle Through and Lost – both totally new to me – and you are close to filling the disc! Muddle Through is a very bluesy blues (winter draws on and my dog done died!) with lugubrious flugelhorn, “lazy” piano and great bass. I loved it!. Lost, is, apparently, about moments of panic (plenty of them in my teaching career!) followed by gradual calming (that didn’t always happen for me!). Tremulous brass and mallets on cymbals (I’m guessing at terminology here) gave way to lyrical piano, brushed rhythms and bowed bass and a quieter finish. Lost, then found?
The evening was the last Crook gig until 2018: watch out for the programme next year. It is an excellent venue and the jazz never disappoints.
So, will there be a CD? The answer is almost certainly “yes” once the band can afford the not inconsiderable cost of recording. Whenever it happens, it’ll be worth the wait!
Jerry

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