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Bebop Spoken There

David Hadju: "It was kind of a lightning bolt [seeing a photo of a hi-fi store that's now occupied by a phone store]. Everyone had hi-fi systems, now everyone has a phone" - (DownBeat May 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

15478 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 499 of them this year alone and, so far, 120 this month (May 27).

From This Moment On ...

May 2023

Sun 28: Bradley Creswick's Western Swingfonia @ Whitley Bay Carnival. Free. Plaza Arena stage. 12 noon.
Sun 28: MSK @ Whitley Bay Carnival. 12:15pm. Free. Marquee stage. MSK - Steve Glendinning, Katy Trigger, Martin Douglas.
Sun 28: Musicians Unlimited @ The Park Inn, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 28: Back Chat Brass @ Whitley Bay Carnival. 1:30pm. Free. Marquee stage.
Sun 28: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 28: Tim Kliphuis Trio @ St Mary's Church, Wooler NE71 6BZ. 3:00pm. £15.00 standard; £5.00 student/unwaged; free under 18. Afternoon Cocktail, a Wooler Summer Arts' concert promotion. Kliphuis (violin); Nigel Clark (guitar); Roy Percy (double bass).
Sun 28: Back Chat Brass @ Whitley Bay Carnival. 3:00pm. Free. Plaza Arena stage.
Sun 28: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 3:00pm.
Sun 28: King Bees @ The Delaval Arms, Old Hartley NE26 4RL. 5:00pm. Free. Chicago blues at its best!
Sun 28: Matt Anderson Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Anderson (saxophones); Jamil Sheriff (piano); Andy Champion (double bass); Dave Walsh (drums).

Mon 29: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

Tue 30: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 30: Big Chris Barber Band @ Whitley Bay Playhouse. 7:30pm.

Wed 31: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 31: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 31: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 7:00pm.
Wed 31: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

June
Thu 01: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 01: Thursday Night Prayer Meeting @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Donations.
Thu 01: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Ragtime piano. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.
Thu 01: Jake Leg Jug Band @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Thu 01: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 02: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 02: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 02: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 02: Joseph Carville Trio @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm.
Fri 02: Claire Martin & Her Trio @ The Witham, Barnard Castle. 7:30pm. £25.00., £20.00. Feat. Jim Mullen, Alex Garnett & Jeremy Brown.
Fri 02: Guy Davis + Michael Littlefield & Scott Taylor @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. Doors 7:30pm. Blues double bill.
Fri 02: Anders Ingram @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Blind Pig Blues Club. Country blues. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

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.

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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