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Bebop Spoken There

Art Blakey: "You [Bobby Watson] don't want to play too long, because you don't know they're clapping because they're glad you finished!" - (JazzTimes, Nov. 2019)..

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

15867 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 874 of them this year alone and, so far, 72 this month (Sept. 25).

From This Moment On ...

September

Tue 26: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.

Wed 27: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 27: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 27: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 28: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 28: Alice Grace Quartet @ King's Hall, Newcastle University. 1:15pm. Free.
Thu 28: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Gateshead Central Library, Gateshead. 2:30pm. All welcome.
Thu 28: Faye MacCalman + Snape/Sankey @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 28: Zoe Rahman @ Jesmond United Reformed Church, Jesmond, Newcastle. 7:30pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Thu 28: '58 Jazz Collective @ Hops & Cheese, Hartlepool. 7:30pm.
Thu 28: Speakeasy @ Queen's Hall, Hexham. 7:30pm. £15.00. A Southpaw Dance Company presentation. Dance, audio-visuals, Count Basie, Benny Goodman, swing dancers etc.
Thu 28: Mick Cantwell Band @ Harbour View, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Ace blues band.
Thu 28: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 29: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 29: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 29: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.

Sat 30: John Pope Quintet + Late Girl + Shapeshifters @ Bobik's, Jesmond, Newcastle.
Sat 30: Papa G's Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

OCTOBER

Sun 01: Smokin' Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm.
Sun 01: Dulcie May Moreno sings Portrait of Sheila @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £10.00. Moreno sings Sheila Jordan with Giles Strong, Mick Shoulder & John Bradford.
Sun 01: Middlesbrough Jazz & Blues Orchestra @ Saltburn Community Hall. 2:00pm.
Sun 01: The Easy Rollers @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £13.70., £11.55.
Sun 01: Brand/Roberts/Champion/Sanders @ Blank Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Sun 01: Papa G's Troves @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 02: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Mon 02: FILM: Wattstax; 50th Anniversary @ Forum Cinema, Hexham. 8:00pm.

Sunday, December 24, 2017

A Jazzy Christmas: The Paul Edis Trio, Jo Harrop & Guests @ Sage Gateshead – December 22

Paul Edis (piano); Andy Champion (bass); Russ Morgan (drums); Jo Harrop (vocals); Matt Anderson (ten, sop sax); Graeme Hardy (trumpet, flugelhorn); Emma Fisk (violin); Alex Thompson (alto sax, clarinet); Kate Garnett (trombone); Megan Robinson (flute, piccolo)
(Review by Ann Alex/Photos by Jerry and main photo by Sarah Williams)
What a grand start to Christmas! A different take on many Christmas favourites to get us in the right mood. Different from the first tune, which was an unusually rhythmed  Jingle Bells, in tricky 5/4 time from the trio with Matt Anderson on tenor sax. The piano lid, bass, bass drum and mic stand were adorned with fairy lights and Paul read out Christmas cracker jokes at various times during the evening. Enter Jo wearing a glamorous short, black, sparkly dress, to sing Let It Snow, and the mood was well set for the audience in hall 2, which was full, including many seats taken on level 3.
All the instruments were well up to the mark, with the saxes and brass giving us skilled solos, Emma’s violin sounding superb, and Jo Harrop, back in her native North East, singing well in a clear voice with an obvious jazz edge, and every word distinct. And the three younger musicians, trained by Paul in the Jambone band, did themselves credit. Jo did a very fun version of Never Do A Tango With An Eskimo; then a much sadder wartime song I’ll Be Home For Christmas (if only in my dreams); a saucy Santa Baby, reminiscent of the Eartha Kitt version; a moving Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas (with piano only).
 
 The instrumentals included White Christmas (beautiful violin from Emma); Driving Home For Christmas (requested by Mrs Edis); Santa Claus Is Coming To Town. There was a lovely carol medley, featuring the piano for In The Bleak Midwinter; O Come All Ye Faithful led by Emma; and a very up tempo Silent Night from everyone. While Jo and Paul were playing, the other instruments left the stage, then played a moving God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, from various parts of the auditorium downstairs. It reminded me of orchestras which Thomas Hardy recalled playing in church when he was young. The instruments were similar, though maybe not saxophones as I’m not sure if they had yet been invented, but you get the idea.
 Winter Wonderland was the last number, followed by an encore of Mel Tormé's The Christmas Song (chestnuts roasting on an open fire etc), with everyone in Santa hats, except that there was no hat left over for the drummer. Jo gave her hat to Russ, well deserved for his hard work. A friendly gesture to round off a great evening.
Ann Alex  

1 comment :

Steve T said...

On my honeymoon in Rome I saw this brilliant jumper but it was £350 and this was 1995. Had it been £100, I'd have tortured myself and no doubt led a life of regret, but at £350, there was no decision to make and so it was on Friday.
When I first saw this night on the Sage Website, I emailed Paul to say how brill it sounded but fortunately delayed buying tickets and it was only when I came to buy them later I spotted the collision.
As I said, there wasn't a decision to make which doesn't mean it doesn't hurt; imagine how splendid I'd have looked in my £350 jumper.
More or less the ultimate North East Jazz super-group, with our very own Duke Ellington (Lord Paul) at the helm. The return of a great sax player and friend of the North East, (PC ALERT) a prodigal daughter who looks and sounds terrific (ditto the fiddler), and I'll leave it for the ladies to evaluate the male protagonists in that dept.
Next Year.

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