Total Pageviews

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.

Tuesday, December 12, 2017

Favourite Animals and Article XI @ The Bridge Hotel, Newcastle - December 10

(Review by Steve H/Photos courtesy of Ken Drew)
What a great end to the JNE year as a dectet and an undectet literally filled the stage on Sunday night at The Bridge Hotel.  A Venn diagram of the 2 bands would have shown 7 musicians in the intersection of the two groups. So in total, there were 14 different players rather than the 21 any keen mathematician might have calculated. Many of the 14 were familiar faces having visited Tyneside many times in one guise or another in recent years. In fact, I think I have seen Johnny Hunter on drums more than any other musician in Tyneside which is certainly no bad thing given his aff/ability. The idea of the 2 ensembles touring together came out of a crazy conversation between respective bandleaders Cath Roberts and Anton Hunter and Sunday night saw the culmination of the 4 date mini-tour. Don’t you just love it when a plan comes together?
Favourite Animals (pictured above) kicked off the evening with Confirm or Deny which was a bit of stop-start affair until a really powerful groove kicked in to get the crowd rocking on their chairs. The rest of the set had a very cinematic feel to it. Graham South on trumpet seemed to dominate Boiling Point and on their final piece Shreds Dee Byrne on alto and Graham South on trumpet once again featured strongly. There were some very interesting combinations of instruments in this ensemble particularly the twin flute and bass clarinet pairing of Julie Kjaer and Tom Ward. The music although improvised has a  far more contemporary classical feel to it than a bluesy jazz one but whatever the label everyone seemed to wholeheartedly enjoy the experience.
Article XI was formed by Anton Hunter as the result of a commission from the 2014 Manchester Jazz Festival and takes its name from the said article of the European Convention of Human Rights although the reason why this name was chosen was neither explained or discussed. 
Another interesting line up with a vast brass section featuring 2 trombones, 2 trumpets. 2 altos, a tenor and a baritone. The music is improvised around Hunters compositions with space given to the individual soloists to explore the framework constructed. The result produced a more jazz-like feel to the proceedings than maybe the previous band had. 
The set got off to a flying start with 2 tracks Munichcreation and Always a Fox which are actually not on their forthcoming eponymous debut album. The scene had been well and truly set great ensemble playing spiced up with imaginative solos. It is not often you say a song does just the opposite of what it says on the tin but Not the Kind of Jazz you Like did exactly that! 
It was hard to single out any soloist in such a large ensemble but one of the guys I had never seen before, Simon Prince on tenor and flute, really impressed and I hope we see him again soon in some format or another. 
The evening closed with what appeared to be a planned encore I Dreamed I Spat Out a Bee which began with the trio, Johnny Hunter on drums, Ollie Dover on alto and Seth Bennett on double bass , before the rest of the band joined in and brought this brilliant doubleheader to a triumphant close.
A marvellous evening my only regret being that we only got to see one set of each band. Given the nature of these groups, there was always so much going on that one tended to focus on selected sections of playing thereby missing out on the equally interesting parts of the others. Maybe the best thing to do is get the respective CD’s of both ensembles. That way you can make sure you don’t miss out on anything as you relisten to this fabulous music time and time again.
Steve H
FAVOURITE ANIMALS
Dee Byrne (alto sax); Sam Andreae (tenor sax); Cath Roberts (baritone sax); Tom Ward (flute & bass clarinet); Julie Kjaer (flute & bass clarinet); Graham South (trumpet); Tullis Rennie (trombone); Anton Hunter (guitar); Seth Bennett (bass); Johnny Hunter (drums)
ARTICLE XI
Sam Andreae (alto sax); Ollie Dover (alto sax); Simon Prince (tenor sax, flute); Cath Roberts (baritone sax); Graham South (trumpet); Nick Walters (trumpet); Tullis Rennie (trombone); Kieran McLeod (trombone); Anton Hunter (guitar); Seth Bennett (bass); Johnny Hunter (drums).

No comments :

Blog Archive