Total Pageviews

Bebop Spoken There

Billy Boy Arnold: “As long as you don't think old you're good.” - DownBeat, December, 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!"

Simon Spillett: A lovely review from the dean of jazz bloggers, Lance Liddle...

Postage

16051 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 1058 of them this year alone and, so far, 12 this month (Dec. 6).

From This Moment On ...

December

Sun 10: Musicians Unlimited’s Xmas Party with Zoë Gilby Quartet @ Park Inn, Hartlepool. MU 1:00-3:00pm; Zoë Gilby Quartet 4:00-6:00pm. Tickets: £7.50.
Sun 10: Alan Law, Paul Grainger & Abbie Finn @ Darlington Market, Market Square, Darlington. 1:00pm. Free. A ‘Christmas Market’ outdoor gig. Wrap up warm!
Sun 10: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00-4:00pm. Free.
Sun 10: Funk Soul Sista @ Stack, Seaburn. 5:00-7:00pm. Free.
Sun 10: Beth Clarke @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 10: Hayley's Little Big Band @ Whittingham Memorial Institute, Alnwick. 7:30pm. £12.00., £10.00.
Sun 10: Tele-Port @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Line-up inc. Zhenya Strigalev.

Mon 11: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 11: Interim Final Recitals @ Newcastle University. Details TBC.

Tue 12: Stu Collingwood Organ Trio @ Forum Music Centre, Darlington. 7:00pm. £10.00.

Wed 13: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 13: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 13: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 13: Bold Big Band @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:30pm.
Wed 13: Giles Strong Quartet @ Alphabetti Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 14: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 14: Hot Fingers @ The Lubetkin Theatre, Peterlee. 7:00pm. £10.00.
Thu 14: After Hours Student Jazz Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 14: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. . Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 14: Niffi Osiyemi Trio @ Harbour View, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 14: Mo Scott ‘Little Mo’s Festive Appearance’ @ The Schooner, Gateshead. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 14: Tees Hot Club w. Kevin Eland, Josh Bentham, Garry Hadfield, Adrian Beadnell @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 15: Paul Edis @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 15: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 15: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 15: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 15: Paul Skerritt @ Black Horse Inn, Crook. From 7:00pm.
Fri 15: Paul Edis: A Jazzy Christmas @ St Cuhtbert's Centre, Crook. 7:30pm. £15.00. SOLD OUT! Waiting list open.
Fri 15: Zoë Gilby Trio @ Seventeen Nineteen, Hendon, Sunderland. 7:30pm. £12.00. POSTPONED!
Fri 15: Strictly Smokin' Big Band @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 8:00pm. First night of two. SOLD OUT!
Fri 15: Darlington Big Band @ Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. £10.00. Opus 4 Jazz Club.
Fri 15: Baghdaddies @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £14.00.; £10.00.

Sat 16: Paul Edis: A Jazzy Christmas @ Sage Gateshead. 2:00pm. A Jazzy Christmas + Jambone.
Sat 16: Porritt & Barrett & Friends Xmas Special @ Cullercoats Watch House. 7:00pm. £4.00.
Sat 16: Milne-Glendinning Band @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 16: Red Kites Jazz Band @ The Staithes Café, Gateshead. 7:00pm--9:00pm.
Sat 16: Hayley's Little Big Band @ Ellingham Village Hall, Chathill. 7:30pm. £12.00., £8.00.
Sat 16: Paul Edis: A Jazzy Christmas @ Sage Gateshead. 8:00pm.
Sat 16: Strictly Smokin' Big Band @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Second night of two.

Saturday, December 23, 2017

Francis Tulip Quartet @ The Jazz Café - Dec 22

Francis Tulip (guitar), Joel Brown (keyboards), Michael Dunlop (bass) & Matt MacKellar (drums)
(Review by Russell)
Cut and paste Wednesday’s Durham Empty Shop gig, job done. All too easy, the Francis Tulip Quartet is a developing project and considering the four musicians meet up infrequently it is all the more remarkable that they are able to produce a performance as good as this. Wednesday was good, this Friday evening Jazz Café gig was better still. And there is more to come…
 The setlist was much the same in much the same order and no bad thing as it offered a simple opportunity to compare and contrast. The quartet – Francis, Joel, Michael and Matt – got down to business long before the audience arrived, running through their set list, topping and tailing a few tunes, making sure everything was sorted in advance of the advertised start time.

Stablemates, Purim, Body and Soul, yes, Durham revisited. The playing seemed more assured, no surprise given that playing gigs is key. Imagine if they had gigs on December 23, 24, 25, 26, and on, the phrase ‘well-oiled’ springs to mind. And the Francis Tulip Quartet is just that, four of the most promising young musicians to emerge on the northeast jazz scene in years and it’s as if they’re seasoned pros. Alone Together (comp. Arthur Schwartz/lyrics Howard Dietz) served to demonstrate their appreciation of a GASbook classic, sitting quite comfortably alongside a more contemporary number such as Chick Corea’s 500 Miles High, the closing number of an excellent first set.

Wayne Shorter’s Yes or No opened the second set featuring drummer Matt MacKellar’s sparkling solo followed by another chance to hear Gilad Hekselman’s March of the Sad Ones. Pianist Joel Brown shone on Joe Henderson’s Black Narcissus, as did bandleader Tulip, and Guildhall student, bassist Michael Dunlop. Monk’s In Walked Bud featured yet more great playing centred around an extended exchange of fours. Christian McBride’s Interlude once again took its place in the set list with guitarist Tulip mightily impressive as was MacKellar with his hi-hat working overtime. As last bus time approached Tulip said they would end on something Christmassy. Matt MacKellar picked up his brushes as the quartet went out on a fine arrangement of Silent Night. The Jazz Café Friday night audience wanted more and they got it with another superb, blistering take on John Coltrane’s Impressions. The Francis Tulip Quartet will resume its tour itinerary on Tuesday 9th January at the Fox Inn on West End Terrace, Hexham. Arrive in good time, the first set will get underway at eight thirty. Highly recommended.   
Russell

1 comment :

Steve T said...

Francis had been talking about doing a free improvisational thing so that's what I thought we were going to get, until hints of Impressions began seeping through, delivering one of those Joy and Pain/ Nickel and Nail/ Lucky Fellow moments.
I get that they don't want an assumption to evolve where people expect them to do it every time, but this was the best one yet. Extraordinary.

Blog Archive