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Bebop Spoken There

Phillip Lutz: ''That [sight-reading], in turn, led to session work that was well-paying but unsatisfying and, after 18 months, he [John McLaughlin] unceremoniously quit. But he fortuitously hooked up with a couple of fellow northerners, organist Mike Carr and drummer Jackie Denton. They provided entrée to London's premier jazz club, Ronnie Scott's, periodically playing opening sets''. (DownBeat, December 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

17586 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 16 years ago. 860 of them this year alone and, so far, 5 this month (Dec. 2).

From This Moment On ...

December

Wed 04: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 04: Jason Isaacs @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 2:30-4:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Wed 04: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 8:00pm. Concert. Free. .
Wed 04: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 04: Kat Eaton @ Hoochie Coochie, Newcastle. 8:15pm. Soulful vocals, excellent band.

Thu 05: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 05: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. ‘George - named musicians, vocalists & composers (Chisholm, Duke, Lewis, Shearing, Benson, Melly, Gershwin et al)’.
Thu 05: Jools Holland’s R & B Orchestra @ Newcastle City Hall. 7:30pm.
Thu 05: Indigo Jazz Voices @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:45pm. Free.
Thu 05: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesborough. Guest band special with the Middlesbrough Jazz and Blues Orchestra 8pm. Free.

Fri 06: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 06: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 06: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 06: Sue Ferris Quintet @ The Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. Opus 4 Jazz Club.

Sat 07: New Century Ragtime Orchestra @ St Augustine's Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. Darlington New Orleans Jazz Club.
Sat 07: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. £25.00. Tutor: Steve Glendinning. Enrol at: learning@jazz.coop.
Sat 07: Hot Club du Nord @ St. Cuthbert’s Church, Shadforth DH6 1LB. Tel: 01429 823400. 7:30pm. £15.00. (inc. refreshments).
Sat 07: NUJO Jazz Jam @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £3.00.
Sat 07: Bellavana @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 7:45-9:45pm. Free.
Sat 07: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.
Sat 07: Bluebell Swing @ Repas7 by Night, West St., Berwick. 8:00pm.

Sun 08: The New ’58 Jazz Collective @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free. A ‘second Sunday in the month’ residency.
Sun 08: Learning & Participation Showcase @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. Free. Multi-genre event followed by a jam session. All welcome.
Sun 08: Zoë Gilby Quintet @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £10.00.
Sun 08: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 08: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 08: Jason Isaacs @ Hoochie Coochie, Newcastle. 5:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Sun 08: Paul Skerritt @ The Black Candle, South Shields. 6:30pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 08: Redwell @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 08: Durham University Big Band + Durham University Jazz Orchestra: Jazzy Christmas @ Sir Thomas Allen Assembly Rooms Theatre, North Bailey, Durham DH1 3ET. 7:30-9:30pm. £7.00., £6.00. concs., £5.00. Durham Student Music member. Durham University Jazz Ensembles’ annual charity event.
Sun 08: Jools Holland’s R & B Orchestra @ The Globe, Stockton. 7:30pm.
Sun 08: Mick Beck, Dominic Lash, Paul Hession @ the Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm (doors 7:30pm) JNE. £10.

Mon 09: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 09: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Wheatsheaf, Benton Sq., Whitley Road, Palmersville NE12 9SU. Tel: 0191 266 8137. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 09: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 6:30-8:30pm. Free.
Mon 09: James Birkett Trio @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00.

Tue 10: ???

Wed 11: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 11: Cath Stephens’ improvisation workshop @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 4:30-6:00pm. Collaborative group focusing on vocal improvisations.
Wed 11: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 11: The Tannery Jam Session @ The Tannery, Gilesgate, Hexham. 7:00-9:00pm. Free. Second Wednesday in the month.
Wed 11: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Reviewers wanted

Whilst BSH attempts to cover as many gigs, festivals and albums as possible, to make the site even more comprehensive we need more 'boots on the ground' to cover the albums seeking review - a large percentage of which never get heard - report on gigs or just to air your views on anything jazz related. Interested? then please get in touch. Contact details are on the blog. Look forward to hearing from you. Lance

Saturday, January 13, 2018

Paul Edis Trio @ The Jazz Café - Jan 12

Paul Edis (piano), Paul Susans (double bass) & Matthew MacKellar (drums)
(Review by Russell/Photo courtesy of Mike Tilley)
At short notice, drummer Matthew MacKellar stepped in to replace an ailing Rob Walker. Triptych would return at a later date with this evening’s concert rebranded as the ‘Paul Edis Trio’. The two Pauls – Edis, piano, Susans, double bass – switched their attention from the original composition project that is Triptych to the standards repertoire associated with the classic jazz piano trio.

Right on time Edis, Susans and MacKellar opened with Harold Arlen’s It’s Only a Paper Moon. As pianist Edis explained this evening’s two sets would take a look at the work of some of the all-time great jazz pianists. Opening with the great and influential Nat ‘King’ Cole was a good way to begin. The standard set, the trio played Moten Swing from Oscar Peterson’s Night Train album with Edis noting that the great Canadian pianist was more than a little impressed on first hearing Art Tatum. To the disappointment of the comfortably full upstairs room at the Jazz Café, our pianist chose not to play some Art Tatum – maybe next time!

As Edis introduced Bill Evans a phone bleeped. Disgracefully the culprit was none other than your correspondent. Quick as a flash Edis said: I hope that will be in the review! In mitigation, the bleep occurred due to a communication from BSH’s Editor in Chief making arrangements for a future gig review. There’s no rest for the wicked. The Evans’ number – My Romance – included Edis’ fleeting quote from Stevie Wonder’s Isn’t She Lovely? and a fine solo from our fine depping drummer, Matt MacKellar.

Paul Edis the composer peppered the set including Snakes and Ladders followed by Horace Silver. Our pianist observed that The Preacher bore similarity to The Bare Necessities. How true! So, from now on, Horace Silver will be seen and heard through the prism of The Jungle Book! To close out a fine first set a familiar 7/8 hand clap introduced Brubeck’s Unsquare Dance. Terrific!

A good number of music students turned up, and, encouragingly, stayed on, they were there for the duration. Edis’ Whiskers resumed matters with ‘blistering’ best describing the trio’s searing pace as Matt MacKellar knocked out another tremendous solo. Lullaby of Birdland, Bill Evans’ Very Early, a Paul Edis composition – The Long Way Round – sounding, to your correspondent’s untutored ear,  not unlike George Benson’s This Masquerade (what say Dr Edis?), and Billy Strayhorn’s Lush Life in the style of Phineas Newborn Jnr. A hugely entertaining, varied set list, Edis and Susans have a working knowledge of the numbers in the pad (bassist Susans, centrally positioned between piano and drums, undemonstrative yet demonstrably an A-lister) and the young man of the trio, drummer Matt MacKellar, knew most, if not all, of the charts in front of him, handling matters with ease, using brushes as and when required with a preparedness to take command and kick it along on uptempo numbers. Two Thelonius Monk compositions concluded matters, in so doing illustrating MacKellar’s versatility; Ba-Lue Bolivar Ba-Lues-are and the encore, a fabulous take on Rhythm-a-ning.

The Jazz Café’s first jam session of the year (Tuesday 16) just happens to feature pianist Edis and drummer MacKellar alongside the house trio’s main man, bassist Paul Grainger. Tomorrow Sunday at Darlington’s Quakerhouse MacKellar appears once again with the Francis Tulip Quartet. Oh yes!  
Russell    

2 comments :

Patti said...

Another jazzily excellent night at our very own Jazz Cafe - a welcome return after the Christmas and New Year hiatus. Just as Russell says ....... anyway, I've been pondering on the question of similarities between The Preacher and Bare Necessities. First, Horace Silver's was written about 1955 - and the Disney film didn't come out until the mid 1960's. To add an extra, The Preacher also sounds a bit like Show Me The Way To Go Home - this non musician, but keen jazz listener thinks. Any other views?

Lance said...

Show Me The Way To Go Home is the generally accepted source of The Preacher although Bare Necessities does seem to have a similar progression.

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