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Bebop Spoken There

Branford Marsalis: "As ignorance often forces us to do, you make a generalisation about a musician based on one specific record or one moment in time." - (Jazzwise June 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

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.

Sun 04: Smokin' Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm.
Sun 04: Central Bar Quintet @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00-4:00pm. £5.00. The Central Bar Quintet plays Sonny Rollins' Saxophone Colossus. Featuring Lewis Watson.
Sun 04: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 3:00pm.
Sun 04: Struggle Buggy + Michael Littlefield @ Tyne Bar, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. Acoustic blues.
Sun 04: Swinging at the Cotton Club: Harry Strutters' Hot Rhythm Orchestra @ The Fire Station, Sunderland. 7:30pm.
Sun 04: Richard Jones Trio @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 05: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

Tue 06: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 06: Jam session @ Black Swan, Newcastle Arts Centre. 7:30pm. House trio: Stu Collingwood (piano); Paul Grainger (double bass); Sid White (drums).

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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