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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

15848 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 855 of them this year alone and, so far, 53 this month (Sept. 18).

From This Moment On ...

September

Sat 23: Tyne Valley Big Band @ Tanfield Railway, Gateshead. 2:00-4:00pm. Free. A '1940s Weekend' event.
Sat 23: Jason Isaacs @ Stack, Seaburn. 3:30-5:30pm. Free.
Sat 23: Andrew Porritt & Keith Barrett @ Cullercoats Watch House, Front St., Cullercoats NE30 4QB. 7:00pm.
Sat 23: Michael Woods @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig. Country blues.

Sun 24: Musicians Unlimited @ Park Inn, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 24: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.

Mon 25: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Mon 25: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 7:00pm.

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.

Tuesday, April 10, 2018

GIJF 2018: Maceo Parker - Sage Gateshead, April 7.

(Review by Steve T/Photo courtesy of Ken Drew).
A couple of tabla players in the next room, and after seeing Talvin Singh in Sage 2 a couple of weeks back, I've got my tabla back on: looking for a set, tutorial DVD, maybe even lessons.
But Maceo's in my blood.
Last time I saw him he wasn't that great, playing very little in the last hour, leaving it to guest fellow James Brown alumni Pee Wee Ellis, so I wasn't too hopeful; but he's in my blood.
As the band rolled on: Rodney Skeat, another former colleague, this time from the P Funk All-stars, setting up an all but constant funk bass-line, and one of the great British Jazz trombone players and no stranger to funk, Dennis Rollins. Maceo's partnership with bone legend Fred Wesley was the powerhouse of Brown's backing band the JB's and then the Parliament, Bootsy, Brides and Horny Horn section of George Clinton's P Funk empire.
Papa's got a brand new bag (more or less) and some welcome P Funk references - 'I wants my funk uncut'. In her introduction, Ros Rigby noted that James Brown had played at Sage Gateshead, which was perhaps the best night in its history and one of the most important, but failed to note that Mr Clinton, the man who poached Fred, Maceo, Bootsy and others from James, played there a few years back too. Maceo has always gone for the Brown angle, but perhaps with the presence of Skeats, brought some P along too. I'm like Mingus, accepting the genius of Bird but acknowledging Duke was still his man. I came to love P Funk but James was the father of Gods.

Make it Funky is standard James Brown/JB's before he introduced some Jazz, claiming they don't play Jazz. The links between Jazz and Funk are vast and the influence of Jazz on Funk is undeniable, though for decades it's been two-way traffic. The Jazz-Funk sub-genre emerged in the late sixties and survives to this day, though it's always been derided by Jazz purists (while funk people just call it Jazz).
Fred Wesley always thought of himself as inferior to Jazz musicians and was thrilled when he was given the opportunity to record Jazz with 'proper' Jazz musicians. Perhaps they think the Jazz crowd expects zillions of notes per nano-second.
We were given a short, speeded up Jazz interlude (Satin Doll - Ed.) by Maceo and his keyboard man, using Hammond sound, before a trombone showpiece with just keyboard. Rollins has no qualms about Jazz and gave a truly superb rendition of When I Fall in Love, on what I always think must be a really difficult instrument to play well.

A bit of Marvin Gaye's Let's Get it On, led by guitar, was straight into Cold Sweat before a rather bizarre Ray Charles impersonation, followed by a hint of Chain Gang and a full-blown feature for singing cousin Darlene Parker with Stand by Me, Maceo briefly switching to flute.
I always hate it when soul acts do the Blues Brothers, Commitments, BBC version of soul: I'd rather listen to Maceo Parker than Ray Charles, Sam Cook or Ben E King.
One of the tracks that made Maceo a famous name was the JB's Doing it to Death, often known as Funky Good Time, featuring James calling on Fred then Maceo, but here it was Rollins who took us higher.
Another JB's biggie Pass the Peas, another James Brown classic Soul Power before the Isleys Lay Away finally brought things to a close.
He was more animated in his playing and introductions than I've ever seen him before. His playing was fluid and assured throughout, with that sound that's recognisable to any funk fan. Despite a dip towards the end, this was well worth it, but he's in my blood.  
Steve T.

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