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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

Thu 21: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 21: La Malbec Orchestra @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Thu 21: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Ragtime piano. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.
Thu 21: Linsday Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ Harbour View, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 21: Ray Stubbs R & B All Stars @ The Schooner, Gateshead. 8:30pm. Free.
Thu 21: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 22: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 22: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 22: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 22: Brief Encounter @ Bardon Mill Village Hall, Northumberland. 7:00pm. Tickets: £10.00. adv from 07885 303166; £12.00. on the door. Chris & Veronica Perrin improvising to a screening of the 1929 'Jazz Age' silent film Piccadilly (Dir. Ewald André Dupont).
Fri 22: Paul Edis & Graeme Wilson + Three Tsuru Origami @ Jesmond United Reformed Church, Newcastle. 7:30pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Fri 22: Crooners @ Tyne Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm.
Fri 22: Abbie Finn's Finntet @ Traveller's Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. Opus 4 Jazz Club.

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.

Saturday, April 14, 2018

Mick Shoulder Quintet @ Bishop Auckland Town Hall - April 13

Lewis Watson (tenor saxophone); Graham Hardy (trumpet, flugelhorn); Dean Stockdale (piano); Mick Shoulder (double bass); Russ Morgan (drums)
(Review by Russell)
Auckland Castle is closed for major renovation works, the Zurbaráns are out on loan, Kynren is due to return, but all roads led to BATH (Bishop Auckland Town Hall) for a lunchtime gig. Mick Shoulder assembled a starry quintet to play the music of one of the great bands…the Jazz Messengers. The truth is, and Mick would readily acknowledge the fact, we were there to hear Lewis Watson. Where he’s been is anyone’s guess and one question remained to be answered…could he still cut it?

Could he? Silly question! Mick’s band (Watson, Graham Hardy, Dean Stockdale and Russ Morgan) hit the ground running as our long lost tenor man tore into McCoy Tyner’s arrangement of That Old Black Magic. It’d been a while, but Watson has lost nothing; full-toned, majestic, turbo-charged, the command that comes from being the best around. If that had been it, just the one number, then the journey from Tyneside would have been worth it. But, there was more, much more! Lewis Watson’s frontline partner, trumpeter Graham Hardy has, of late, been heard tearing it up himself at a couple of terrific jam sessions. And on this opening number, Hardy didn’t baulk at the prospect of following Watson.   

Wayne Shorter’s Back Stage Sally maintained the head-shaking disbelief of some in the audience; first Hardy, then Watson blowing torrents, and, in the tradition of the modernists, the horns stepped off stage to allow the trio to stretch out. And what a trio! You’d happily pay good money to hear the piano, bass and drums line-up of Dean Stockdale (piano), Mick Shoulder (double bass) and Russ Morgan (drums). More terrific tenor playing from Watson on Nica’s Dream with Hardy taking a long, lung-busting solo…quite some front line!

A couple from Benny Golson – Are You Real? with Hardy just about taking the honours and a Russ Morgan solo to boot, then Whisper Not (Hardy switching to flugelhorn on this one) featuring further superb tenor playing from Watson. All good things come to an end with bandleader Mick Shoulder making no apology for closing a magical one-hour lunchtime set with Tubby Hayes’ arrangement of Cheek to Cheek. Think ‘turbo-charged’ and you’ll get some idea of how this one went. Tubbs would change gear at will, similarly, Simon Spillett is a present-day exponent of the art, it’s time to add the name Lewis Watson to the select list of fearless, commanding tenor saxophonists.  
Russell

1 comment :

Steve Andrews (on F/b) said...

Lew Watson - the Man! Haven't seen him for years, but by the sound of this review still the tenor player's tenor player!

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