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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.

Thursday, May 03, 2018

Remi Harris Trio @ The Jazz Café, Newcastle - May 2

Remi Harris (guitars,  ukulele); Caley Groves (rhythm guitar); Mike Green (double bass)
(Review by Russell)
Some eagerly anticipated gigs meet or exceed expectations and this first Newcastle appearance by Remi Harris ticked every box. Guitarist Harris arrived in good time with rhythm guitarist Caley Groves, bassist Mike Green and tour manager Dani Harris. The trio set up, sound checked, then, perhaps, went for a wander. Whatever their pre-gig routine they were on the premises in time for the first of two sets beginning at eight o’clock.
The upstairs room of the Jazz Café on Pink Lane proved the ideal space; Remi’s array of guitars (see photos) sparkled under the stage lights as the trio relaxed on sofas (Caley and Mike), Remi preferring a basic chair and, perhaps tellingly, with guitar in hand. One imagines that our guitarist from rural Worcestershire is rarely without one of his guitars. Is he a guitar obsessive? Probably! This would go some way in explaining the remarkable talent of a young man who appeared to be rather shy and for the first twenty minutes or so Harris let his guitar do the talking for him.
 
Introductions would follow but for now, the music spoke; a few bars of All the Things You Are then into Can’t Buy Me Love. Harris is known as a ‘Hot Cub’ or ‘gypsy jazz’ guitarist, yet there is more, much more to him than that. Yes, Django is a key figure, as is Wes Montgomery, and a mean low down blues is in Harris’ locker, as is a ukulele! Caravan’s double swing time sections – Caley and Mike were all over it – showcased the trio’s near-telepathic understanding, scarcely a glance such was the trust between them. Remi conjured – it was as if by magic – an amazing intro to Pennies from Heaven and, as we were to discover, he has a penchant for a fleeting quote, on this number Percy Grainger’s Country Gardens. The Meters’ Cissy Strut worked well alongside Nature Boy (the latter featuring one of many fine solos from accomplished bassist Mike Green) as Remi switched from his beautiful Maccaferri (obtained from a luthier in Cumbria, rhythm guitarist Caley acquired his own equally fine Maccaferri in Paris) to powder blue Strat to a twelve string to a Les Paul for a Peter Green homage playing Need Your Love So Bad.

From time to time Harris utilised a pedal board to good effect yet it was his sheer virtuosity which transfixed an attentive audience. The setlist was in the heads of all three musicians, a written setlist wasn’t required and the breadth of material was no doubt designed to maintain interest – their interest and that of the audience. More from the Fab Four – Here, There and Everywhere – and a quite amazing ukulele/double bass rendition of All of Me and as the evening progressed the main man opened up to the audience talking about his many guitars (the Jazz Café resembled a guitar shop…home from home for Remi as he used to work in one!) and the development of his chosen instrument. Remi name-checked French guitarist Dorado Schmitt suggesting he was an important bridge between Django’s era and the many Hot Club guitarists of today. Fittingly the Remi Harris Trio played Bossa Dorado.
There was so much brilliant guitar playing; Freddie King, a fleeting quote from early Led Zeppelin, Wes Montgomery (tellingly Remi said he would take Wes to his desert island) and of course there was Django Reinhardt. Tyneside has waited a long time to hear Remi Harris, let’s hope he returns
before long.                       
Russell

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