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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

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.

Sat 30: John Pope Quintet + Late Girl + Shapeshifters @ Bobik's, Jesmond, Newcastle.
Sat 30: Papa G's Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

OCTOBER

Sun 01: Smokin' Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm.
Sun 01: Dulcie May Moreno sings Portrait of Sheila @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £10.00. Moreno sings Sheila Jordan with Giles Strong, Mick Shoulder & John Bradford.
Sun 01: Middlesbrough Jazz & Blues Orchestra @ Saltburn Community Hall. 2:00pm.
Sun 01: The Easy Rollers @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £13.70., £11.55.
Sun 01: Brand/Roberts/Champion/Sanders @ Blank Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Sun 01: Papa G's Troves @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 02: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Mon 02: FILM: Wattstax; 50th Anniversary @ Forum Cinema, Hexham. 8:00pm.

Sunday, August 26, 2018

Ushaw Ensemble @ Ushaw, Durham - August 26

Paul Edis (MD, piano); Graham Hardy (trumpet, flugelhorn); Graeme Wilson (tenor sax, bass clarinet, flute); Emma Fisk (violin); Andy May (Northumbrian pipes); Andy Champion (double bass); Rob Walker (drums)
(Review by Russell).

On Sunday morning Paul Edis, working alongside reedsman Graeme Wilson, coaxed sounds from the pipe organ in the splendid setting of St Cuthbert's Chapel. Their half-hour improvised set preceded a performance of Edis' heralded St Cuthbert's Suite by the jazz-folk Ushaw Ensemble. 

Edis formed the Ushaw Ensemble to work on a 2016 commission telling the story of Cuthbert (born c. 634). Acclaimed performances at Ushaw and Durham Cathedral were followed by concert dates across the north of England, including an evening at Wakefield Jazz Club. Edis dedicated this Ushaw Jazz Festival performance to Chris de Saram (Wakefield Jazz Club promoter) who died on August 21.
St Cuthbert's Suite took the form of two parts comprising eleven sections. Andy May's Northumbrian pipes rooted the music in the ancient northern landscape with the jazz element emerging out of Edis' every day twenty-first-century working practice.

Emma Fisk's violin established the St Cuthbert's Theme which recurred as the suite developed. May picked up the theme during A Shepherd from Melrose and subsequent sections featured Ellingtonian piano (Edis) and violin, Graham Hardy's brass playing (particularly effective in the impressive setting of St Cuthbert's Chapel) alongside Graeme Wilson's various reed instruments. 

Of particular interest to the jazz fan was The Vikings free jazz blowout - Cuthbert could never have imagined it! - depicting the coming of the Vikings. This was truly inspired playing focussing on Wilson's tenor saxophone and Rob Walker's tempestuous percussion with bassist Andy Champion and the composer, Dr Edis, aiding and abetting the raid on Lindisfarne Monastery.  

St Cuthbert's Suite is to be recorded for future release on CD. It is likely that the jazz scene - listeners, media and promoters - will be joined by others, not least those from the classical and folk worlds, keen to share the fruits of the Ushaw Ensemble's studio labours. 
Russell               

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