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Bebop Spoken There

Ambrose Akinmusire: “ I am certainly always aware of what the masses are doing. And when I see too many people going one way, I'm going another way - even when I don't know what's over that way". DownBeat, March, 2024.

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!"

Simon Spillett: A lovely review from the dean of jazz bloggers, Lance Liddle...

Josh Weir: I love the writing on bebop spoken here... I think the work you are doing is amazing.

Postage

16287 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 16 years ago. 169 of them this year alone and, so far, 41 this month (Mar 18).

From This Moment On ...

March

Tue 19: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Michael Young, Paul Grainger, Tim Johnston.

Wed 20: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 20: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 20: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 21: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 21: Castillo Neuvo Trio + Conor Emery & His ‘Bones Band @ The Grove, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 7:30pm (7:00pm doors). £10.00. (£7.00. student).
Thu 21: Remi Banklyn + Chris Corcoran Trio @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.50. Chicago blues. An International Guitar Foundation promotion.
Thu 21: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Ragtime piano.
Thu 21: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm.

Fri 22: Vasilis Xenopoulos & Paul Edis @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. £8.00. SOLD OUT!
Fri 22: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 22: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 22: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 22: Nauta + Remy CB + Last Orders @ Hoochie Coochie, Newcastle. 8:30pm (7:30pm doors). Free.
Fri 22: Vasilis Xenopoulos-Paul Edis Quartet @ Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. £15.00. Opus 4 Jazz Club.
Fri 22: Redwell @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sat 23: Jambone @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 6:30pm. Free (ticketed). End of term performance in the Northern Rock Foundation Hall.
Sat 23: Milne-Glendinning Band @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 23: Red Kites Jazz @ Rowlands Gill Community Centre NE39 1JB. 7:00pm. Tickets: £12.00. (gibsidecommunityfarm@gmail.com). A ‘Build a Barn’ fundraiser. BYOB, tea/coffee available.
Sat 23: New Century Ragtime Orchestra @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £20.00. + bf (book in person at venue - no booking fee!). Featuring pianist Martin Litton.
Sat 23: Pete Tanton’s Cuba Libre @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 24: Musicians Unlimited @ Park Inn, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 24: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:30pm. Free.
Sun 24: Luis Verde @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm. Verde (alto sax); Joe Steels (guitar); John Pope (double bass); John Hirst (drums). Alto sax brilliance!
Sun 24: Elsie Franklin @ The Globe, Newcastle. 3:00pm. £10.00. Country blues. An International Guitar Foundation promotion.
Sun 24: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay Metro Station. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 24: Las Vegas Live with the Rat Pack @ The Forum, Billingham.
Sun 24: Ian Millar & Dominic Spencer @ Otterburn Memorial Hall. 7:30pm. £12.00.
Sun 24: Lindsay Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Note start time - 7:00pm.
Sun 24: Bold Big Band @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 25: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 25: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 6:30pm. Free.

Saturday, September 29, 2018

Journeys: Zoe Gilby Quartet @ St. Cuthbert’s Parish Hall, Crook – Sept. 28

Zöe Gilby (vocals); Andy Champion (bass); Mark Williams (guitar); Richard Brown (drums).
(Review by Jerry).
Zöe Gilby, on the sleeve-notes of her latest CD (which I bought and which I would recommend), urges the listener to “enjoy the journey”. The same applies to her live gigs where, thanks to her eclectic tastes and her commendable reluctance to play safe, it is always destination unknown.
Journeys were a bit of a theme tonight with blues (Travellin’ and West Coast), nostalgia for Dublin, adventures - Byker to the Metropolis and, via Caravan, to Marrakesh (Red City) – before re-entering Crook.

The composers, the playing and the singing too, are also a delightfully unpredictable mix. Where else would Brubeck rub shoulders with Phil Lynott, or Lieber and Stoller with Nick Cave? How many guitarists can switch as easily from jazz to rock (or even pop) sounds, from subtle chording to intricate solos, as Mark Williams? On West Coast Blues his solo had rhythms going on which prompted my (amateur) guitarist friend to say, “It’s like he’s playing two guitars at once!” Messrs. Champion and Brown had their limelight moments too: Andy on the voice/bass duo, Weaver of Dreams, which opened the second set and laying down the ominous bass riff which opened, and the scat & bass crescendo which closed, Red Right Hand; Richard Brown drove Caravan along and soloed impressively. His bass-drum was also the beating heart of the fabulous closing number, Red City.

And Zöe? Where to start? You know one thing for certain from the opening note: Zöe does not do bland. For her, a good song (and she only picks good ‘uns!), is not merely to be sung - it is a piece of musical theatre to be performed. Her vocal range goes from soprano to somewhere south of my boot-straps; she loves scat (which she does brilliantly) and produces sounds which raise the hairs on the back of the neck – from a wail to a whisper, from a train-whistle or a siren (in either sense of the word) to a sigh, from sultry (Some Cats Know) to sensitive (We Eat Together) to scary (Red Right Hand and On the Edge).

I’ve mentioned Travellin’ Blues which was followed by an original called Find the Secret. Next up was A Song for You by Leon Russell(?). Then, an up-tempo number whose lyrics appeared to be an ode to saturated fat (but I didn’t get the writer or the title) was followed, naturally, by an original entitled We Eat Together which was, in fact, a beautiful love song. We also had some Monk with Rhythm-a-Ning (much scat and hectic bass and guitar solos); some Peggy Lee, with Some Cats Know (featuring that wonderful American idiom: “If I had my ‘druthers”). I refuse to believe that Lieber and Stoller were only writing about turning out the perfect apple-pie and I think that a version sung by Mary Berry would surely not have the same effect! The set then closed with the aforementioned Wes Montgomery tune, West Coast Blues.

The second set opened with a so-quiet-you-could-hear-a-pin-drop moment with Weaver of Dreams then, unpredictable as ever, we were introduced in an original called On the Edge, to a mad, stalking fantasist (a Kathy Bates as in Misery style character). This was spookily effective with coyly quiet vocals rising to a shriek, and some excellent drumming fuelling the drama. There was more Monk, with In Walked Bud and a moody, haunting original called The Midnight Bell. The beautiful, Red Headed Girl is a lyrical, moving original dedicated to Zöe’s mother which featured an excellent bass intro from Andy.

My apologies for seeming to sprint through so many tunes but there were 17 altogether and I wanted to save space for three which stood out for me. Nick Cave and the Demon Seeds’, Red Right Hand, is a genius song which has prompted more interpretational debate than Hotel California and American Pie put together. Cave’s guitarist simply described it as “unknowable and spooky” – I’d go along with that. The quartet nailed that mood in a performance oozing with menace. “You’ll see him in your nightmares,” said the lyric: I really fear that I might. Mack the Knife is a nursery rhyme by comparison! The second was the Phil Lynott song – more a poem set to music in my opinion – Dublin. I didn’t know this song at all, so thank you, Zöe – it’s a gem! Check out the words on Google: there aren’t many of them and they are deceptively simple but they encapsulate so much about lost love, friends and family and the love of one’s roots – even if it is a city which “brings you down”.

And finally….Red City is a clear reason why you should buy the CD because I do not think my words can do it justice. Inspired by a visit to Marrakesh it is a “sound-painting” of a city which is vibrant and mysterious, exotic and bustling. The opening made me think of chanting from minarets, suggesting the spirituality of the place, the bass drum gave the city’s “pulse”, the guitar (with pedals) was haunting. Zöe deployed her whole vocal range and even made evocative sounds which were non-vocal – just breathing into the mic’ like a warm wind. My last scribbled note was “Wow!” and is as near as I can get to doing it justice. You really have to hear it.

Thanks to all at Crook. I loved the three-branched candelabra, by the way!

Jerry

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