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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

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.

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.

Friday, November 23, 2018

EFG London Jazz Festival: Stanley Clarke + The Headhunters @ Southbank Centre - Nov. 20

Stanley Clarke (basses); Evan Garr (violin); Beka Gochiashvili (piano); Cameron Graves (keys); Salar Nader (tabla); Shariq Tucker (drums).
(Review by Steve T/Photos courtesy of Mochles Sa.)

Had somebody asked me which living jazz artist I'd most like to see, Stanley Clarke would have been high on the list, or maybe even top of the list.

The announcer outlined his plaudits and achievements, including transforming the bass into a lead instrument laying down melody and harmony, and while nothing is ever quite so simple and straightforward, he was certainly the defining moment for the electric bass in Jazz.

He adopted the slap bass technique pioneered by Stone Family member Larry Graham, more than Carter, Holland, Vitous, Henderson or even Johnson and Pastorius, displaying levels of virtuosity never seen or heard before, and I would argue, since. The announcer went on to say that working with young musicians is his proudest achievement, giving fore-warning of the band he would lead out.
Nice symmetry: two on percussion (kit and tabla), two on keyboards (predominantly acoustic piano and post-synth sounds) and two playing strings (violin and bass).

George Duke was a major co-conspirator of Clarke and his Brazilian Love Affair kicked things off, led by violin, with the leader playing acoustic, demonstrating that, unlike his major rival Jaco Pastorius, he was also a giant on upright. Violin took a mind-boggling solo followed by a staggering display by the young Georgian pianist Beka Gochiashvili. 

A bit of a thing between bass and tabla before the latter gave yet another dazzling solo. Tablas are amongst my favourite instruments but can be overwhelming. Here they were dominant at times, sometimes slipping through and sometimes absent. Clarke described Nader as a tabla master - and then some.

By now it was no surprise that the drummer, Shariq Tucker, turned out to be a master too. Which left the other keyboardist; none other than Cameron Graves, mainstay of the West Coast Down, alongside Kamasi Washington and Miles Mosley. In such young company, Clarke introduced himself as Louis Armstrong. 

By the end of the piece, Clarke was wearing his bass guitar for Quiet Afternoon from the School Days album, followed by Joe Henderson’s Black Narcissus featuring some weird and wonderful sounds from Cameron Graves.

No Mystery he claimed as being his favourite Return to Forever (RTF) piece from the 1800s! and mine too, though firstly for Al Di Meola’s perfectly executed acoustic guitar. Another round of breath-taking exchanges, this time from a highly electrified and highly charged violin and the two keyboardists.

He didn't mess about leaving the stage for the encore, but invited us to get on up, which most of us didn't, and invited support act, The Headhunters, back on stage for an impressive solo from each of them.

I thought I spotted a hint of P Funk which turned into Mothership Connection which was welcome but didn't really make any sense to me.

More or less five pieces may seem short and unsatisfactory but it was about ninety minutes and absolutely riveting throughout.
----- 
Donald Harrison (sax); Jerry Z (keys); Mike Clark (drums); Bill Summers (perc).

The gig could have been a doubleheader but was definitely a headline act plus support. The announcer claimed The Headhunters had not rested on their laurels, but maybe at that point we wanted seasoned musicians laid about on their own laurels, and as far as I could make out, that is what we got.

Sax, mostly Hammond (laying down the bass too), a drummer and a percussionist (both original Headhunters), all terrific as you'd expect. Herbie Hancock's Actual Proof from the album Thrust; Sly from The Headhunters’ album, his tribute to Sly Stone who was a huge influence on Miles and various alumni at that time. Some African style chanting brought in Watermelon Man, also from Headhunters, before another vocal piece along the lines of Down at the Bayou.
This could have been brilliant in a smaller venue and the whole thing would have benefited by a move to the smaller room in the same venue, but I pick nits; another tick on the bucket list and an incredible night.
Steve T.
PHOTOS.

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