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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

15867 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 874 of them this year alone and, so far, 72 this month (Sept. 25).

From This Moment On ...

September

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.

Tue 03: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 03: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. House trio: Michael Young (piano); Paul Grainger (double bass); Paul Wight (drums).

Monday, December 03, 2018

Headhunters @ Sage Gateshead - December 2

Donald Harrison (alto/vocal); Bill Summers (perc/vocal); Jerry Z (keys); Mike Clark (drums).
(Review by Lance/photos courtesy of Russell).

I'm going to use that well-known cop-out - a Curates Egg. There were many highs and no lows but, there were also a few in-betweens that verged on the boring.

The highs, and they were very high indeed, included Harrison's alto solos which were as good as, if not even better, than when I first heard him with Blakey's Jazz Messengers a thousand years ago (actually about 30 years ago!). A spiky player to rate alongside anyone you care to mention.

Mike Clark is a phenomenal drummer. However, these days, it seems as though just about every drummer from the grassroots upwards has an amazing technique so why does Clark stand above the rest? Feeling, the ability to listen and to drop his bombs on target and not in the middle of the ocean.

I expected more from Jerry Z. He didn't get that B3 sound and needed more volume in his solos. Nevertheless, a stellar performance.

Bill Summers entertained us with his patter and his solos on an assortment of percussion instruments.

So why bring in the Curate's breakfast? Good question but, enjoyable as it was, it didn't quite make the earth move for me. At times it had an almost Smooth Jazz feeling and the finale with Harrison vocalising on Kongo Square (spelling from the CD that many of the numbers came from) left me cold although, in fairness, the rest of the room was on their feet happily engaging in a call and response session.

I left before the encore which Russell tells me was a Monk tune. I should have stayed - it could have lifted it from a 7-star to an 8-star review.
Lance

2 comments :

Russell said...

Agree 100% with your review. Early on the fine line between in-the-pocket groove and smooth jazz was in danger of being blurred but thankfully Clark found a groove and didn't let go. Harrison quoted Ellington and Dizzy (Manteca). Summers didn't do much until Watermelon Man and Jerry Z was far too polite (subservient to the senior Headhunters?) - the other Gerry, that's Wor Gerry, Gerry with a G, wouldn't have stood on ceremony. Loft Funk saved the day.

Steve T said...

I enjoyed it, but accidentally seeing the Mahavishnu Orchestra (as a rock fan, like most who saw them) in 73 notwithstanding, jazz-funk is really where I came in, officially in 78 though tentatively through 75/6.
My main disappointment was at rows of empty seats and this kind of thing works best when there's an up for it audience and - who knows - we may have got Chameleon. I'm guessing the jazz people think it's too funky and the funk people find it too jazzy. I thought there was enough for both, especially with the splendid encore - sorry Lance.

If you ever see Show of Hands, he'll tell you they're too folkey for the people who don't like folk but not folkey enough for the people who do. However, you won't see many empty seats at a Show of Hands gig.

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