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Bebop Spoken There

Spasmo Brown: “Jazz is an ice cream sandwich! It's the Fourth of July! It's a girl with a waterbed!”. (Syncopated Times, July, 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

17444 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 16 years ago. 718 of them this year alone and, so far, 100 this month (Oct. 10).

From This Moment On ...

October

Thu 10: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 10: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. ‘Collaborations - it happened all the time’.
Thu 10: Indigo Jazz Voices w. the Little Big Band @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:45pm. £5.00.
Thu 10: Side Cafe Orkestar @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
The 10: Classic Swing @ Carlisle Rugby Club, Warwick Rd., Carlisle. 8:30pm. £9.
Thu 10: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesborough. 8:30pm. With guests Donna Hewitt (sax); Bill Watson (trumpet); Graham Thompson (keys); Ron Smith (bass). Free.

Fri 11: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 11: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 11: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 11: Dulcie May Moreno @ The Old Library, Auckland Castle, Bishop Auckland. 1:00pm. £8.00.
Fri 11: The Jazz Quartet + Stratosphonic @ Tynedale Rugby Club, Corbridge. 7:00pm. £15.00. A Rotary Club of Hexham event. The Jazz Quartet (Jude Murphy & co), Stratosphonic (blues/rock). CANCELLED!
Fri 11: Joe Steels Trio @ The Pele, Market Place, Corbridge NE45 5AW. 7:30pm. Free.
Fri 11: Crooners @ Tyne Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm.
Fri 11: Mo Scott Band @ Blues Underground, Nelson St., Newcastle. 9:00pm. Free.

Sat 12: Milne-Glendinning Band @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 12: Michael Woods @ Victoria Tunnel, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £12.00. (£10.00. adv.). Country blues guitar & vocals.
Sat 12: Nauta @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £13.28, £11.16, £9.04. A two-track recording launch gig.
Sat 12: Stuart Turner @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Rockabilly, rhythm & blues etc. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sat 12: Lapwing Jazz Trio @ The Ship Inn, Low Newton. 8:00pm. Free. New trio: Paula Whitty, Richard Herdman, Jude Murphy.

Sun 13: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 13: Emma Wilson @ Tyne Bar, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. Blues.
Sun 13: Catfish Keith @ The Cluny. 7:00pm. Country blues.
Sun 13: Cath Stephens & Paul Grainger @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Stephens & Grainger, one third of a triple bill.
Sun 13: Dulcie May Moreno Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 14: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 14: Black is the Color of My Voice @ Hippodrome, Darlington. 7:30pm. Apphia Campbell’s one-woman show inspired by Nina Simone, performed by Nicholle Cherrie.

Tue 15: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Alan Law (piano), Paul Grainger (double bass), Bailey Rudd (drums).

Wed 16: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 16: Cath Stephens’ improvisation workshop @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 4:30-6:00pm. Collaborative group focusing on vocal improvisations.
Wed 16: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 16: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Reviewers wanted

Whilst BSH attempts to cover as many gigs, festivals and albums as possible, to make the site even more comprehensive we need more 'boots on the ground' to cover the albums seeking review - a large percentage of which never get heard - report on gigs or just to air your views on anything jazz related. Interested? then please get in touch. Contact details are on the blog. Look forward to hearing from you. Lance

Friday, May 10, 2019

Trish Clowes My Iris Quartet @ Sage Gateshead - May 8


Trish Clowes (tenor sax), Ross Stanley (piano/Hammond organ), Chris Montague (guitar) and James Maddren (drums)    
(Review by Chris Kilsby)

I wasn’t sure what to expect, perhaps something carefully arranged, introverted, or even academic, but on my first live hearing, this quartet turned out to be quite a handful, lighting up Sage 2 on a miserable wet evening with a clever and intense tapestry of original soundscapes. 

Their music is richly varied in feel, tempo and texture, often within the same song!  This might lead to information overload, but the show was secured by the visual spectacle and sheer variety, veering between velvet and violence.  Clowes has complete mastery of the tenor, with skronking split notes interspersed by soothing balm. Her lightning ability to transfer complex thought to action was equalled by the other virtuoso players.

The band took to the stage eschewing preliminaries, simply letting the music, mostly from new release Ninety Degrees Gravity, speak for itself. By the time they had warmed up with Lightning Les and Arise, they were at full speed, and clearly enjoying themselves,  for the excellent Eric's Tune - dedicated to Eric Gravatt (Weather Report drummer, early 70s edition). 

Some of the sax lines recalled the Wayne Shorter of that era, but with blistering guitar thrown in, and piano/B3 rather than Zawinul’s’ synths.  Clowes had a relaxed and genuine rapport with announcements between numbers, explaining the next one, I.F., was dedicated to the baby boys of the pianist and guitarist, complete with sound effects - not often you hear baby voices in Sage 2!
They really got going on I can’t find my other brush, where James Maddren further ramped up his already propulsive and abrupt variation of beat and feel, with a concluding barrage to satisfy the heaviest listeners!  The set closed with three very strong songs, with tunes and structure: Abbott & Costello (named after aliens from the sci-fi film Arrival, not the comedians!), Amber (a brand new song dedicated to a refugee charity activist) and Free to Fall, complete with an emotional vocal intro.

While Clowes' sax and Maddren’s  ever-shifting drums provided the main continuity, there were outstanding guitar breaks of great subtlety, speed and emotion from Chris Montague (a local boy apparently!), recalling Bill Frisell and Charles Altura,  as well as a flexible and startling variety of piano and Hammond organ from Ross Stanley, sometimes even doubling as a bass line.

Altogether a revelatory and stimulating musical romp, awash with intelligence and energy, with enough groove and smooth lines not to startle the horses!  My previous visit to Sage 2 was for the Ronnie Scott’s All Stars: while the technical mastery was similar, Clowes’ band had an altogether different, more ambitious take on jazz, drawing from the past for an exciting future.
Chris

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