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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.

Tuesday, June 11, 2019

DJazz: Sunday - June 9

(Review by Russell)

What a difference a day makes! Blue skies overhead, Saturday's rain long gone, the DJazz outdoor stage was about to come into its own. First, a noon date with Kinesis in the pop-up space.

Drummer Abbie Finn and saxophonist Harry Keeble are Kinesis. Here at Durham's Riverwalk development the duo enlisted friend Paul Grainger to play the bass anchor role in a one hour set of classic numbers. Abbie, a postgraduate now picking up choice gigs as a professional musician (working with Simon Spillett is on the cv), works in partnership with soon-to-graduate Harry (Leeds College of Music) presenting a series of extended workouts ranging from Caravan to Cheese Cake. Bassist Grainger knows the pad inside and as an occasional trio, there is an obvious chemistry between the three musicians. The many early birds enjoyed a swinging set, probably the swinging set of the weekend. 

A common issue at festivals is competing or overlapping performances. A case in point was Kinesis' set clashing with a Durham University big band set. Little more than twenty metres from the pop-up a nineteen-piece big band assembled on the DJazz outdoor stage. The Big Band Project wowed the (dancing - see photo) audience basking in glorious sunshine with Durham's Cathedral and Castle providing a spectacular backdrop. The couple of numbers BSH caught sounded great and these guys don't hold chairs in the fully auditioned Durham University Big Band - that's the standard in Durham! 

Leeds continues to be a hothouse and one of the latest 'products' is Jasmine. A six-piece band led by alto saxophonist Jasmine Whalley offered a summer sun-filled set. Whalley cites Soweto Kinch as an influence although her alto sound is lighter and less insistent than that of the man from Brum. Original compositions (King Cobra and Cold Sweat) and Shabaka Hutchings' Joyous were given a mellow vibe treatment by Whalley's band; Ben Haskins, guitar, George MacDonald, piano, Owen Burns, bass and drummer George Hall

The Holy GrAle bottled beer emporium on Crossgate is neighbour to Durham City Workmen's Club and Institute. The idea of a cheap pint and a game of doms appealed but a rare appearance by a Scottish improv icon won the day. Holy GrAle's clientele preferred talk of Soviet poet Vladimir Mayakovsky and a recitation of works by Scottish poet Edward Morgan. Guitarist George Burt held court in a brick-lined, dimly lit cellar with hipsters and the like sitting at the feet (literally) of the brilliant Burt. 

In a world of fakery George Burt is a true original. Improv is what it is, no more, no less valid than any other 'art form' but it takes someone like Burt to separate the wheat from the chaff. One wonders what the hipsters made of the quietly spoken Scot incorporating GASbook guitar accompaniment à la Joe Pass, a blues riff and echoes of the Fab Four interspersed with volcanic eruptions of imperious improv (on occasion all of it in the space of a couple of bars!). A highlight of the weekend.

DJazz continued on the outdoor stage (Not Now Charlie) and in the pop-up (Archipelago's Between Waves project). BSH caught a few minutes of MacCalman/Pope/Alderson's collaboration with Fran Bundey including the oft-heard PuddlesGerms and an as yet untitled piece. Time was pressing, the big event on this final day of DJazz 2019 was looming...

Over Framwellgate Bridge, across Market Place, up Saddler Street to the big house on the hill. When it comes into view, no matter how many times, Durham Cathedral is one impressive piece of architecture. DJazz's 'Sunday Headliner' presented Paul Edis and Graeme Wilson in Durham's UNESCO World Heritage building. Reprising their performance at  last year's Ushaw Jazz Festival (in St Cuthbert's Chapel), pianist Edis and saxophonist Wilson presented an improvised set of some forty-five minutes. As the DJazz congregation took a pew (the joint was packed) Wilson, with tenor sax in hand, waited patiently in the nave as Dr Edis climbed the stairs to secrete himself in the organ loft. Could Edis see Wilson? Wilson couldn't see Edis. No matter, the duo, with Wilson's Glasgow Improvisers Orchestra colleague George Burt in the congregation, began to play. Cameras clicked and flashed (the humble mobile phone alongside the serious hardware). Photographing Wilson was straight forward, sighting Edis proved an impossibility, hidden as he was beneath the towering pipes. It could be said Edis (and Wilson) pulled out all the stops!

The Shakespeare beckoned, situated as it is half way down Saddler Street. A well-kept pint of London Pride served as a restorative. As the final event of DJazz 2019 was about to start the organisers-in-chief Carlo, Nick and Heather offered a few words of thanks. The crowded room erupted in applause for them - Carlo, Nick and Heather. And so to Slow Loris

A four-piece from Leeds, Slow Loris were selected by Jazz North to be beneficiaries of touring opportunities and professional mentoring with this Durham festival date part of the package. Sam Lowther, guitar, Sam Evans, guitar, Chris Sellers, bass and drummer Theo Goss combine a love of rock, metal and hip hop rooted in jazz. This festival appearance presented the rock and metal side of the band with the jazz element largely absent. Goss' hard-hitting, relentless drumming powered the band as, for one night only, jazz fans turned into head-banging metal freaks. 
Russell   

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