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Bebop Spoken There

Phillip Lutz: ''That [sight-reading], in turn, led to session work that was well-paying but unsatisfying and, after 18 months, he [John McLaughlin] unceremoniously quit. But he fortuitously hooked up with a couple of fellow northerners, organist Mike Carr and drummer Jackie Denton. They provided entrée to London's premier jazz club, Ronnie Scott's, periodically playing opening sets''. (DownBeat, December 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

17586 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 16 years ago. 860 of them this year alone and, so far, 5 this month (Dec. 2).

From This Moment On ...

December

Thu 05: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 05: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. ‘George - named musicians, vocalists & composers (Chisholm, Duke, Lewis, Shearing, Benson, Melly, Gershwin et al)’.
Thu 05: Jools Holland’s R & B Orchestra @ Newcastle City Hall. 7:30pm.
Thu 05: Indigo Jazz Voices @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:45pm. Free.
Thu 05: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesborough. Guest band special with the Middlesbrough Jazz and Blues Orchestra 8pm. Free.

Fri 06: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 06: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 06: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 06: Sue Ferris Quintet @ The Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. Opus 4 Jazz Club.

Sat 07: New Century Ragtime Orchestra @ St Augustine's Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. Darlington New Orleans Jazz Club.
Sat 07: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. £25.00. Tutor: Steve Glendinning. Enrol at: learning@jazz.coop.
Sat 07: Hot Club du Nord @ St. Cuthbert’s Church, Shadforth DH6 1LB. Tel: 01429 823400. 7:30pm. £15.00. (inc. refreshments).
Sat 07: NUJO Jazz Jam @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £3.00.
Sat 07: Bellavana @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 7:45-9:45pm. Free.
Sat 07: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.
Sat 07: Bluebell Swing @ Repas7 by Night, West St., Berwick. 8:00pm.

Sun 08: The New ’58 Jazz Collective @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free. A ‘second Sunday in the month’ residency.
Sun 08: Learning & Participation Showcase @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. Free. Multi-genre event followed by a jam session. All welcome.
Sun 08: Zoë Gilby Quintet @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £10.00.
Sun 08: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 08: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 08: Jason Isaacs @ Hoochie Coochie, Newcastle. 5:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Sun 08: Paul Skerritt @ The Black Candle, South Shields. 6:30pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 08: Redwell @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 08: Durham University Big Band + Durham University Jazz Orchestra: Jazzy Christmas @ Sir Thomas Allen Assembly Rooms Theatre, North Bailey, Durham DH1 3ET. 7:30-9:30pm. £7.00., £6.00. concs., £5.00. Durham Student Music member. Durham University Jazz Ensembles’ annual charity event.
Sun 08: Jools Holland’s R & B Orchestra @ The Globe, Stockton. 7:30pm.
Sun 08: Mick Beck, Dominic Lash, Paul Hession @ the Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm (doors 7:30pm) JNE. £10.

Mon 09: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 09: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Wheatsheaf, Benton Sq., Whitley Road, Palmersville NE12 9SU. Tel: 0191 266 8137. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 09: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 6:30-8:30pm. Free.
Mon 09: Trio Grand @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free.
Mon 09: James Birkett Trio @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00.

Tue 10: Customs House Big Band @ All Saints Church Hall, Cleadon. 7:30pm. £6.00. The CHBB’s annual Xmas concert featuring Ruth Lambert. A BYOB gig!

Wed 11: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 11: Cath Stephens’ improvisation workshop @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 4:30-6:00pm. Collaborative group focusing on vocal improvisations.
Wed 11: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 11: The Tannery Jam Session @ The Tannery, Gilesgate, Hexham. 7:00-9:00pm. Free. Second Wednesday in the month.
Wed 11: 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, June 07, 2019

Time & Place: Paul Edis Quartet, Jo Harrop, Vasilis Xenopoulos; Ed Cross String Quartet @ Sage Gateshead - June 6

(Review by Lance/Photos by Russell). 

Wallace and Gromit may have pulled in Sage One and, down the road, at the Stadium of Light, the Spice Girls attracted the hoi polloi but for the more discerning muso, Sage Two is the only game in town.

Time and Place, an intriguing concept conjured up by Paul Edis and executed by an A-list team that, in jazz terms, outstripped the competition from here to breakfast time.

The idea, semi-premiered at the 606 Club, involved Edis selecting a selection of songs both standard and self-penned that related to the theme so, what better way to start than with Time After Time. Jo Harrop, looking stunningly statuesque in a white creation that didn't come from Primark, took Sammy Cahn's lyrics and Jule Styne's tune and made it her own. The icing on the cake, a sensitive tenor solo by the Greek God of the tenor - Vasilis Xenopoulos.

The Ed Cross string Quartet augmented the ensemble for April in Paris with Edis taking a solo so logical it's nothing less than perfection. As he also did the arrangement (indeed all of them) the strings slotted in harmlessly bringing a Parisian feel to the tune.

The first of Paul's own compositions - a two-part piece entitled Breathing. Inspired by a TS Eliot poem, the first part a quirky instrumental waltz, the second a vocal by Jo.

Things became somewhat vague after this. Writing in the dark with a temperamental pen and no idea of 'time and place' on the page my notes became a jumbled lexicon.

Too Little Time, by Henry Mancini, I recall as a beautifully emotive song. Wise Words  and When I Was Young (both Edis with a vocal by the maestro on the latter.); A Foggy Day (complete with verse); 63 Years (an Edis composition celebrating a couple's 80th birthday after being together for the above number of years); Autumn in New York (great vocal terrific tenor).

Embrace the Silence, a tension building original, Michel Legrand's Once Upon a Summertime; Rome Wasn't Built in a Day and le pièce de résistance Some Other Time. Just voice and piano, this was surely the vocal performance of the year which is no reflection on Edis' own vocal that followed - Taking the View - but this was special.

The evening finished up with West Coast Blues and In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning. A memorable evening with superb singing, some of the best tenor sax playing around, a top rhythm section and some effective string quartet writing by Edis and played faultlessly by the string quartet.

As for Paul Edis, is there no stopping him? Surely his talents will eventually take him beyond these shores. If they do we will be both gladdened and saddened.

For those who want more of Paul and Vasi, don't bother going to The Gala this lunchtime - it's sold out! However, along with Andy Champion and Russ Morgan, they perform a quartet gig at Ushaw College near Durham tonight at 7:30pm.
Lance

Time & Place: Paul Edis (MD, piano, vocal); Jo Harrop (vocals); Vasilis Xenopoulos (tenor sax); Andy Champion (double bass); Russ Morgan (drums); Ed Cross String Quartet: Ed Cross (violin); Jo Montgomerie (violin); Chrissie Slater (viola); Ele Leckie (cello).

5 comments :

Patti said...

Well - words fail me - this was such a superlative gig, and Lance - you've summed it all up. It was wonderful - nothing less than that!

Chris Kilsby said...

Thanks Lance - a good summary of a great evening - what a showcase for the north east scene. For me, this eclipsed the recent (packed) Ronnie Scott's "All Stars" gig in every respect - vocals, originality, sax, piano, rhythm section, taste...

I was very keen to hear Paul's originals which have been played by Jambone. These didn't disappoint - especially my favourite, "Embrace the Silence", which never fails to send chills down the spine. NB though - the Jambone versions are different, but no less musical and accomplished!

Altogether, Paul and his superb crew did themselves (and Sage) proud - never mind talk of leaving these shores, how about investing in and building jazz here even more?!

Ian Paterson said...

I think it’s fair to say Chris that the Sage deserves little praise here....given that they are shutting down the jazz degree that Paul is head of and making him (and the rest of the department) redundant....it’s hard to see how that is investing in jazz....

Anonymous said...

In agreement with everything above, really quiet superb in every way. The only thing Paul Edis doesn't do is juggle and I wouldn't be surprised if he did that too.
Musicianship on this was top notch from everyone, simply fantastic playing and vocals. My wife who is not a jazz fan (but came for the wine) loved it too so it appealed to more than just the jazz crowd.

Russell said...

Paul does juggle...gigs, bandleader, tutoring, promoting, writing, arranging, festival organiser etc!

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