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Bebop Spoken There

Steve Fishwick: “I can’t get behind the attitude that new is always somehow better than old” - Jazz Journal, April 15, 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!"

Simon Spillett: A lovely review from the dean of jazz bloggers, Lance Liddle...

Postage

16034 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 1041 of them this year alone and, so far, 73 this month (Nov. 27).

From This Moment On ...

November

Tue 28: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Victoria & Albert Inn, Seaton Delaval NE25 0AT. 12:30pm. ‘Afternoon Jazz Tea Party’ £12.00. Tickets from: 0191 237 3697.
Tue 28: Full Score & Durham University Jazz Orchestra @ St Oswald’s Church, Durham. 7:00pm. £8.00., £7.00. conc., £6.00. DSM. ‘Singing with a Swing’. In support of the Angel Trust.
Tue 28: Pete Tanton’s Chet Set @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. £12.00., £10.00. Doors 7pm/Music 8pm.

Wed 29: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 29: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 29: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 30: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 30: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 7:30pm (7:00pm doors). Tickets: £25.00. inc. buffet. A Gatsby themed evening.
Thu 30: Jools Holland's R & B Orchestra @ Newcastle City Hall. 7:30pm.
Thu 30: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Ragtime piano. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.
Thu 30: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. Guest band night: Mark Toomey Quintet (Mark Toomey, sax; Paul Donnelly, guitar; Jeremy McMurray, keys; Peter Ayton, bass; Mark Robertson, drums). 9:00pm.

December
Fri 01: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 01: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 01: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 01: Paul Skerritt @ All Saints’ Church, Eastgate, Co. Durham. 7:00pm. Xmas Tree Fest.
Fri 01: Alligator Gumbo @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm.
Fri 01: Nu Sound Brass @ Billy Bootlegger’s, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free.
Fri 01: Struggle Buggy w. Jim Murray @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Blind Pig Blues Club. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sat 02: Paula Jackman's Jazz Masters @ St Augustine's Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. £10.00.
Sat 02: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. Tutor: Steve Glendinning. £25.00. Enrol at: www.jazz.coop.
Sat 02: Abbie Finn Trio @ Claypath Deli, Durham. 7:00pm.
Sat 02: Tenement Jazz Band @ John Marley Centre, Newcastle. Swing Tyne Winter Social. £8.00. + bf. Advance purchase only, no admission at the door. BYOB. Lindy hop workshop from 11:00am. £39.00.
Sat 02: Zoë Gilby Quartet @ The Masham, Hartburn Village, Stockton. 7:00pm. Feat. Noel Dennis.
Sat 02: Classic Swing @ The Nuthatch, 9 - 11 Bedford St, Middlesbrough TS1 2LL. 7:00-9:00pm. Classic Swing in trio format.
Sat 02: Paul Skerritt w. Danny Miller Big Band @ Westovian Theatre, South Shields. 7:30pm.
Sat 02: Vermont Big Band @ Whitley Bay FC. 7:30pm. £10.00. (inc. hot buffet). Tickets available from WBFC’s Seahorse pub club house.
Sat 02: Milne-Glendinning Band @ Ponteland Social Club, Northumberland. 7:30pm. £18.00 (inc. stotties & soup supper). A fundraiser for Hexham Constituency Labour Party.
Sat 02: Tom Remon & Laurence Harrison @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sat 02: Rendezvous Jazz @ Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. Xmas party night inc. buffet & special raffle. £3.00.
Sat 02: Groovetrain @ The Unionist Club, Laygate, South Shields. 9:00pm.

Sun 03: The Central Bar Quartet @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £10.00. The Central Bar Quartet plays Lou Donaldson’s Gravy Train. Featuring Jamie Toms.
Sun 03: Paul Skerritt @ Smith’s Arms, Carlton, Stockton-on-Tees. 7:00pm.
Sun 03: Johnny Hunter Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Sun 03: Jam session @ The Schooner, Gateshead. 8:00pm. Free.

Mon 04: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Mon 04: Northern Monkey Brass Band @ People’s Kitchen, Bath Lane, Newcastle. From 5:30pm. On-street gig supporting the work of the People’s Kitchen charity. Wrap up warm! Donate!
Mon 04: Michael Young Trio w Lindsay Hannon @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 7:00pm. Free.
Mon 04: James Birkett Trio @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £8.00.
Mon 04: Durham University Jazz Orchestra + Durham University Big Band @ Durham Castle DH1 3RW. 8:30pm. £6.00.; £5.00. concs; £4.00. DSM. ‘Jazzy Christmas’.

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Vasilis Xenopoulos with the Paul Edis Trio @ St Cuthbert's Centre, Crook - October 26

Vasilis Xenopoulos (tenor & soprano saxophones); Paul Edis (piano); Ken Marley (double bass); Russ Morgan (drums) 
(Review by Russell)

The twists and turns of County Durham's back roads led to Church Hill as the second installment of Vasilis Xenopoulos' three date mini tour called in at St Cuthbert's Centre, Crook. Tables set with nibbles, a choice of bottled beers (the award winning McEwan's Champion at a premium 7.3% abv the selection), tonight's performance started fifteen minutes early! It must have been something to do with the end of BST.

By and large the set list followed Friday evening's fantastic performance as Xenopoulos and the trio opened with Dexter Gordon's Fried Bananas. What would the late, great American saxophonist have made of his music being celebrated in a rural church hall in the heart of the County Durham countryside? Tanya (a vehicle for Ken Marley's accomplished, extended bass solo), MontmartreSociety Red with the momentum of its many swinging sections, Xenopoulos was, once again, on form. When isn't he on form? 

A marvellous Guess I'll Hang My Tears Out to Dry then a departure from the Opus 4 programme with Boston Bernie closing the first set. And what a closer! Xenopoulos and pianist Edis summoned from the heavens a Bach-inspired contrapuntal exchange. If that had been it, it would have been worth the trek to the back of beyond (apologies to the residents of Crook!) but another hour or so would follow the serving of the legendary St Cuthbert's interval pizza.

Nibbles, pizza, another bottle of beer to wash it down, a raffle, a bit crack, yes, Crook was beginning to look like the epicentre of the jazz world! As the second set was about to begin Vasilis X confided that the musicians' interval conversation was about the, well, not to put to fine a point on it, the worst raffle prize on offer they had come across at their many jazz gigs. Vasilis thought he had the best story...a raffle prize in the form of half a dozen eggs. But wait, drummer Russ Morgan said he once played gig where one of the prizes was, wait for it...a cabbage! Only at a jazz gig...

Second set, Darlington Dexterology, Crook Dexterologyy. This the one Vasilis X composition, it rightly took its place in the set list with Mr D Gordon no doubt snapping his fingers up there in the Jazz Club in the Sky. Vasilis' album of similar name - Dexterity - is definitely one for your CD collection. Hanky Panky included a quote or two, one of them Rollins' Alfie, courtesy of Edis' quick (subconcious?) thinking. Is 'hanky panky' an English/British expression, possibly lost on Americans? Perhaps it tickled Dexter Gordon. 

Meditation (more quotations - Edis' referencing Chicago), I'm a Fool to Want You (superb), Second Balcony Jump, it was just about time to hit the road. Vasilis, Paul, Ken and Russ stepped down from the stage, their work done. Not quite, from all sides the applause won an encore. And what an encore - Cheese Cake! A third and final helping of the music of Dexter Gordon/Vasilis Xenopoulos will be served at lunchtime today (Sunday 27) at Blaydon Jazz Club. The Black Bull will be open for business at noon (arrive early to bag a front row seat) with Vasilis and the boys getting down to business at one o'clock. Don't be late!
Russell           

1 comment :

Lance said...

I must point out that when Russell refers to having 'a bit crack' during the interval he was using a northeast expression meaning light conversation. Least I hope that's what he meant!

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