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Bebop Spoken There

Abbie Finn: "Even though there's a lot of great work being done to promote women in jazz, I still come up against some attitudes! I pulled up at a recording session with my drums in the car and the studio owner said, 'I'm sorry, this space is reserved for the drummer!'" - (Jazzwise April 2023).

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

15245 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 264 of them this year alone and, so far, 77 this month (March 25).

From This Moment On ...

March

Mon 27: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

Tue 28: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 28: Sanaz Lavasani Trio @ Black Swan, Newcastle Arts Centre. 8:00pm. £12.00 (£10.00. adv).

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: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 7:00pm.
Wed 29: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 30: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Gateshead Central Library. 2:30-4:30pm. £2.00. All welcome.
Thu 30: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. Back to 1:00pm stomp off. Free.
Thu 30: '58 Jazz Collective @ Hops & Cheese, Hartlepool. 7:30pm. Free.
Thu 30: Lindsay Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ Harbour View, Sunderland. 8:00pm.
Thu 30: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 31: Lewis Watson Quartet @ Bishop Auckland Town Hall. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 31: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 31: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 31: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm. CANCELLED! Back next week (April 7).
Fri 31: Jasmine Myra + Waclaw Zimpel @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Fri 31: The Revolutionaires @ The Shack, Boldon Colliery. 7:30pm. £10.00. The Revolutionaires' big band (horn section) line-up.
Fri 31: Andrew McCormack @ Maltings, Berwick. 8:00pm. £20.00.

April
Sat 01: The Big Easy @ St Augustine's Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm.
Sat 01: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. Tutor: Steve Glendinning - In a Minor Key. £25.00. Enrol at: www.jazz.coop.
Sat 01: Hot Club du Nord @ Pleased to Meet You, Bridge St., Morpeth. 8:00pm. £79.00. A charity fundraising event.
Sat 01: Boys of Brass @ Stack, Seaburn. 7:00-9:00pm.
Sat 01: Rendezvous Jazz @ Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00. RESCHEDULED to next week (Sat 08).

Sun 02: Smokin' Spitfires @ The Cluny. 12:45pm.
Sun 02: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 3:00pm.

Mon 03: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

Tuesday, February 11, 2020

Digital album review: Paul Edis & Graeme Wilson - Big as a Mountain, Small as a Pin: Paul Edis & Graeme Wilson play the music of Thelonious Monk

Paul Edis (piano); Graeme Wilson (tenor saxophone)
(Review by Russell)

Over a period of ten years and more pianist Paul Edis and saxophonist Graeme Wilson have worked together in several high profile outfits including the Paul Edis Sextet, the Graeme Wilson Quartet, Splinter Group and ACV. In addition they have released their own albums including those of Edis' sextet on which Wilson can be heard playing reeds and Wilson's quartet on which Edis plays piano. Now, some two and a half years on from recording as a duo, Edis and Wilson are about to release an online album of the music of a shared enthusiasm - Thelonious Monk. 

It is some five years or so since Edis and Wilson played the first of their occasional Monk gigs and this digital-only release comprises several of the compositions heard in concert during that time. Ten tracks - from the opening Four in One with its many 16th notes to a stately Monk's Mood to Wilson's muscular tenor sax and Edis' subtle stride patterns on the closing Epistrophy - Big as a Mountain, Small as a Pin is a fascinating listen. 

Thelonious Monk composed and recorded a lot of material and the selections on this online album are drawn from across two decades, ranging from the early career Monk's Mood (1947) to mid/late career Ugly Beauty (1967), the latter being Monk's sole waltz and recorded only once (Underground LP on Columbia). Edis and Wilson interpret their subject's compositions with loving care yet it is unmistakably pianist Edis and saxophonist Wilson making their creative mark - TS Monk would undoubtedly have approved. 

Highlights come thick and fast but, to point to one particular highlight, Trinkle, Tinkle is a furious rat-a-tat-tat ride with Wilson, à la Coltrane, skillfully negotiating the fiendish melody and Edis digging back to Monk the quirky stride pianist just as Monk dug back to an earlier generation of stride piano giants.   
                
Big as a Mountain, Small as a Pin: Paul Edis & Graeme Wilson play the music of Thelonious Monk will be released as an online album on Friday 14th February and don't forget on that very same day Edis & Wilson play Monk at the Lit and Phil. 1:00pm. £6 on the door.

Ten tracks - 1) Four in One 2) Jackie-ing 3) We See 4) Monk's Mood 5) San Francisco Holiday (Worry Later) 6) Trinkle Tinkle 7) Ugly Beauty 8) Hornin' In 9) Light Blue 10) Epistrophy - with a total playing time of 54 minutes 57 seconds were recorded at Reid Concert Hall, Edinburgh on 25th July 2017 and recorded, mixed and mastered by Roderick Buchanan-Dunlop. Artwork by Fin McGeachy, design by Cath Keay.  
Russell

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