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Bebop Spoken There

Wendell Brunious: "Because the blues is not 1,4 and 5 or 1,4,5,2,1. You could wake up with a flat tyre or a headache this morning, that's the blues, man" - (DownBeat, Oct. 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

15878 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 885 of them this year alone and, so far, 83 this month (Sept. 30).

From This Moment On ...

October

Mon 02: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Mon 02: FILM: Wattstax; 50th Anniversary @ Forum Cinema, Hexham. 8:00pm.

Tue 03: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 03: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. House trio: Michael Young (piano); Paul Grainger (double bass); Sid White (drums). CANCELLED!

Wed 04: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 04: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 04: Paul Skerritt @ Vespa Italian Bar & Steakhouse, Primrose Hill, Jarrow. From 7:00pm. To book a table - 0191 483 3355.
Wed 04: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 05: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 05: Sound the Trumpets @ King's Hall, Newcastle University. 1:15pm. Free.
Thu 05: Hot Club du Nord @ The Lubetkin Theatre, Peterlee. 7:00pm. £10.00. POSTPONED!
Thu 05: Thursday Night Prayer Meeting @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.
Thu 05: Tommy Bentz Trio + Mark Croft Duo + George Shovlin & George Lamb @ The Harbour View, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Harbour View Speakeasy's USA blues double bill + Shovlin & Lamb!
Thu 05: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Ragtime piano. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.
Thu 05: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 06: Alcyona Mick @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Fri 06: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 06: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 06: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 06: WORKSHOP: Philosophy of Arts & Entertainment @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 2:00pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Fri 06: Balo @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 6:20pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Fri 06: Paul Skerritt @ 3Sixty Champagne Lounge, Hadrian’s Tower, Newcastle. From 7:00pm. To book a table - 0191 933 8591.
Fri 06: Lexer/Mayes/Noble + Semay Wu + Miman @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 7:20pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Fri 06: Dulcie May Moreno @ The Vault, Hexham. 7:30pm. £20.00. Book in advance. Moreno with Alan Law, Paul Grainger & John Bradford.
Fri 06: Dean Stockdale Quartet @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm. 'Celebrating Oscar'.
Fri 06: Nu Brass Sounds: Big Brass Bash @ Billy Bootlegger’s, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free.
Fri 06: King Bees @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Blind Pig Blues Club. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

Sat 07: WORKSHOP: Philosophy of Arts & Entertainment @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 10:15am. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Sat 07: Hot Club du Nord @ St Augustine's Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm.
Sat 07: Bugge & Niccols + Moore & Fairhall @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Sat 07: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. Tutor: Steve Glendinning - All the Things You Are. £25.00. Enrol at: www.jazz.coop.
Sat 07: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 6:00pm. Free.
Sat 07: Rie Nakajima @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 6:20pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Sat 07: Paul Skerritt @ 3Sixty Champagne Lounge, Hadrian’s Tower, Newcastle. From 7:00pm. To book a table - 0191 933 8591.
Sat 07: Samuel Blaser Trio + Toxvaerd & Zeeberg + Muramatsu & Welch @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 7:20pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Sat 07: Anth Purdy @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Sat 07: Rendezvous Jazz @ Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.

Sun 08: Zoë Gilby Quintet + Ubunye @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Line-up inc. Tony Kofi. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Sun 08: Tommy Bentz Band @ Tyne Bar, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. USA blues band.

Sunday, August 09, 2020

Adrian Cox Quartet Live - August 9

Adrian Cox (clarinet/vocal); Denny Ilett (guitar/vocal); Dave Newton (piano); Ferg Ireland (bass).

As Groucho Marx famously said, “Either this woman is dead or my watch has stopped!”
When it got to ten past three it occurred to me that maybe Adrian or I needed a new watch or one of us was dead!

By the time they eventually turned up I was elsewhere listening to Mainly Two who did get there at the time announced. But, as they are predominately a classical duo, it would seem, I guess, that jazz time is somewhat more flexible than classical time. Three o’clock? Nah the punters will still be in the bar…

About 3:18 the word was out that they were on air – BT the ones accused for the delay.

When I arrived, Cox was working out on Oh Lady be Good! and, I must admit he did the lady proud. Sugar Blues was a hit way back for Clyde McCoy who gave what was probably the most tasteless use of a trumpet mute ever. Cox didn’t need any gimmicks, instead, he chose to sing. I can almost certainly say that Adrian is probably the best clarinet playing singer I’ve heard. This puts him ahead of Benny Goodman in that classification. Wisely, to the best of my knowledge, Artie Shaw never chose to go down that road.

Lull at Dawn brought to mind, as intended, Barney Bigard.  You’re Nobody 'til Somebody Loves You had Denny Ilett deciding that he too wanted to sing before making way for Adrian and Dave Newton to come up with as a good a version of Stardust as I’ve heard since maybe now and possibly for many years to come.

China Boy and Poor Butterfly showed the gamut of Cox’ emotions. China Boy, which was close to breaking the sound barrier and Butterfly which broke through the tear barrier.

To finish, Jump For Joy, had me too jumping for joy – despite the delayed start. Still that’s jazz and the crazy world we’re living in.
Lance

PS: Some great (though not enough) piano from Newton and solid support from Ireland.

1 comment :

Russell said...

A real time, live gig! Clarinetist Adrian Cox just happens to know the people who run Gun Hill Studios in Sussex and they kindly offered the facility to Adrian's quartet to play a live YouTube set. A near fifteen minutes' delay thanks to internet connections going down in the local area didn't spoil matters, on the contrary it simply served to further whet the appetite.

Ten tunes in an hour and a quarter with each member of the band afforded solo space, Adrian Cox, at the age of 37, is at the top of his game as an engaging personality and a stupendous clarinetist. From the opening Tea for Two (as hot as you like) through to a joyous Jump for Joy, this afternoon set was as good as anything heard during lockdown. Aiding and abetting Cox were three of the very best around; multi award-winning Dave Newton at Gun Hill's Yamaha upright; swinging guitarist Denny Ilett (heard recently as accompanist to Rico Tomasso) and, from the coming generation, bassist Ferg Ireland.

Cox counted in Oh, Lady Be Good! and off they went at a ferocious tempo - tremendous! Ellington's A Lull at Dawn (a one time feature for Barney Bigard) took it down, Ilett kept it there singing You're Nobody 'til Somebody Loves You paving the way for Cox to play his favourite number - Stardust - as a duo with Newton. Marvellous.

Time to up the tempo, then some, on China Boy. Newton's stonking solo couldn't be bettered, or could it? Well, first Ilett, then Cox himself, did their level best to match the quartet's pianist. The virtual audience must have been applauding long and hard! As and when the 'new normal' makes way for 'old school normal' be sure to catch Cox in action, he's the business!

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