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Bebop Spoken There

Art Blakey: "You [Bobby Watson] don't want to play too long, because you don't know they're clapping because they're glad you finished!" - (JazzTimes, Nov. 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!"

Postage

15848 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 855 of them this year alone and, so far, 53 this month (Sept. 18).

From This Moment On ...

September

Fri 22: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 22: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 22: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 22: Brief Encounter @ Bardon Mill Village Hall, Northumberland. 7:00pm. Tickets: £10.00. adv from 07885 303166; £12.00. on the door. Chris & Veronica Perrin improvising to a screening of the 1929 'Jazz Age' silent film Piccadilly (Dir. Ewald André Dupont).
Fri 22: Paul Edis & Graeme Wilson + Three Tsuru Origami @ Jesmond United Reformed Church, Newcastle. 7:30pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Fri 22: Crooners @ Tyne Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm.
Fri 22: Abbie Finn's Finntet @ Traveller's Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. Opus 4 Jazz Club.

Sat 23: Tyne Valley Big Band @ Tanfield Railway, Gateshead. 2:00-4:00pm. Free. A '1940s Weekend' event.
Sat 23: Jason Isaacs @ Stack, Seaburn. 3:30-5:30pm. Free.
Sat 23: Andrew Porritt & Keith Barrett @ Cullercoats Watch House, Front St., Cullercoats NE30 4QB. 7:00pm.
Sat 23: Michael Woods @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig. Country blues.

Sun 24: Musicians Unlimited @ Park Inn, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 24: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.

Mon 25: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Mon 25: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 7:00pm.

Tue 26: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.

Wed 27: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 27: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 27: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 28: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 28: Alice Grace Quartet @ King's Hall, Newcastle University. 1:15pm. Free.
Thu 28: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Gateshead Central Library, Gateshead. 2:30pm. All welcome.
Thu 28: Faye MacCalman + Snape/Sankey @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 28: Zoe Rahman @ Jesmond United Reformed Church, Jesmond, Newcastle. 7:30pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Thu 28: '58 Jazz Collective @ Hops & Cheese, Hartlepool. 7:30pm.
Thu 28: Speakeasy @ Queen's Hall, Hexham. 7:30pm. £15.00. A Southpaw Dance Company presentation. Dance, audio-visuals, Count Basie, Benny Goodman, swing dancers etc.
Thu 28: Mick Cantwell Band @ Harbour View, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Ace blues band.
Thu 28: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Sunday, September 06, 2020

Jordon Alfonso w. The Alan Law Trio: Live Stream @ The Globe, Newcastle - Sept. 6

Jordan Alfonso (alto); Alan Law (piano); Paul Grainger (bass); Rob Walker (drums).

A tribute to Charlie Parker - four fine musicians putting their own take on Bird's music - made for an enjoyable 75 minutes.

No surprises in the repertoire, how could there be? The music is well known to most jazz fans although, spotting Jordan's tenor lying in waiting I thought maybe Half Nelson, one of the few numbers Parker recorded on the larger horn, may have been on the menu. It remained untouched. 

Yardbird Suite got things rolling along laying down the benchmark for a set that just seemed to get better and better as the players began to gel after their long layoff. Confirmation, Night in Tunisia and then Parker's Mood. Alan Law had been doing his job perfectly up to this point but here he improved upon perfection (if that is possible!) and played as sensitive a solo as anything I've heard from him. Not to be out done Jordan also peaked.

Paul Grainger had already put in a half shift down at the coast with the Vieux Carré Hot4 during the afternoon so it was no surprise when Jordan referred to him as "The ubiquitous Paul Grainger". Perhaps he'd pickled his fingers in brine as he showed no ill effects from his earlier stint.

Rob Walker came to the fore in Blues For Alice with a tasteful drum solo and Jordan wailed like as though he was blowing in a Kansas City late night joint. And this was the one thing that was missing - the crowd, the ambiance of an audience whooping and hollering, clapping, ordering drinks, enjoying themselves. Well, many of us were doing just that at home but the band, they don't know that!

Anthropology stomped off, not too fast, just fast enough for it to make sense. My Little Suede Shoes, with its infectious melody and Latin groove, is one of those tunes that stick in your mind - I'll be still humming it this time next week even though the number that followed - Donna Lee - was my overall favourite. Everyone hit their stride and it wasn't over yet!

Now's The Time had that honour.

Bravo Jordan, Alan, Paul and Rob and, of course, the Jazz Coop for their initiative in remembering one of jazz's greatest icons. 

I want to hear this band again live live so I can share my enthusiasm with others there and then but, who knows where or when?
Lance

1 comment :

Jordan Alfonso said...

Thanks for the kind words! The tenor was indeed intended for Half Nelson but time got the better of us unfortunately. Parker didn't play tenor very much aside from a few recordings with Miles Davis!

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