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Bebop Spoken There

Billy Boy Arnold: “As long as you don't think old you're good.” - DownBeat, December, 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!"

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

Postage

16051 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 1058 of them this year alone and, so far, 12 this month (Dec. 6).

From This Moment On ...

December

Sat 09: Prudhoe Community Band @ Central Station, Newcastle. 10:00am - 12 noon. Charity fundraiser.
Sat 09: Durham Alumni Big Band @ Number One Bar, Skinnergate, Darlington. 1:00pm.
Sat 09: Castillo Nuevo Trio @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 5:30pm. Free.
Sat 09: Hayley's Little Big Band @ Middleton & Todridge Village Hall, Morpeth. 7:30pm. £12.00., £6.00.
Sat 09: Paul Skerritt @ Slaley Hall, Hexham NE47 0BX. 7:30pm. From £42.00.

Sun 10: Musicians Unlimited’s Xmas Party with Zoë Gilby Quartet @ Park Inn, Hartlepool. MU 1:00-3:00pm; Zoë Gilby Quartet 4:00-6:00pm. Tickets: £7.50.
Sun 10: Alan Law, Paul Grainger & Abbie Finn @ Darlington Market, Market Square, Darlington. 1:00pm. Free. A ‘Christmas Market’ outdoor gig. Wrap up warm!
Sun 10: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00-4:00pm. Free.
Sun 10: Funk Soul Sista @ Stack, Seaburn. 5:00-7:00pm. Free.
Sun 10: Beth Clarke @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 10: Hayley's Little Big Band @ Whittingham Memorial Institute, Alnwick. 7:30pm. £12.00., £10.00.
Sun 10: Tele-Port @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Line-up inc. Zhenya Strigalev.

Mon 11: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 11: Interim Final Recitals @ Newcastle University. Details TBC.

Tue 12: Stu Collingwood Organ Trio @ Forum Music Centre, Darlington. 7:00pm. £10.00.

Wed 13: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 13: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 13: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 13: Bold Big Band @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:30pm.
Wed 13: Giles Strong Quartet @ Alphabetti Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 14: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 14: Hot Fingers @ The Lubetkin Theatre, Peterlee. 7:00pm. £10.00.
Thu 14: After Hours Student Jazz Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 14: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. . Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 14: Niffi Osiyemi Trio @ Harbour View, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 14: Mo Scott ‘Little Mo’s Festive Appearance’ @ The Schooner, Gateshead. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 14: Tees Hot Club w. Kevin Eland, Josh Bentham, Garry Hadfield, Adrian Beadnell @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 15: Paul Edis @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 15: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 15: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 15: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 15: Paul Skerritt @ Black Horse Inn, Crook. From 7:00pm.
Fri 15: Paul Edis: A Jazzy Christmas @ St Cuhtbert's Centre, Crook. 7:30pm. £15.00. SOLD OUT! Waiting list open.
Fri 15: Zoë Gilby Trio @ Seventeen Nineteen, Hendon, Sunderland. 7:30pm. £12.00. Fri 15: Strictly Smokin' Big Band @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 8:00pm. First night of two.
Fri 15: Darlington Big Band @ Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. £10.00. Opus 4 Jazz Club.
Fri 15: Baghdaddies @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £14.00.; £10.00.

Saturday, November 21, 2020

Paul Edis: Time & Place LJF live stream - Nov. 20

Paul Edis (piano); Jo Harrop (vocals); Tony Kofi (tenor sax); Adam King (double bass); Pete Adam Hill (drums) 

(Screenshots courtesy of Jerry)

BSH planned to attend this Hampstead Jazz Club performance only to be thwarted by Lockdown 2.0. Fortunately this year's EFG London Jazz Festival was able to deploy its not inconsiderable resources to make most, if not all, events available online. Paul Edis regularly works with singer Jo Harrop and now that our exiled Geordie pianist is based in London he was able to extend an invitation to his friend, and occasional musical collaborator, Tony Kofi to join him and Jo in revisiting Time and Place
The lights were low as Edis took to HJC's snug stage alongside bassist Adam King and drummer Pete Adam Hill. Harrop stood in front of the trio with saxophonist Kofi seemingly socially-distanced in the wings. The project is, to  a degree, self-explanatory...themes of time and place. Twelve compositions - a mixture of standards and originals - were given a flawless reading. Edis and Harrop obviously familiar with the set list, less so, Kofi, King and Hill, and it is to their credit that they fully contributed to a successful evening. 

And so to the theme...Time After Time (music Jule Styne, lyrics Sammy Cahn). Those who have heard Jo Harrop sing knew that this first number was likely to be good. It was better than good, more like fabulous. The first of two Vernon Duke classics -  Autumn in New York - suggested the musicians on the stand were fully immersed in the music, King and Hill reading the charts, likewise the man in the wings, tenor saxophonist Tony Kofi. 

Three Edis compositions followed, one after the other...Madeira (a hair-raising tale of a mountainous bus journey!), Embrace the Silence (first heard on Tyneside with Edis directing Sage Gateshead's youth jazz ensemble Jambone) and, with a nod to Antonio Carlos Jobim, The Long Way Round. BSH is familiar with the above songs and one thing is for sure, familiarity doesn't breed contempt. In fact, they seem to get better with each hearing! 

Harrop sang beautifully on Michel Legrand's Once Upon a Summertime and then it was Edis' turn to impress on Vernon Duke's April in Paris. If any of the London jazz crowd didn't know about Paul Edis, they do now. Brilliant! 

Edis' Breathing (from a Darlington Jazz Festival commissioned suite) heard more from Tony Kofi in what sounded like waltz time. At this juncture it became apparent that brevity was the watchword - excellent musicianship all round, executed with commendable concision. Jo Harrop, the lockdown lyricist, emailed Edis some words to see what he could come up with. Twenty four hours later, the duo had a new tune to perform to an audience. An audience...what's one of those? Ah, yes, people gathering together to share in the magical experience of live performance. Well, it almost happened here at Hampstead Jazz Club, almost, but not quite. Next best thing, via the medium of the live stream, we, the audience, heard What If? We look forward to being present the next time Edis and Harrop perform it!

We were nearing the end of this evening's concert. Edis' Rome Wasn't Built in a Day (Edis leaving the singing to Harrop, Harrop leaving the piano playing to Edis), another Edis-Harrop lockdown composition If I Knew performed as a duo, then to close, Edis' Wise Words reunited the quintet. Gospel-infused, concise, all had been said and done. An excellent set, we look forward to hearing it again when we're part of a capacity audience. Next year, believe it.
Russell        

1 comment :

JERRY said...

If anyone missed this excellent gig, it still seems to be available here:

https://www.facebook.com/HJCJazzClub/videos/2129518460505144

Well worth a look and listen.

JERRY

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