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Bebop Spoken There

Branford Marsalis: "As ignorance often forces us to do, you make a generalisation about a musician based on one specific record or one moment in time." - (Jazzwise June 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

15491 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 512 of them this year alone and, so far, 133 this month (May 31).

From This Moment On ...

Wed 07: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 07: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 07: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 7:00pm.
Wed 07: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 08: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free. CANCELLED! BACK ON JUNE 15.
Thu 08: Easington Colliery Brass Band @ The Lubetkin Theatre, Peterlee. 7:00pm. £10.00.
Thu 08: Faye MacCalman + Blue Dust Archive @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 08: Dilutey Juice + Ceramic @ The Ampitheatre, Sea Road, South Shields. 7:00pm. Free. A South Tyneside Festival event.
Thu 08: Lara Jones w. Vigilance State @ Lubber Fiend, Blandford Square, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 08: Michael Littlefield @ the Harbour View, Roker, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Country blues.
Thu 08: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 09: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 09: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 09: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 09: Castillo Nuevo @ Revolución de Cuba, Newcastle. 5:30-8:30pm.
Fri 09: Emma Rawicz @ Sage Gateshead. 8:00pm.

Sat 10: Miners' Picnic @ Woodhorn, Ashington. Music inc. Northern Monkey Brass Band (3:00-3:50pm); New York Brass Band (4:00-4:55pm).
Sat 10: Front Porch Three @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. Americana, blues, jazz etc.
Sat 10: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

Sun 11: WORKSHOP: Tim Richards' Jazz Piano Workshop @ JG Windows, Newcastle. Time TBC. Further details tel. 0191 232 1356.
Sun 11: Jeremy McMurray's Pocket Jazz Orchestra @ Ropner Park, Stockton TS18 4EF. 2:00-4:00pm. Free.
Sun 11: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:30pm. Free.
Sun 11: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 3:00pm.
Sun 11: Groovetrain @ Innisfree Sports & Social Club, Longbenton NE12 8TY. Doors 6:30pm. £15.00 (£7.00. under 16).
Sun 11: Jeffrey Hewer Collective @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 12: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

Tue 13: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 13: Infusion Trio @ Forum Music Centre, Darlington. 7:30pm.
Tue 13: Alice Grace & Pawel Jedrzejewski @ Black Swan, Newcastle Arts Centre. 8:00pm. £12.00 (£10.00. adv.).

Thursday, December 23, 2021

A Jazzy Christmas @ Sage Gateshead - Dec 22

It's become something of a tradition. Paul Edis invites a group of friends over to play some seasonal songs. The venue just happens to be Sage Two, that's Sage Gateshead's intimate cockpit-like space, and, here's the thing, several hundred people turn up to listen. All three tiers sold out some time ago, and with Covid-secure measures in place, everyone set about enjoying themselves. 

At eight o'clock, to a rapturous reception, Edis and company took to the stage. O Come, All Ye Faithful opened the show, and what a show it would be! Edis' hand-picked ensemble hit the ground running, our MD marshalling proceedings with his customary light touch and good humour. The first of two consecutive Jule Styne/Sammy Cahn numbers - Let it Snow - introduced the fabulous Jo Harrop. Intimate duo performance or swanky 'big do' gig, Harrop is the singer for this kind of gig. And this 'do' was somewhere in between - an intimate arena teeming with a 100% mask-wearing audience. Oh, yes, Let it Snow, an excellent arrangement featuring Matt MacKellar's infectious Big Easy drum pattern. 

Harrop momentarily departed the stage as the ensemble struck up Carol of the Bells. It isn't every day a jazz gig features a piccolo solo yet here in Gateshead we got just that. Megan Robinson set up a riff and set about improvising on it. Piccolo jazz! Cue thunderous applause. Santa Baby had to be in the set list, and it was. Excellent. A marvellous first set drew to a close with Sleigh Ride, Graham Hardy, trumpet, and Matt Anderson, tenor sax, stepping out of the horn section to bring down the metaphorical curtain. 

The interval: 'Hello' to Jo and Paul (they were out front signing 'merch'), your correspondent first in the queue at the bar, a chat with several of the usual suspects, teasing Steve T about his Christmas jumper. Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells...

Second set: No one had left, despite being subjected to Paul Edis' terrible Christmas cracker jokes. Chris Rea's Driving Home for Christmas resonates with a Tyneside audience, given that the composer is from 'up north' (Teesside). Frank Loesser's What Are You Doing New Year's Eve? found favour with all present ('Bah! Humbug! suspended momentarily), Harrop sensational, Matt Anderson having a blast. 

A solo piano piece. Joy to the World. Edis somehow incorporating the history of jazz piano into his performance, from Fats Waller stride to swing to bop by way of Oscar P, to the modernists. Cue deafening applause. Emma Fisk brought in O Tannenbaum with a few bars of Vaughan William's The Lark Ascending. Outstanding, but no surprise there, violinist Fisk is a true virtuoso. It was almost time to go, but not before a sing-a-long farewell. From 1934, Winter Wonderland. A tune for all ages, a tune for kids to big kids. Where's that Santa hat? And that was it. Not quite. A foot-stomping, cheering (not easy behind a mask!) crowd won an encore. The Christmas Song. Perfect. Same time next year? You can bet on it.                                       
Paul Edis (MD, piano); Jo Harrop (vocals); Matt Anderson (tenor sax, soprano sax); Faye Thompson (alto sax, clarinet); Megan Robinson (flute, piccolo); Graham Hardy (trumpet, flugelhorn); Jason Holcomb (trombone); Emma Fisk (violin); Francis Tulip (guitar); Andy Champion (double bass); Matthew MacKellar (drums)

Set list: O Come, All Ye FaithfulLet it SnowThe Christmas WaltzWhite ChristmasRockin' Around the Christmas TreeCarol of the BellsSanta BabySleigh RideDriving Home for ChristmasO Holy NightWhat Are You Doing New Year's Eve?Joy to the WorldO TannenbaumWinter WonderlandThe Christmas Song

A Jazzy Christmas will be performed a second time at Hampstead Parish Church this evening (7:30pm, Thursday 23 December) with an all-star London-based line-up (Paul and Jo will reprise their roles). See: www.pauledis.co.ukRussell

4 comments :

JERRY said...

And the missing cracker joke was:

What do you call a group of Grandmasters boasting about their games in a hotel lobby? Chess nuts boasting in an open foyer!

Shame Paul forgot it as it would have fed beautifully into the encore!

JERRY

Lance said...

Checkmate!

EmmaFiskJazzVio said...

That one may have been censored for being too funny😂

Russell said...

Emma, you're right, it's a good one!

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