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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

15229 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 248 of them this year alone and, so far, 61 this month (March 20).

From This Moment On ...

March

Thu 23: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 4:00-6:00pm. Free.
Thu 23: NUJO Jazz Jam @ Bar Loco, Newcasatle. From 6:30pm 'til late. Free. Newcastle University Jazz Orchestra jam session. All welcome (students & non-students).
Thu 23: Kerrin Tatman + John Garner & John Pope @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 23: Sunna Gunnlaugs & Julia Hülsmann @ Sage Gateshead. 8:00pm. A two-piano gig. A Sage Gateshead-JNE promotion.
Thu 23: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Ragtime piano.
Thu 23: Sleep Suppressor @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £10.00., £8.00. adv. Upstairs.
Thu 23: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 24: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 24: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 24: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 24: FILM: Mo' Better Blues @ Forum Cinema, Hexham. 7:00pm.
Fri 24: Ian Millar & Dominic Spencer @ Scarth Hall, Staindrop, Co. Durham. 8:00pm. £10.00.
Fri 24: Archipelago + Bulbils @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.

Sat 25: Vermont Big Band @ Walker Community Centre, Walker, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Fundraiser for Benfield Juniours Football Club. Hot food available, BYOB.
Sat 25: John Logan & Friends @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Rat Pack, Motown etc. 8:00pm. Free (donations).

Sun 26: Musicians Unlimited @ Park Inn, Hartlepool. 1:00pm.
Sun 26: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 3:00pm.
Sun 26: Outlines @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. JNE promotion (upstairs).

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.

Monday, May 30, 2022

Sunday Night @ the Globe: "Two of a Mind" - May 29

Sue Ferris (baritone sax); Steve Summers (alto sax); Paul Susans (bass); Rob Walker (drums).

Recreating classic albums from the past has always been a crowd puller. The audience know what to expect and the musicians have a target to aim for.  That they don't always hit that target is the chance they and the audience take. Fortunately, last night's recreation of the 1962 Paul Desmond and Gerry Mulligan album Two of a Mind was, without a shadow of a doubt, spot on.

All the Things You Are and Blight of the Fumble Bee got the show off to a brisk start. The interplay between the two horns a joy to behold. Last minute dep Susans provided the harmonic foundation so important in a chordless quartet with Walker supplying the rhythmic drive. I'm not sure that Stardust worked but, then again, I don't think it worked that well for Desmond and Mulligan either so they were in good company. 

One that most certainly did work was The Way You Look Tonight. The contrapuntal passages and the theme shifting moments purveyed that breathless charm, to quote from the lyric, perfectly. Line For Lyons wasn't from Two of a Mind but from an earlier (1957) get together.

The first set concluded with Out of Nowhere and nobody was going anywhere.

For the second set, Summers added tenor and curved soprano saxes to his armory whilst Ferris opted to add alto sax and flute to hers and it was on this latter instrument that she blew a sizzling I'm Beginning to See the Light. From the subterranean depths of the baritone to the dizzy heights of the flute there's no musical vertigo for Sue. 

Steve rejoined the party on tenor and Sue returned to bari for Mobley's This I Dig of You and I dug of them. He explained that although the numbers in the second set weren't from the album they intended to play them as if they were.

It worked! If the first set paid lip-service to a classic recording, this set took it to an even higher level not least because of the variety offered by the permutations of the different horns: Bernie's Tune (alto/soprano); Metheny's The Moon Song (tenor/bass/drums); Mingus' Moanin' - not to be confused with the Timmons/Blakey classic (bari/tenor) and a flat out blast on Anthropology that even the insertion of those pesky fours couldn't spoil.

The spotlight may have been on the two out front but the two in the engine room kept the ship afloat.

The evening concluded with In a Sentimental Mood that even had a couple of dancers and no I wasn't one of them!

A brilliant and well attended night - Lance

1 comment :

Anonymous said...

Spot on review. It was indeed a great gig. Graham

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