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Bebop Spoken There

Ambrose Akinmusire: “ I am certainly always aware of what the masses are doing. And when I see too many people going one way, I'm going another way - even when I don't know what's over that way". DownBeat, March, 2024.

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...

Josh Weir: I love the writing on bebop spoken here... I think the work you are doing is amazing.

Postage

16287 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 16 years ago. 169 of them this year alone and, so far, 41 this month (Mar 18).

From This Moment On ...

March

Tue 19: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Michael Young, Paul Grainger, Tim Johnston.

Wed 20: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 20: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 20: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 21: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 21: Castillo Neuvo Trio + Conor Emery & His ‘Bones Band @ The Grove, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 7:30pm (7:00pm doors). £10.00. (£7.00. student).
Thu 21: Remi Banklyn + Chris Corcoran Trio @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.50. Chicago blues. An International Guitar Foundation promotion.
Thu 21: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Ragtime piano.
Thu 21: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm.

Fri 22: Vasilis Xenopoulos & Paul Edis @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. £8.00. SOLD OUT!
Fri 22: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 22: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 22: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 22: Nauta + Remy CB + Last Orders @ Hoochie Coochie, Newcastle. 8:30pm (7:30pm doors). Free.
Fri 22: Vasilis Xenopoulos-Paul Edis Quartet @ Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. £15.00. Opus 4 Jazz Club.
Fri 22: Redwell @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sat 23: Jambone @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 6:30pm. Free (ticketed). End of term performance in the Northern Rock Foundation Hall.
Sat 23: Milne-Glendinning Band @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 23: Red Kites Jazz @ Rowlands Gill Community Centre NE39 1JB. 7:00pm. Tickets: £12.00. (gibsidecommunityfarm@gmail.com). A ‘Build a Barn’ fundraiser. BYOB, tea/coffee available.
Sat 23: New Century Ragtime Orchestra @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £20.00. + bf (book in person at venue - no booking fee!). Featuring pianist Martin Litton.
Sat 23: Pete Tanton’s Cuba Libre @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 24: Musicians Unlimited @ Park Inn, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 24: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:30pm. Free.
Sun 24: Luis Verde @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm. Verde (alto sax); Joe Steels (guitar); John Pope (double bass); John Hirst (drums). Alto sax brilliance!
Sun 24: Elsie Franklin @ The Globe, Newcastle. 3:00pm. £10.00. Country blues. An International Guitar Foundation promotion.
Sun 24: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay Metro Station. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 24: Las Vegas Live with the Rat Pack @ The Forum, Billingham.
Sun 24: Ian Millar & Dominic Spencer @ Otterburn Memorial Hall. 7:30pm. £12.00.
Sun 24: Lindsay Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Note start time - 7:00pm.
Sun 24: Bold Big Band @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 25: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 25: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 6:30pm. Free.

Monday, May 15, 2023

Hexham Jazz Festival: Claire Martin & Jamie Safir + Joe Steels' Borealis - May 14

For the final night of the 2023 Hexham Jazz Festival the focus switched from Hexham Abbey to Queen's Hall Arts Centre. A conventional theatre space with a large stage and a Steinway piano, the scene was set fair for the weekend's headline performer, Claire Martin. A 5:00am start saw Ms Martin setting off from her Brighton home to meet up with pianist Jamie Safir in the Northumberland market town to sing a selection of songs inspired by her 'Jazz Divas'.     

Claire Martin (vocals); Jamie Safir (piano) + Jo Harrop (vocals)

Cole Porter's At Long Last Love opened the show and from the down beat Claire Martin was in imperious form. As accompanists go, Jamie Safir is up there with the best of them; bold, creative, responsive, sensitive, the perfect foil to Martin. George Gershwin (The Man I Love), Vernon Duke (Autumn in New York, with rarely sung verse), Martin's selections were crowd-pleasing and, equally, songs Martin wanted to sing. 
Ms Martin moved from mic stand to centre stage, to leaning against the Steinway, expressive vocals, a 'jazz' singer for sure. Tipping her metaphorical hat to Ernestine Anderson, Ella Fitzgerald (Lover Come Back to Me), Georgie Fame, Shirley Horn (Come Back to Me), remembering Richard Rodney Bennett and Tina May (Lazy Afternoon), our star performer pretty well covered the waterfront.

An unexpected, but welcome, bonus delighted the audience when Ms Martin invited Ms Jo Harrop to join her and Jamie to sing Old Devil Moon. This was a first time collaboration, you could say it was a success! The audience wanted more and Claire Martin obliged as she and Jamie Safir went out on a blues. A fine finale to this year's Hexham Jazz Festival.        

Earlier in the evening, guitarist Joe Steels' Borealis gave its inaugural performance right here in Hexham. A six piece outfit drawn from across Cumbria, Northumberland and north of the border, the original material embraces an ethereal, Metheny-esque element allied to a decidedly folk feel. The members of the band are from these here rural parts and, no doubt, have an attuned ear to Steels' compositions. 



Borealis: Joe Steels (guitar); Asha Nicholson (voice); Ferg Kilsby (trumpet); Dan Brown (piano); Paul Susans (double bass); John Hirst (drums)

The Tyne Valley's rising star trumpeter Ferg Kilsby (shortly to begin a music degree course in London) got to grips with the material, pitching in on the opener, Re:emerge, later in the set blowing some tremendous post-bop lines. Vocalist Asha Nicholson (a new name to BSH) is listed as 'voice' rather than 'vocals'. Think Norma Winstone and you're in the ball park, unison lines with Kilsby were particularly effective. Pianist Dan Brown, based in Glasgow, earlier in the day made the trip from Skye in order to make this Hexham performance. And what a revelation Brown was! A team player with a percussive edge, it'll be good to hear more from D Brown.

Bassist Paul Susans, heard earlier in the day at the Forum Cinema (see review), played an integral part; great 'woody' sound, walking through the material, most impressive. And then there was the man at the back, tucked in the corner, local lad, Berklee graduate John Hirst. As drummers go, he's right up there. A recent Steels' composition, Lady Day, paying homage to, of course, Billie Holiday, slotted in nicely alongside original material from the band's debut album (physical CDs will be available soon!). Russell                                                                                                                                               

2 comments :

Dave said...

The first song I heard by Claire Martin was The People That You Never Get To Love which was on a BBC Newcastle Jazz Programme in 1992 when her first album came out. It remains my favourite. I've never heard her sing it live before last night and the 31 year wait was worth it.
Cheers
Dave Sayer

Chris Kilsby said...

Hats off to Russell for his unstinting 3-day support of the nascent Hexham (Hexhampstead?)Jazz Festival, and thoughtful and comprehensive reporting for BSH despite train strikes and the vagaries of the Tynedale Ten bus!


Borealis' debut album available for listen, purchase and pre-order on CD on Bandcamp at : https://borealismusic.bandcamp.com/album/borealis

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