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Bebop Spoken There

Spasmo Brown: “Jazz is an ice cream sandwich! It's the Fourth of July! It's a girl with a waterbed!”. (Syncopated Times, July, 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

17421 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 16 years ago. 695 of them this year alone and, so far, 100 this month (Sept. 30).

From This Moment On ...

October

Tue 08: ???

Wed 09: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free. Wed 09: Jason Isaacs @ St James’ STACK, Newcastle. 5:00-7:00pm. Free.
Wed 09: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 09: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 09: The Tannery Jam Session @ The Tannery, Gilesgate, Hexham. 7:00-9:00pm. Free. A ‘second Wednesday in the month’ jam session.
Wed 09: Shunya, Dudù Kouate & Seb Rochford @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 8:30pm (7:30pm doors). £21.00.

Thu 10: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 10: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. ‘Collaborations - it happened all the time’.
Thu 10: Indigo Jazz Voices w. the Little Big Band @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:45pm. £5.00.
Thu 10: Side Cafe Orkestar @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
The 10: Classic Swing @ Carlisle Rugby Club, Warwick Rd., Carlisle. 8:30pm. £9.
Thu 10: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesborough. 8:30pm. With guests Donna Hewitt (sax); Bill Watson (trumpet); Graham Thompson (keys); Ron Smith (bass). Free.

Fri 11: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 11: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 11: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 11: Dulcie May Moreno @ The Old Library, Auckland Castle, Bishop Auckland. 1:00pm. £8.00.
Fri 11: The Jazz Quartet + Stratosphonic @ Tynedale Rugby Club, Corbridge. 7:00pm. £15.00. A Rotary Club of Hexham event. The Jazz Quartet (Jude Murphy & co), Stratosphonic (blues/rock). CANCELLED!
Fri 11: Joe Steels Trio @ The Pele, Market Place, Corbridge NE45 5AW. 7:30pm. Free.
Fri 11: Crooners @ Tyne Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm.
Fri 11: Mo Scott Band @ Blues Underground, Nelson St., Newcastle. 9:00pm. Free.

Sat 12: Milne-Glendinning Band @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 12: Michael Woods @ Victoria Tunnel, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £12.00. (£10.00. adv.). Country blues guitar & vocals.
Sat 12: Nauta @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £13.28, £11.16, £9.04. A two-track recording launch gig.
Sat 12: Stuart Turner @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Rockabilly, rhythm & blues etc. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sat 12: Lapwing Jazz Trio @ The Ship Inn, Low Newton. 8:00pm. Free. New trio: Paula Whitty, Richard Herdman, Jude Murphy.

Sun 13: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 13: Emma Wilson @ Tyne Bar, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. Blues.
Sun 13: Catfish Keith @ The Cluny. 7:00pm. Country blues.
Sun 13: Cath Stephens & Paul Grainger @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Stephens & Grainger, one third of a triple bill.
Sun 13: Dulcie May Moreno Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 14: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 14: Black is the Color of My Voice @ Hippodrome, Darlington. 7:30pm. Apphia Campbell’s one-woman show inspired by Nina Simone, performed by Nicholle Cherrie.

Tue 15: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Alan Law (piano), Paul Grainger (double bass), Bailey Rudd (drums).

Reviewers wanted

Whilst BSH attempts to cover as many gigs, festivals and albums as possible, to make the site even more comprehensive we need more 'boots on the ground' to cover the albums seeking review - a large percentage of which never get heard - report on gigs or just to air your views on anything jazz related. Interested? then please get in touch. Contact details are on the blog. Look forward to hearing from you. Lance

Saturday, March 30, 2024

The Sound of Surprise at Harlem Apollo, NYC - March 28

What started as an extremely promising night honouring those who have given their life to jazz, ended with a selection of jazz musicians trying to weave context between the occasion and a rock legend enthralling his loyal fans.

Tonight was called “A Great Night in Harlem,” a reference to the famous photo taken outside a red brick walk-up on 119th Street. The opening act was the Sun Ra Arkestra (normally a headline group) and they played their asses off!! I’ve seen this group in London and San Francisco and they clearly felt the spirit to push way over the edge. A really magical cacophony of retro space age free jazz from this large ensemble of septuagenarians, octogenarians nonagenarians, and Marshall Allen, centenarian, all replete in glorious sequin gowns and headdresses. The set ended with a coincidence that stretched my smile to bursting. As they departed the stage they chanted the title of my newest track Space is the Place.

Next up Jazzmeia Horn, a Berklee undergraduate singer with an incredible range and control. Jazzmeia gave us one of her own songs, and a standard. It was classy and well received by the 1,500 capacity crowd. 

Alexis Morast & Matthew Whitaker came next. A bongo pattern played with sticks and some gentle Hammond organ set the scene for a few minutes before Alexis’ warm soulful vocals put everyone at ease.

Now for the big band. A Max Roach tribute featuring Billy Hart, Louis Hayes, and Jeff Tain Watts standing in for Al Foster. Tain sat centre stage and cleaned up with his deft light touch. My fantasy engine room is Tain and Christian McBride, (saw them together in a little club here many years ago) and he did nothing to ruin that vision. Understated relaxed supreme mastery. The three drummers did well to maintain momentum without overly stepping on each others’ toes. The band’s swing broadened to accommodate their slightly different feels.

After the drummers came features for Charles Tolliver and Dee Dee Bridgewater. Charles was slumped over a chair in darkness, as if an artistic installation, seemingly oblivious in all but ears and fingers. By contrast Dee Dee glided onto the stage in sequin gown and sparkly 6” platform heels. She owned the show and everyone slotted in behind her. Still in the heels, she often bent over double to get in Tolliver’s face and spar with him. All in all an awesome exercise in rhythmic evolution and group exploration.

Then it got weird. Rapper Chuck D told us that ignoring a musician in a hotel foyer is ‘effing disrespectful’ and reminded us that all music is built from giants including those on the stage tonight. He then continued the socially conscience theme and asked the audience to chant “kill them guns”. “I don’t hate people, I hate guns. Say it with me KILL THEM GUNS” … about 30 people obliged but the majority of the auditorium stopped smiling, and folded their arms. Tumbleweed trundled across the stage. Hiphop has always had socially conscious origins but they have never been publicised as greatly as its nemesis: negative stereotype orientated rap. Nevertheless some great grooves ensued with guest drummer Steve Jordan and Mix Master Mike.

And finally the headline act…. Bobby Weir of the Grateful Dead. Bobby opened his show with what might be the most unusual arrangement ever of I’ve Got You Under My Skin. It had all the aplomb of a ferret attempting crochet. It was strange! A demonstration of jazz reduction. The chords were reduced to triads and the sax solos were swiftly replaced with meandering fretboard bothering. When they finished the auditorium fell almost silent. Fortunately he moved on to what I can only presume were his greatest hits. Deadheads awoke from their slumber, phones were held aloft to film, and whirling dervishes found their place in the cosmos. The selection of jazz musicians did their best to provide some context. Free jazz vied with guitar jam band and some growly vocals. Without him they might have developed a vast exploration. Without them, he might have gone deep into the blue. Together the two components cancelled each other out.

All the acts were interspersed with videos and speeches and overall it was a well-produced and enjoyable spectacle. A highlight was 100 year old Marshall Allen receiving a lifetime accolade, and Max Roach’s daughter charismatically pleading for peace. The star of the evening was the organising body: The Foundation of America, and the support it provides to jazz musicians in times of deepest need. The night conformed refreshingly to Whitley Balliett’s definition of jazz: the sound of surprise. What added to the effect was that it seemed the musicians performing were just as surprised as those of us seated in the auditorium. Aaron Liddard

1 comment :

Zoe McIver Underwood said...

Love this piece, it took me on a journey like the shadows in platos cave leaving me wishing I’d been there but grateful for the insight into what can and is happening out there in the world!! Awesome with honesty and including the audience reaction gold :-) fantastic you were there and awesome having a review written by someone who absolutely knows thier jazz!! Truly insightful and a pleasure to read.

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