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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, June 19, 2017

De’Sean Jones & Knomadik @ Dacre Hall, Lanercost – June 16

De’Sean Jones (tenor); Jamie Murray (drums); Mikele Montoli (bass); Russell Gelman-Sheehan (guitar); Chase Jackson (vibes) + Jack Moore (alto).
(Review by David Gosling)
Detroit’s young saxophone titan swept into Cumbria, via three London gigs and a night at Preston’s New Continental, to play a storming gig in rural Lanercost.
Lanercost had secured the appearance of De’Sean Jones and his Knomadik band via a previous appearance De’Sean made in 2014 whilst touring the northwest with pianist Greg Spero.                      
“I remembered this charismatic ancient venue and felt that it would be good to come back and play it with my own band this time”, said Jones.
How to describe De’Sean Jones and his music is tricky but Jazz fusion, in the normal understanding of the genre, it is not. It’s certainly jazz, and if you add in funk, urban and a dash of hip-hop then maybe you are getting closer to the mark. At least that’s what I was hearing.
Knomadik (although De’Seans baseball cap spells it KNMDK) seems a fitting title as young musicians encountered by De’Sean, as he tours the world, are then incorporated into the as and when a location suits. For the Dacre Hall gig we had De’Sean Jones tenor sax, Jamie Murray from London on drums, Mikele Montolli from Italy on bass, Russell Gelman-Sheehan from Philadelphia on guitar, and on vibraphone. from Los Angeles, Chase Jackson.
Counting in the first number with a semi beatbox/rap introduction De’Sean and the band launched into a funked up version of Miles Davis’ Tutu which must have lasted at least 10 minutes as it moved seamlessly from one phase to another. The excellent Chase Jackson on vibraphone gently underpinning the rhythms in a style that would be blown away in the following numbers as his exuberant percussive playing came to the fore.
The ensuing tunes were all taken from De’Sean’s 2015 album Knomadik Reverence (Detroit Music Factory DMF2007) with the one exception being when, in true pied piper/nomadic style, the tenor sax man recalled playing with a young man in 2014, who he had spotted in the audience, and invited him up onto the stage to play what he termed ‘some Detroit Funk’. Up stepped 15-year-old Jack Moore from Cockermouth, who had so impressed everyone when Greg Spero had called him up to the bandstand at the same venue in 2014, to perform alongside De’Sean on alto sax. After a 10 second conversation between the two the band launched into a scorching number that allowed both saxophones ample room to show their improvisational skills. Hard blowing pyrotechnics were the order of the day with young Jack more than holding his own against the Detroit Lion. A performance that shows promise of much greater things to come from young Jack Moore.
As for De’Sean Jones, I had described him as ‘a force of nature’ in the pre-concert publicity but on this showing, I had clearly underestimated him.

The evening opened with local sax-girl Roz Sluman, who also played with De’Sean and the Greg Spero Quartet in 2014, and her Ol’ Bones band playing a jazz fusion set covering tunes by Chic Corea, David Sanbourn, Dave Grusin and Spyra Gyra to name but a few. Alongside Roz was Paul Maclachlan on bass, Kenny Reed on drums, Brian Melville on keyboards and Johnny Miller on guitar and their lively set proved the perfect introduction for what was to come.
David Gosling

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