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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.

Saturday, February 06, 2010

(Even) Better Than the Bridge! PAUL EDIS SEXTET – Jazz in the café at the Queen’s Hall Hexham. Friday Feb. 5

PAUL EDIS piano, ADAM SINCLAIR drums, PAUL SUSANS bass, GRAEME WILSON sax, GRAHAM HARDY trumpet/flugel, CHRIS HIBBARD trombone. My first time at this venue: it will not be the last – I commend it to you. “In the sticks”, yes, but, at 25 minutes drive from Chester-le-Street, hardly an odyssey!
With 50 – 60 people, plus musicians and staff it was standing-room only by 8.00 last night so be early if you want a table.
A full-house made for a good atmosphere – a kind of cross between Blaydon and The Cherry Tree. People clearly like to eat as part of the package and most were finishing eating at 7.30, when we arrived. It looked good – more cottage supper than haute cuisine but it required wifely restraint to keep me from trying the corned-beef pie, served in wedges you could chock a 147 with!
Friendly staff and good ales (Allendale beers in bottle) completed the picture. As I was driving, the ale, too, was off-limits. Shame! At 8.00, the lights dimmed and “Out of Nowhere” the band launched into exactly that and the applause which greeted solos by Graeme, Graham and Paul, showed that the audience know, and like, their jazz. “Ah,Um”, a Mingus-inspired original introduced a more baleful note and showcased Chris Hibbard on trombone as well as giving Adam and Paul Susans some space in the “fours”.
This was followed by Ellington’s “In a Sentimental Mood” which, with a slow, mellow flugelhorn solo, lived up to the title. In contrast, “Black Orpheus” with trombone again to the fore (how expressive an instrument in the right hands!) built up in rhythm and volume to something akin to carnival firecrackers. They closed the set (where can you go after firecrackers?) with some “kamikaze jazz” (also used at the Bridge) – Graeme Wilson’s “Up Late”, with stomping crescendos and a clever finish: a musical exclamation mark! Again, as at the Bridge, the second set opened with “All the things you are(n’t)”, complete with fugue intro: a case of “Welcome Bach?” An aberrant mobile phone added a novel “obligato” at the end of the piece but the audience seemed to love it all.
Also very well received was Paul’s “suite” in four parts which, when premiered at the Bridge, was so fresh as to be still untitled – a defect which has now been remedied. Inspired by post pantomime stress disorder it is now fittingly entitled “It’s behind You!” – which title, apparently, was suggested by Adam Sinclair. And very good it was – even better than at the Bridge, the first and the last bass notes sandwiching 26 minutes (yes, I timed it) of varied moods and virtuoso playing.
The second and third sections (waltz and ballad?) best illustrate the variety with “Favourite Things” from the “Sound of Music” popping into my mind at times in the waltz, while the ballad took me back to Ellington’s mood from the first set. “Angular” featured more excellent solos most notably from Graham Hardy on trumpet and finished the night with upbeat humour sending the audience home happy. A special mention for Paul Susans (deputising at short notice for Mick Shoulder) who contributed much to the solid rhythm section as well as some solos and a key part in the suite. A really enjoyable gig: I would go back for more of the sextet and (given a lift) some pie, beer and Hexham hospitality!
Jerry Edis.

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