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Bebop Spoken There

Béla Fleck: “ And that's the great thing about live performances, you take people on a journey. It doesn't have to be like something else they've heard. It's not supposed to be". DownBeat, April, 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

Thu 28: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 28: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Gateshead Central Library, Gateshead. 2:30pm.
Thu 28: Richard Herdman Quartet @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 28: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm. Guests: Josh Bentham (alto sax); Alan Marshall (tenor sax); Neil Brodie (trumpet); Adrian Beadnell (bass); Graham Thompson (keys); Steve Hunter (drums).

Fri 29: FILM: Soul @ The Forum Cinema, Hexham. 12:30pm. Jazz-themed film animation.
Fri 29: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 29: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 29: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 29: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 6:00pm. Free. POSTPONED!
Fri 29: Thundercat @ Newcastle City Hall.
Fri 29: John Logan @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sat 30: Papa G’s Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sat 30: Pete Tanton’s Cuba Libre @ Whitley Bay Library, York Road, Whitley Bay. 8:00pm.

Sun 31: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay Metro Station. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 31: Ruth Lambert Trio @ Juke Shed, Union Quay, North Shields NE30 1HJ. 3:00pm. Free. Lambert, Alan Law & Paul Grainger.
Sun 31: Sid Jacobs & Tom Remon @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. USA/London jazz guitar duo.
Sun 31: Bellavana @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

April
Mon 01: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 01: Ray Stubbs R&B All Stars @ Billy Bootlegger’s, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 3:00pm. Free.

Tue 02: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Dean Stockdale, Paul Grainger, Abbie Finn.

Wed 03: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 03: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 03: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Friday, May 04, 2018

Alan Barnes & Paul Edis @ the Lit & Phil - May 4

Alan Barnes (alto/clarinet); Paul Edis (piano).
(Review by Lance/photos courtesy of Jerry)
What better way is there to while away an hour than by listening to Alan Barnes and Paul Edis in the intimate surroundings of Newcastle's Literary and Philosophical Society?
The monthly miniature jazz concerts held in the venerable building are well-supported and justifiably so. In Paul Edis and Alan Barnes, you have the perfectly matched pair with each one seemingly reading the other's mind.
Opening up with Joyspring, the ideas just flowed from Barnes' innermost soul to emerge from the bell of his trusty Mark Vl alto. Not to be outdone, Edis too dealt himself a few aces before rounding off the number with the obligatory fours. Normally, fours leave me cold but, when done without a drummer nailing the floorboards down they are much more acceptable - and musical.
For Some Time Ago, a waltz by Argentinian composer/pianist Sergio Mihanovich, Barnes switched to clarinet remarking, in the process, of Tony Eales' strange dislike of the instrument. What's not to like? It was quite beautiful! Edis' final chord took everyone, Barnes included, by surprise.
Come in Senor Jobim, he's never far away. Corcovado, the mountain in Rio had our duo in bossa nova mode. The final fours or was it eights? saw their lines entwine contrapuntally. 
Apart from being a superb pianist, Edis is also a composer of merit and the next two compositions were his. Whiskers displayed both of those talents to the full. The head had a Monkish feel to it whilst the piano solo broke into a stride chorus. Barnes, needless to say, sight-read the part with ease and there were a few bars that may have saw a lesser player stumble, but not Alan Barnes although he did have to put his specs on.
The second piece, Breathless, was a waltz that Paul had adapted from an arrangement for trio and choir, Alan returned to clarinet (with a suitable aside to Tony Eales) for this one.
From here on in and on to the finish line, it was all Charlie Parker. Lover Man; Ornithology and Au Privave - and who better to play them?
Then it was all over! Could an hour really go by that quickly?
The applause for the two players was both deafening and deserving.
Come back soon - what am I saying? 
Alan Barnes is with the Durham Alumni Big Band at the Dolphin Centre, Darlington this Saturday (May 5) and with the Paul Edis Trio this Sunday afternoon (May 6) at Bondgate Methodist Church, Darlington - 2pm. Both gigs as part of the Darlington Jazz Festival.
The pair are also in church on May 17 at St. James' and St. Basil's in Fenham. 7:30pm. This is also Barnes with the Edis Trio. 

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