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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 01, 2015

CD Review: Beats and Pieces Big Band - All In

(Review by Russell)
Alright! exclaims Ben Cottrell. The Beats and Pieces Big Band explodes into action from the downbeat. Seven tracks, massive energy, no messing around. The first cut rocky (it is all lower case as far as the song titles go) hits the listener straight between the eyes (ears) – you will listen! A glorious noise; full on, hip, knowingly retro kitsch, these Manchester-schooled musicians know how to entertain.
Director Ben Cottrell is a dance floor demon, never still, conducting (encouraging a band of thirteen friends), clapping, dancing, stamping. And what a band! Quincy Jones’ 1980s pop world success, Radiohead, Loose Tubes’ irreverence, conventional big band sections - all deconstructed and lovingly reassembled as Beats and Pieces’ signature sound.
 A raft of soloists step up; Nick Walters (trumpet) on pop, Patrick Hurley’s Fender Rhodes (rain) and on hendo the brilliant takes-no-prisoners Sam Healey (soprano saxophone). The other side of Beats and Pieces (there is more than one dimension to the band) is in evidence on the final track. fairytale is a straight reading (if there is such  a thing) and a feature for the sensitive trumpet playing of Graham South.
The one cover on All In is David Bowie’s Let’s Dance, a ‘jazz’ cover (not one for Bowie diehards?) intent on disguise. Languid, loose, tight – in performance audiences are asked to ‘name that tune’. The band can turn its hand to anything such is the musicianship. The lynchpin is drummer Finlay Panter (a big band drummer for the twenty first century), the sections respond to Cottrell’s promptings and the soloists are top drawer.
All In is the band’s second album on Efpi. It is good as the first (Big Ideas from 2012). A third CD would be nice and a ‘live’ recording would capture something of the band’s all- consuming, visceral performance. All In by Beats and Pieces Big Band (Efpi FP022) is released on Monday 8 June. Two gigs follow in July at the Soup Kitchen, Manchester on Tuesday 7th and at Ronnie Scott’s, London on July 8th.
Beats and Pieces Big Band: Ben Cottrell (director), Anthony Brown, Sam Healey, Ben Watte (saxophones), Owen Bryce, Graham South, Nick Walters (trumpets), Ed Horsey, Simon Lodge, Rich McVeigh (trombones), Anton Hunter (guitar), Patrick Hurley (piano & Fender Rhodes), Harrison Wood (bass) & Finlay Panter (drums)
Highly recommended.     
Russell.  

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