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Bebop Spoken There

Branford Marsalis: "As ignorance often forces us to do, you make a generalisation about a musician based on one specific record or one moment in time." - (Jazzwise June 2023).

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!"

Postage

15491 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 512 of them this year alone and, so far, 133 this month (May 31).

From This Moment On ...

Mon 05: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

Tue 06: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 06: Jam session @ Black Swan, Newcastle Arts Centre. 7:30pm. House trio: Stu Collingwood (piano); Paul Grainger (double bass); Sid White (drums).

Wed 07: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 07: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 07: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 7:00pm.
Wed 07: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 08: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free. CANCELLED! BACK ON JUNE 15.
Thu 08: Easington Colliery Brass Band @ The Lubetkin Theatre, Peterlee. 7:00pm. £10.00.
Thu 08: Faye MacCalman + Blue Dust Archive @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 08: Dilutey Juice + Ceramic @ The Ampitheatre, Sea Road, South Shields. 7:00pm. Free. A South Tyneside Festival event.
Thu 08: Lara Jones w. Vigilance State @ Lubber Fiend, Blandford Square, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 08: Michael Littlefield @ the Harbour View, Roker, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Country blues.
Thu 08: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 09: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 09: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 09: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 09: Castillo Nuevo @ Revolución de Cuba, Newcastle. 5:30-8:30pm.
Fri 09: Emma Rawicz @ Sage Gateshead. 8:00pm.

Sat 10: Front Porch Three @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. Americana, blues, jazz etc.
Sat 10: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

Sun 11: WORKSHOP: Tim Richards' Jazz Piano Workshop @ JG Windows, Newcastle. Time TBC. Further details tel. 0191 232 1356.
Sun 11: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:30pm. Free.
Sun 11: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 3:00pm.
Sun 11: Groovetrain @ Innisfree Sports & Social Club, Longbenton NE12 8TY. Doors 6:30pm. £15.00 (£7.00. under 16).
Sun 11: Jeffrey Hewer Collective @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 12: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

Sunday, April 28, 2013

Quercus: The Sage: Saturday April 27

June Tabor (vocals); Iain Ballamy (tenor sax); Huw Warren (piano)
(Review by Ann Alex).
This was an unusual and enjoyable concert with mixed influences of jazz and folk – I noticed some adherents of both traditions among the audience, and I'd love to see other people’s observations in the comments box below.  The two lower levels of Hall 2 were almost full, the band entered all dressed in black, and Ms Tabor struck up with the folk love song Brigg Fair, beautiful unaccompanied singing in a rich low voice.  It wasn't long before the jazz element entered, in the form of wonderful sax from Iain Ballamy, with his flowing melodies, including those breathy, throaty sounds that saxes do, and also well controlled high notes.  Of Huw Warren on the keys, I simply need to say that he played adventurously with great skill which matched the songs well.
I've been listening to these songs performed traditionally for ages, so it was strange to hear them done with jazz accompaniment, but it’s definitely something I could get used to. There was in fact a rich variety of songs and tunes, including a song about a poachers’ protest movement (very different from jazz themes!) How Insensitive, sung very sensitively and jazz-like (she should do a jazz album); the Shakespearian song Come, Come Away Death in an original arrangement; an exciting original tune Strawberries, with fragmented, staccato sax; and Dylan’s Don't Think Twice to round off the first half.
During the interval a jazz friend told me that she'd actually cried during the sad songs, so I reckon that’s the sign of a good performance.  The first few songs in the second half were well done, but there were a lot of dark songs together and it would have been good to have a jazz standard among them to lighten the atmosphere.  There was a Housman poem from the Shropshire Lad collection set to music and a song about a man shot in Belfast; but later came lighter material in the form of Les Barker (folk poet) words set to music; a lively tune from the musicians called Pig; a beautiful modern version of an old John Dowland tune from Huw called Tears, and Robert Burns Lassie Lie Near Me.  The well-deserved encore was a song with Les Barker Lyrics All I Ask Of You, a sort of love song mantra with superb accompaniment involving lots of tricky key changes, some of them in mid-phrase.  Clever stuff!
Ann Alex 

2 comments :

Anonymous said...

This was a concert full of colour - and that colour was black. From the black stage set, to the group members clothes to the darkness in Hall 2, to the songs of death, despair, disappointment and doom, all was black, Only the white keys on the piano stood out against the darkness.
But as a musical experience it was wonderful - such emotional death, passionate despair, epic disappointment and glorious doom.
June Tabor's unaccompanied opening song seared the darkness and had a timeless quality. It could have been an ageless woman singing to a few friends in the kitchen of a candle-lit cottage somewhere. Tabor was channelling tradition and the effect was stunning. Then the unfolding improvisations of the piano and saxophone adding a rich textural depth.
The selection of songs was diverse and challenging. Jobim's How Insensitive re-configured as a Bergman-like feeling of regret, Don't Think Twice It's Alright as a hopeless bitterness for mistakes made (and many others -see below).

If Beckett plays were ever turned into a musical this is probably what it would be like. No moment wasted or taken too seriously. Perfectly executed tunes, exquisitely chosen chords, notes and syllables, and spaces and silences eloquently located. Every repetition saying something different.
June Tabor told a story of a teenager going into a record shop and picking up a copy of her first album and asking the shop assistant what it was like. 'A bit dark and miserable' was the reply and the boy said with glee 'I'll have it'. The music is still dark but illuminated by flashes of humour, love and acceptance. I'll have it!
JC

PS - Thanks to the BSH reviewer for going through the songs from this gig as, for the first time I can remember at the Sage, the sound wasn't perfect. While I could mostly hear the singing quite well, it was difficult to hear June Tabor's introduction and explanation of the songs (and when you don't know them that's an important part of the whole experience). I kept having to whisper to my accompanist for clarification - 'Cheese-makers? Did she say she was going to sing a song about cheese-makers? 'Shussh, will you!'

Tyne Valley Jazz Man said...

I did wonder if the full black regalia were a contractual obligation with ECM!

The CD is worth a spin (many of the items from the Sage gig are on it). There is an interesting article on Quercus in the April issue of Jazzwise Magazine (http://jazzwisemagazine.com/feature-table-mainmenu-134/12675-quercus-floating-point)

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