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Bebop Spoken There

Kelly Sill: "Just because everyone is playing through the changes in the same time doesn't mean they're actually playing together" - (JazzTimes March/April 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

15260 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 279 of them this year alone and, so far, 92 this month (March 29).

From This Moment On ...

April

Sun 02: Smokin' Spitfires @ The Cluny. 12:45pm.
Sun 02: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 3:00pm.

Mon 03: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

Tue 04: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 04: Jam session @ Black Swan, Newcastle Arts Centre. 7:30pm. House trio: Bradley Johnston (guitar); Paul Grainger (double bass); Abbie Finn (drums).

Wed 05: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 05: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 05: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 7:00pm.
Wed 05: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 06: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 06: Thursday Night Prayer Meeting @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Donations. Feat. John Pope, Marie Shreer, John Garner.
Thu 06: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibtion Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Ragtime piano. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.
Thu 06: Darlington Big Band @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm. Note earlier start time.

Fri 07: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 07: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 07: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 07: Gaz Hughes Trio @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm.
Fri 07: Mark Toomey Quartet @ Traveller's Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. £8.00.
Fri 07: Finntet + Zoë Gilby & Andy Champion @ Bobik's, Punch Bowl, Newcastle. 8:00pm. JNE.
Fri 07: TBA @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig. Blind Pig Blues Club.

Sat 08: Me Lost Me + Ceitidh Mac + Heather Ferrier @ Bobik's, Punch Bowl, Newcastle. 7:30pm. JNE.
Sat 08: Joseph Carville Trio @ The Vault, Darlington Covered Market, Darlington DL1 5PN. 6:00pm. New venue, live jazz!
Sat 08: Rendezvous Jazz @ Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00. RESCHEDULED from last week (Sat 01).
Sat 08: Robbie Reay @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Acoustic blues. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.
Sat 08: Anth Purdy @ Mr Tighe's, Bebside, Northumberland. 8:30pm.

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

CD Review: Ira Wiggins - When Freedom Swings.

Ira Wiggins (ten/fl); Cyrus Chestnut (pno - 8 tracks); Ed Paulantonio (pno - 4 tracks); Baron Tymas (gtr 4 tracks); Joe Metzger (vbs/mar - 4 tracks); Alvester Garnett (dms - 7 tracks); Thomas Taylor (dms - 5 tracks); Herman Burney (bs); Mavis "Swan" Poole (vcl - 2 tracks).
(Review by Lance).
Ira Wiggins, Director of Jazz Studies at North Carolina Central University, has shared the stage with such luminaries as Jimmy Heath, Grady Tate, Fred Wesley, Louis Bellson, Nneenna Freelon and Branford Marsalis but, after 15 albums as soloist and sideman, this is his first outing on record as leader and he seizes the moment with both hands in the course of this most delightful double CD.
The first disc comprises mainly originals by Wiggins and displays his warm tenor sound.inspired, he claims, by Jimmy Heath as well as his Moody-like fluting. The two non-originals are the Stylistics' People Make the World Go Round and Joe Henderson's Inner Urge - the latter features Mavis "Swan" Poole doing a nifty vocalese. Mavis is also heard on the bluesy title track When Freedom Swings.. 
Disc 2 has Killer Joe, In a Sentimental Mood, Bloomdido, Cherokee, Christmastime is Here and Gene Ammons' Red Top. On all but the last number, Wiggins plays flute in a quartet setting where the influence of James Moody is ever present although he also acknowledges Hubert Laws along the way. which isn't a bad place to be. On Red Top  he displays a gutsy feel reminiscent of the composer.
Other moments to savour are Chestnut's piano work. In 2005 Time Magazine described him as "The best jazz pianist of his generation" - an accolade that still holds true.
In an age when so much contemporary jazz comes across as Anti-swing a disc like this restores my faith in the music. 
To quote from the booklet notes: "When Freedom Swings represents a philosophy asserting that jazz is a musical art form that perfectly describes the ideals of democracy. Many authorities agree that freedom is best expressed and realized within boundaries. Therefore, it may be noted that within the framework of a jazz piece, (melody, harmony and form), freedom is realized in the collective creative improvisational process of a group of musicians simultaneously contributing to the composition within the boundaries, or occasionally, expanding or stepping outside of a domain."
Ira Wiggins - When Freedom Swings was released on May 28 on IWIGGS Music, inc.
Lance.

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