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Bebop Spoken There

Art Blakey: "You [Bobby Watson] don't want to play too long, because you don't know they're clapping because they're glad you finished!" - (JazzTimes, Nov. 2019)..

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

15867 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 874 of them this year alone and, so far, 72 this month (Sept. 25).

From This Moment On ...

September

Mon 25: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Mon 25: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 7:00pm.

Tue 26: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.

Wed 27: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 27: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 27: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 28: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 28: Alice Grace Quartet @ King's Hall, Newcastle University. 1:15pm. Free.
Thu 28: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Gateshead Central Library, Gateshead. 2:30pm. All welcome.
Thu 28: Faye MacCalman + Snape/Sankey @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 28: Zoe Rahman @ Jesmond United Reformed Church, Jesmond, Newcastle. 7:30pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Thu 28: '58 Jazz Collective @ Hops & Cheese, Hartlepool. 7:30pm.
Thu 28: Speakeasy @ Queen's Hall, Hexham. 7:30pm. £15.00. A Southpaw Dance Company presentation. Dance, audio-visuals, Count Basie, Benny Goodman, swing dancers etc.
Thu 28: Mick Cantwell Band @ Harbour View, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Ace blues band.
Thu 28: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 29: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 29: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 29: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.

Sat 30: John Pope Quintet + Late Girl + Shapeshifters @ Bobik's, Jesmond, Newcastle.
Sat 30: Papa G's Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

OCTOBER

Sun 01: Smokin' Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm.
Sun 01: Dulcie May Moreno sings Portrait of Sheila @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £10.00. Moreno sings Sheila Jordan with Giles Strong, Mick Shoulder & John Bradford.
Sun 01: Middlesbrough Jazz & Blues Orchestra @ Saltburn Community Hall. 2:00pm.
Sun 01: The Easy Rollers @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £13.70., £11.55.
Sun 01: Brand/Roberts/Champion/Sanders @ Blank Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Sun 01: Papa G's Troves @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 02: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Mon 02: FILM: Wattstax; 50th Anniversary @ Forum Cinema, Hexham. 8:00pm.

Wednesday, May 08, 2013

CD Review : MYRIAD3 - TELL


(Review by Dave Brownlow)
Chris Donnelly (pno), Don Fortin (bass) and Ernesto Cervini (dms).
Donnelly is an acclaimed pianist/composer equally at home in jazz and classical music,
Fortin has a background of jazz and rock and Cervini, a graduate of the Manhattan School of Music plays in or leads several local ensembles. Fortin explains “with MYRIAD3, a lot of varied styles and approaches converge, and that makes for a very different music”. This is very true and the album by the recently formed Toronto based group is far from the usual piano/bass/drums trio in the jazz tradition It is more that bass and drums have equality with the piano and where each musician contributes as they “share ideas and craft each piece collectively”. There are frequent mood, tempo or style changes within each piece. Of the 11 tracks on the CD, the pianist contributes 4 originals, the bassist 3 the drummer 3 and there is 1 standard - Duke Ellington’s C Jam Blues.

Myriad has a jaunty almost “country” feel at the start and then goes through several mood changes which go in different directions. Fractured is an exploration of arpeggio figures which intertwine between bass and piano; slightly “Monkish” at times, it’s aptly named! For The Dreamers begins with a gentle “Satie”- like repeated phrase which develops in intensity with some clashing “Cecil Taylor”- like chords together with thrashing drums leading to a sudden conclusion.
C Jam Blues begins conventionally enough when suddenly after 45 seconds the tempo and chord sequence changes with the band speeding up and slowing down in a somewhat schizophrenic fashion. “Duke” would have been an interested listener to hear his song dissected like this…….Disturbing Inspiration is in two parts. In the first there are two contrasting themes – one peaceful, the other more aggressive- which the trio switch between several times. Part 2 begins with a bass vamp which quickly becomes more complex as drums and piano enter. The drummer shines on this one.
Tell uses a simple 12-bar blues chord structure but is unlike any blues I've ever heard. Drifters begins with an almost “Debussyian” repeated chordal motif with some lovely piano developments. Be Still And Yet opens with a bass/piano vamp which continues throughout with some tempo changes; meanwhile the drums scuttle and thrash around in the background in a frantic chase. Mr Awkward is a slightly more conventional blues which features a pleasant piano solo. The trio have fun at the end seemingly unable to finish the piece. An awkward chord won’t resolve……..
Donnelly introduces huge disturbing “Tyner”- like chords in his solo as it builds, fades and builds - again with thundering drums accompaniment.
Lament/PEX starts in a stately fashion using a repeating minor “ground bass” figure which builds in intensity concluding in a joyous “J.S.Bachian” – like cadenza with the band at full throttle.
Despite my early misgivings, I’ve grown to like many parts of this music through repeated listening. I suggest it may appeal to the jazz listener who also has some interest in various genres of classical music.
David Brownlow.
The CD MYRIAD3 – TELL was released in November 2012 on Alma Records LC 13990.

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