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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

15848 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 855 of them this year alone and, so far, 53 this month (Sept. 18).

From This Moment On ...

September

Thu 21: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 21: La Malbec Orchestra @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Thu 21: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Ragtime piano. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.
Thu 21: Linsday Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ Harbour View, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 21: Ray Stubbs R & B All Stars @ The Schooner, Gateshead. 8:30pm. Free.
Thu 21: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 22: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 22: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 22: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 22: Brief Encounter @ Bardon Mill Village Hall, Northumberland. 7:00pm. Tickets: £10.00. adv from 07885 303166; £12.00. on the door. Chris & Veronica Perrin improvising to a screening of the 1929 'Jazz Age' silent film Piccadilly (Dir. Ewald André Dupont).
Fri 22: Paul Edis & Graeme Wilson + Three Tsuru Origami @ Jesmond United Reformed Church, Newcastle. 7:30pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Fri 22: Crooners @ Tyne Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm.
Fri 22: Abbie Finn's Finntet @ Traveller's Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. Opus 4 Jazz Club.

Sat 23: Tyne Valley Big Band @ Tanfield Railway, Gateshead. 2:00-4:00pm. Free. A '1940s Weekend' event.
Sat 23: Jason Isaacs @ Stack, Seaburn. 3:30-5:30pm. Free.
Sat 23: Andrew Porritt & Keith Barrett @ Cullercoats Watch House, Front St., Cullercoats NE30 4QB. 7:00pm.
Sat 23: Michael Woods @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig. Country blues.

Sun 24: Musicians Unlimited @ Park Inn, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 24: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.

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.

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

CD Review: Pat Metheny – Tap: John Zorn’s Book of Angels Vol 20

Pat Metheny (guitars, sitar, tiples, bass, keyboards, orchestrionics, electronics, bandoneon, perussion, flugelhorn), Antonio Sanchez (drums, percussion)
(Review by Les)
Back in the nineties, John Zorn wrote 500 tunes inspired by traditional Jewish music.  This became known as Book One of the two volume work that became known as The Masada BookBook Two consisted of 300 tunes and was written in three months.
Over the past eight years, the tunes from Book Two have been recorded as volumes of The Book of Angels by a number of world-class musicians.  Volume 20 is a selection of six pieces recorded by Pat Metheny, assisted by his oft percussionist Antonio Sanchez.
Metheny’s interpretation of the pieces chosen culminates in a very varied and rich body of work, although generally there’s a strong, Middle Eastern “common denominator” running throughout the album.
It’s hard to believe that Tap was recorded by one artist, such is the diversity of the individual pieces, both in terms of composition and instruments/soundscapes used; from the sitar-dominated opener of Mastema, to the obviously “acoustic-Metheny” of Albim, concluding with a piano/drum chaotic cacophony Hurmiz.  In between there’s wild, abstract, heavily-distorted guitar soloing, complex and very precise rhythms and melodies, spiced with sounds and scrapings of…who knows what.
Despite the diversity of the pieces, as a body of work it all hangs together remarkably well.  It’s not background music; it has to be listened to, and it’s far too complex to be able to take it all in in one listen.  I’ve been through it a number of times now and it continues to reveal itself further with each play.
Whilst there are times it’s obvious who the main protagonist is, this isn’t your average, run-of-the-mill Pat Metheny album.  That said, the playing oozes his class and quality from start to finish.
I like this album on a number of levels; from the standpoint of a (one time) guitarist, from the standpoint of being a fan of creative jazz and from the standpoint of occasionally wanting something very different to listen to, to clear and refresh a sometimes tired listening palette.
Invest some time with it at the outset and you’ll enjoy return visits forevermore.
Pat Methrny: Tap released May 21, 2013.
Les.

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