Total Pageviews

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, June 25, 2013

CD Review: Gwyneth Herbert:The Sea Cabinet

Gwyneth Herbert (vocals, piano, ukulele); Fiona Bevan (vocals, guitar, piano); Dave Price (percussion, strings, piano, programming, backing vocals); Al Cherry (guitar, backing vocals); Sam Burgess (bass, backing vocals); Harry Bird (guitar, clarinet, piano, strings, backing vocals); Christophe Capewell (fiddle, accordion, piano, melodica, backing vocals); Tom Allen (trumpets); Ollie Parfitt (Moog); Jack Carr, Alex Carr, Robert Harder (additional mob chorus); Will Mcvay (chain); Brian Herbert (gramophone operator)
(Review by Ann Alex)
This show was recently performed at the Sage (see Lance’s review), so it is interesting for me to compare the CD with the live performance. This is not a jazz CD, but rather a concept album, all about a woman collecting debris from the seashore which arouses memories from her life and experience.  The music has elements of folk, jazz, music hall, and pop.  It’s obvious from the musical instruments and effects listed above that the sounds are cleverly constructed, especially those portraying the sea, sounds of waves and underwater mystery.  The live performance had the added attraction of an effective light show with lots of blue and green.  The songs have a strong narrative element, exploring different aspects of the sea and seaside life. 
The Regal gives us the sound of an old-fashioned tea shop;  Alderney portrays the German invasion of the Channel Islands in WW2, jackboots and all, and a mournful cry of ‘Alderney, remember me’; there are the bells and echoes from the drowned village of Dunwich; a pirate song; a drunken song from a tavern; an exploration of the story of red-petticoated women frightening away soldiers; beautiful singing on the track about the Lorelei myth; The King’s Shilling, about soldiers and sailors being press-ganged.  Thirteen tracks in all. With the CD you are given lots of explanation of what the album is about, which was missing from the live show, which must surely have confused some of the audience.  But with the CD you don’t get the benefit of the light show, and some of the drama is missed, such as the voice of the woman herself, talking about the objects which stimulate her memories.  The general ‘feel’ of the piece is mostly light-hearted and sometimes funny, a portrayal of a lonely but optimistic woman.
Gwyneth Herbert wrote this work as part of an artistic residency with Aldeburgh Music, during a week spent living in a cottage in Suffolk, whilst nursing a broken heart, so the CD insert tells us, which seemed to fit with the mood of some of the songs.  An enjoyable and interesting piece of work.
Released on 15th July 2013 on Monkeywood Records (Monkeywood002) 
Ann Alex.

No comments :

Blog Archive