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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

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.

Tue 03: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 03: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. House trio: Michael Young (piano); Paul Grainger (double bass); Paul Wight (drums).

Wed 04: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 04: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 04: Paul Skerritt @ Vespa Italian Bar & Steakhouse, Primrose Hill, Jarrow. From 7:00pm. To book a table - 0191 483 3355.
Wed 04: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thursday, September 26, 2013

CD Review: Blue Touch Paper - Drawing Breath.

Colin Towns (keys); Chris Montague (gtrs); Edward Maclean (bs); Benny Greb (dms); Stephan Maass (perc/electronics); Mark Lockheart (ten/sop).
(Review by Lance).
I'm not certain if this is a giant piss* take or the greatest jazz record of the past 12 months! Upon reflection probably somewhere in between.
All the compositions are by Towns. As the blurb says, "His CV is a staggering list of achievements including the soundtrack for the tv series Doc Martin. The good doctor isn't represented on these tracks - at least for the sake of his patients I hope he isn't!
This is one of those records you can love or hate in equal measures although, I'm pleased to say I go along mainly with the former sentiment. There is the occasional "pet shop moment" but not enough to mar an otherwise compelling disc. In many ways it reminds me of the kick I got when I first heard Westbrook's Release or some of Mingus' more outré outings. It has the same cheeky disrespect for authority whilst maintaining the essential sound of surprise. The genres intermingle in a quirky and yet effective sort of way with the soloists going with the flow and sometimes off on a tangent but always coming back to port although not necessarily the harbour they set off from. 
The soloists are brilliantly infused in this magnificent madness. The charts make Kenton's City of Glass seem like Moonlight Serenade. Fair is Foul, from Macbeth (W. Shakespeare) has an ethereal witches choir sharing the blasted heath with Lockheart's soprano - oh brave heart!
Watch Out begin's with a Cream-like riff booted along by Greb's drums. The title track is a plaintive, compulsive wail that has Gateshead lad Montague taking a rocky road to, seemingly, Armageddon and maybe jumping a few traffic lights on the way before cooling off and going for a pizza - it's what you do in Gateshead.
Could this be my "Road to Damascus?" Well I sure ain't going to Damascus tomorrow but. metaphorically speaking let's say I'm but a slingshot away.
It took two years in the making and more than 60 demo tracks but for this listener it was well worth the hubble, bubble, toil and trouble.
*Giant piss take? After several listenings, definitely not - love it.
The Cd  Blue Touch Paper - Drawing Breath. will be released on Oct. 14 on Provocateur Records
Lance.
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