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Bebop Spoken There

Ambrose Akinmusire: “ I am certainly always aware of what the masses are doing. And when I see too many people going one way, I'm going another way - even when I don't know what's over that way". DownBeat, March, 2024.

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!"

Simon Spillett: A lovely review from the dean of jazz bloggers, Lance Liddle...

Josh Weir: I love the writing on bebop spoken here... I think the work you are doing is amazing.

Postage

16287 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 16 years ago. 169 of them this year alone and, so far, 41 this month (Mar 18).

From This Moment On ...

March

Tue 19: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Michael Young, Paul Grainger, Tim Johnston.

Wed 20: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 20: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 20: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 21: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 21: Castillo Neuvo Trio + Conor Emery & His ‘Bones Band @ The Grove, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 7:30pm (7:00pm doors). £10.00. (£7.00. student).
Thu 21: Remi Banklyn + Chris Corcoran Trio @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.50. Chicago blues. An International Guitar Foundation promotion.
Thu 21: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Ragtime piano.
Thu 21: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm.

Fri 22: Vasilis Xenopoulos & Paul Edis @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. £8.00. SOLD OUT!
Fri 22: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 22: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 22: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 22: Nauta + Remy CB + Last Orders @ Hoochie Coochie, Newcastle. 8:30pm (7:30pm doors). Free.
Fri 22: Vasilis Xenopoulos-Paul Edis Quartet @ Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. £15.00. Opus 4 Jazz Club.
Fri 22: Redwell @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sat 23: Jambone @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 6:30pm. Free (ticketed). End of term performance in the Northern Rock Foundation Hall.
Sat 23: Milne-Glendinning Band @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 23: Red Kites Jazz @ Rowlands Gill Community Centre NE39 1JB. 7:00pm. Tickets: £12.00. (gibsidecommunityfarm@gmail.com). A ‘Build a Barn’ fundraiser. BYOB, tea/coffee available.
Sat 23: New Century Ragtime Orchestra @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £20.00. + bf (book in person at venue - no booking fee!). Featuring pianist Martin Litton.
Sat 23: Pete Tanton’s Cuba Libre @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 24: Musicians Unlimited @ Park Inn, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 24: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:30pm. Free.
Sun 24: Luis Verde @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm. Verde (alto sax); Joe Steels (guitar); John Pope (double bass); John Hirst (drums). Alto sax brilliance!
Sun 24: Elsie Franklin @ The Globe, Newcastle. 3:00pm. £10.00. Country blues. An International Guitar Foundation promotion.
Sun 24: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay Metro Station. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 24: Las Vegas Live with the Rat Pack @ The Forum, Billingham.
Sun 24: Ian Millar & Dominic Spencer @ Otterburn Memorial Hall. 7:30pm. £12.00.
Sun 24: Lindsay Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Note start time - 7:00pm.
Sun 24: Bold Big Band @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 25: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 25: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 6:30pm. Free.

Sunday, February 23, 2014

Latest Releases From Babel

Nick Smart's Trogon - Tower Casa. 
Dominic Lash Quartet Opabinia
Alexander Hawkins Ensemble Step Wide, Step Deep
Alexander Hawkins Song Singular
Raymond MacDonald & Marilyn Crispell Parallel Moments
(Reviews by Russell).
Nick Smart's Trogon - Tower Casa. 
Nick Smart (trumpet & flugel), Chris Montague (guitar), Kishon Khan (piano), Denny ‘Jimmy’ Martinez (electric bass), Dave Hamblett (drums) & Pete Eckford (percussion)
Tower Casa is the début release on the Babel Label of trumpeter Nick Smart’s Trogon. The CD’s publicity material suggests ‘Call it World Jazz, if you like’. Trogon, the band, is named after the national bird of Cuba and Smart has assembled a ‘Latin-infused’ sextet to help him ‘tell you tails of sunshine, passions and exotic journeys’. The first three tracks – Tower Casa, Kind Folk and Todi Or Not Todi – set off in the direction of Havana at a mid-tempo rate of knots. Smart’s ballad Candela (accredited ‘Traditional’) shines brightly, beautiful playing all round, more ‘jazz’ than overt Latin textures. Stan Sulzmann’s Round The Round It All and Everybody Else’s Song (comp. Kenny Wheeler/Nick Smart) reinforce the jazz credentials of the sextet; Chris Montague’s considered guitar playing is a joy (hearing him live confirms this), drummer Dave Hamblett and Pete Eckford (percussion) bag the Afro Cuban rhythms alongside the reassuring presence of  bassist Denny Martinez. Pianist Kishon Khan’s light, exuberant contribution is key to Tower Casa’s forward momentum. Smart – trumpet and flugel – gleefully hitches a ride aboard the musical clipper Trogon on it’s journey from cosmopolitan London to sub-tropical Cuba. Tower Casa is released on the Babel Label (CD and download), 2013 – BDV13129 on February 24.             
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Dominic Lash Quartet Opabinia
Dominic Lash (contrabass), Alexander Hawkins (piano), Ricardo Tejero (tenor saxophone & clarinet) & Javier Carmona (percussion)
Opabinia is the debut CD release as sole leader by Dominic Lash. The double bassist emerged from the influential Oxford school of improvisers, relocated to London then upped sticks for a while, throwing himself into the furnace of New York’s Downtown scene. He survived (positively thrived on) the experience, returned to London and set about recording Opabinia. The title of the CD and some of the tracks on it are named after creatures from the Middle Cambrian (in geology a period some zillion years ago). The music heard is of the present, at times digging down into the sub-strata of history (musical or geological). The musicians assembled by Lash are confrères and familiar names to those with an interest in the international improvised music scene. Pianist Alexander Hawkins is co-leader with Lash of the trans-Atlantic Convergence Quartet, Javier Carmona (percussion) has performed and recorded with Lash and Hawkins and Ricardo Tejero (sax/clarinet) has been on the London scene for a decade and more. Ten tracks offer great variety; the opening Isthmus delivers an improv statement – terse, introspective, the second two-part composition Waiting for Javier/Luzern surprises – a post bop Mingus workshop blowing affair supplanted by a wonderful full-on improv assault (Tejero’s angry tenor, Carmona’s responsive, argumentative percussion, Hawkins and Lash largely bystanders). Tone poems – including Hallucigenia and Wixwaxia – separate/link the compositions throughout. The all too brief Azalpho (Hawkin’s piano suggests a stroll in the park), Tejero’s tenor on Halt the Busterman evokes Roland Kirk’s loose, rhythmic feel and Double File returns to a contemporary classical mode. The album concludes with Piano Part Two/Catachretic, veering from bleak statements to contrasting swing sections. Opabinia is a first class statement of the current improv scene. Opabinia is available on the Babel Label (BDV13122) from February 24 in CD format and download. A recommended purchase and should gigs be announced make sure you get along to one of them.    
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Alexander Hawkins Ensemble Step Wide, Step Deep
Alexander Hawkins (piano), Dylan Bates (violin), Otto Fischer (guitar), Shabaka Hutchings (clarinet & bass clarinet), Neil Charles (double bass) & Tom Skinner (drums & percussion)
Pianist Alexander Hawkins has reshuffled his sextet eighteen months on from the release of the brilliant All There, Ever Out. The one survivor is guitarist Otto Fischer, the new recruits all familiar names on the contemporary jazz scene. Violinist Dylan Bates invites comparison with Leroy Jenkins and Ornette Coleman, Fischer’s sonic explorations place him left field and Shabaka Hutchings’ clarinet traverses any perceived jazz boundaries, moving effortlessly from improv to straight ahead settings. Bassist Neil Charles (Zed-U, Mingus Big Band) plays a major part on this album standing firm when all hell breaks loose on tempestuous freer sections (Step Wide, Step Deep – Space of Time Danced Thru and Listen/Glow) or with a light hand on the tiller navigating the calmer waters of the weary Township blues Advice. Percussionist Tom Skinner switches styles with casual facility – free, groove, swing – inviting Bates, Fischer and Hutchings to venture off in new directions. Mastermind Hawkins plays when he chooses, often content to let the ensemble develop a theme. When Hawkins plays, he plays! Seemingly with the history of jazz piano at his fingertips, the compositions on this new CD make exacting demands on the musicians and all demonstrate they are up to the mark. Art Ensemble, Braxton, Convergence Quartet…Alex Hawkins. If there is a finer pianist of his generation this reviewer wants to hear her/him! Step Wide, Step Deep is available from February 24 on the Babel Label on CD (BDV13124) and as a download.  
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Alexander Hawkins (piano)
Pianist Alexander Hawkins composes for quartet (co-leading Convergence Quartet) and his Ensemble sextet. Song Singular hears Hawkins explore his compositional ideas in a solo piano project documented on the Babel Label. Cecil Taylor, Anthony Braxton and Charles Ives are declared influences and Ellington and Tatum, as composers and pianists, are evidently of more than a passing interest. The ten tracks on the album develop from a compositional idea, none freely improvised. The opening piece – The Way We Dance It Here – references the percussive Taylor, Early Then, M.A. is a pastoral contrast, Take the A Train is respectful yet playful and Unknown Baobabs (Seen in the Distance) perhaps recalls an encounter with a new world as Hawkins splashes vivid colours onto a canvas prepared by Abdullah Ibrahim. The improvisations are rich in invention; dense, taut, sparse, all approached with dazzling technique. The CD’s publicity suggests Hawkins is the youthful heir to Taylor and Tatum. A bold claim, but on listening to Song Singular and having heard Hawkins in concert, there is validity to the argument. Is Alexander Hawkins the successor to Stan Tracey? On this evidence he could be. Song Singular is released on February 24 on Babel BDV13120.              
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Raymond MacDonald (alto & soprano saxophones) & Marilyn Crispell (piano)
Raymond MacDonald and Marilyn Crispell met for the first time in Gateshead at the now discontinued Jazz North East On the Outside festival. Their empathetic music making and personal chemistry set in place an enduring performance and recording relationship. Parallel Moments is a statement of their recent duet collaborations. Recorded in 2010, the CD reveals their improv conversations (the Atlantic a mere physical barrier) as highly developed, intuitive encounters. Scot MacDonald’s mastery of his instrument is clear, enabling him to explore the delicate, then in an instant, charge headlong into a circular breathing tempest, then spent, silenced. Crispell instinctively plays an apposite chord, a chord cluster, a single note into a listening silence (Longing and the title track Parallel Moments). The American’s avant credentials (Anthony Braxton) are to the fore on the title track and she is matched every step of the way by MacDonald (co-founder of the Glasgow Improvisers Orchestra). MacDonald’s sound – alto or soprano – is imbued with a blues feel (a rare commodity in the world of free jazz), perhaps more Chicago than Glasgow. Raymond MacDonald and Marilyn Crispell lead separate personal lives, perhaps parallel lives in their performance art and when they meet, in concert (their 2013 Newcastle performance was this reviewer’s gig of the year) or the recording studio something magical occurs. Parallel Moments is released on the Babel Label (BDV13125) on February 24.                                    
                       

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