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Bebop Spoken There

Branford Marsalis: "As ignorance often forces us to do, you make a generalisation about a musician based on one specific record or one moment in time." - (Jazzwise June 2023).

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

15491 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 512 of them this year alone and, so far, 133 this month (May 31).

From This Moment On ...

June

Sat 03: Newcastle Record Fair @ Northumbria University, Newcastle NE8 8SB. 10:00am-3:00pm. Admission: £2.00.
Sat 03: Pedigree Jazz Band @ St Augustine's Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm.
Sat 03: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. Tutor: Sue Ferris. £25.00. Enrol at: www.jazz.coop.
Sat 03: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 6:00pm. Free.
Sat 03: Rendezvous Jazz @ Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.
Sat 03: Papa G's Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

Sun 04: Smokin' Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm.
Sun 04: Central Bar Quintet @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00-4:00pm. £5.00. The Central Bar Quintet plays Sonny Rollins' Saxophone Colossus. Featuring Lewis Watson.
Sun 04: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 3:00pm.
Sun 04: Struggle Buggy + Michael Littlefield @ Tyne Bar, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. Acoustic blues.
Sun 04: Swinging at the Cotton Club: Harry Strutters' Hot Rhythm Orchestra @ The Fire Station, Sunderland. 7:30pm.
Sun 04: Richard Jones Trio @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Sun 04: Jam No. 18 @ Fabio's Bar, Saddler Street, Durham. 8:00pm. Free. All welcome. A Durham University Jazz Society event.

Mon 05: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

Tue 06: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 06: Jam session @ Black Swan, Newcastle Arts Centre. 7:30pm. House trio: Stu Collingwood (piano); Paul Grainger (double bass); Sid White (drums).

Wed 07: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 07: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 07: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 7:00pm.
Wed 07: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 08: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free. CANCELLED! BACK ON JUNE 15.
Thu 08: Easington Colliery Brass Band @ The Lubetkin Theatre, Peterlee. 7:00pm. £10.00.
Thu 08: Faye MacCalman + Blue Dust Archive @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 08: Dilutey Juice + Ceramic @ The Ampitheatre, Sea Road, South Shields. 7:00pm. Free. A South Tyneside Festival event.
Thu 08: Lara Jones w. Vigilance State @ Lubber Fiend, Blandford Square, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 08: Michael Littlefield @ the Harbour View, Roker, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Country blues.
Thu 08: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 09: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 09: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 09: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 09: Castillo Nuevo @ Revolución de Cuba, Newcastle. 5:30-8:30pm.
Fri 09: Emma Rawicz @ Sage Gateshead. 8:00pm.

Tuesday, April 08, 2014

GIJF Day Three: The Waal; Hannabiell & Midnight Blue

The Waal: Ian Stephenson (guitar, melodeon); Andy May (keyboard, Uilean pipes); Sophie Ball (Fiddle); Kyran Matthews (saxes); Martin ? (drums).
(Review by Ann Alex).
The band member I spoke to wasn’t sure of the drummer’s surname, so I’ll excuse myself not knowing, such is the world of folkies, it’s the music that matters, as in jazz.  This was hugely enjoyed by the audience and myself, but I wouldn’t know whether it was jazz or folk, so it was an effective lesson in deciding whether labels mean anything. 
Some numbers came out (to me at least) as folk, such as the reels, composed by Stephenson, with Uilean (Irish) pipes, good drumming, complimented by soprano sax, which turned jazzy only at the end of the piece.  In others, the jazzy sax solos were well integrated into the piece, such as the opening number, with its folky riff overlaid by sax.  Most of the music was original, based on the idea of Hadrian’s Wall, the ‘Waal’ of the title;  the first item was called Knock It Down.
The band continued with such numbers as May’s London In July and The Road To Coburns. A Scandanavian based tune had the guitar leading, musical trembles from the rest of the band and a sensuous-sounding sax. May’s tune 541 included a haunting soprano sax, and the set was rounded off with a delightful French tune in 7/8 time.
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HannaBiell & Midnight Blue
Hannabiell Sanders (bass trombone, mbira, percussion, voice); Yilis Del Carmen Suriel (percussion, mbira); Katy Trigger (bass); Mark Barfoot (African percussion); Matthew Ross (drum, congas); Mick Wright (guitar); Paul Ruddick (sax, flute, voice)
The musicians enter one by one and play bits and pieces casually, which builds the tension. The odd drum beat here and there, a few shouts.  At the right moment the music breaks out, led by the extravert Hannabiell, and you just have to go with her flow, it’s irresistible.  The band’s music is described as Afro-Caribbean and Latin percussion, jazz, Afro-beat, funk and reggae, all blended together, and the mix of instruments listed above gives a big clue.  And more than all this is the forceful personality of Hannbiell with her ‘child’ Tyler the bass trombone, as she urges us to ‘Free yourself to my reason.’
 Much singing of insistent riffs and clapping, a few of the audience are dancing at the side, and it may have been a good idea for the front half of the hall to be cleared of chairs.  Out come the mbiras, which look like large round frying pans.  These are held on the knees and there are keys inside which produce a lovely round type of tone, very Caribbean.  The NRFH has now turned into a nightclub with light moving round the walls. 
Hannabiell sings a Caribbean song which is dedicated to community activism, sax and drums cut across the mbiras, the whole band plays, then Katy has a bass solo, followed by solos on flute, then guitar, fair shares demonstrates the community spirit.  Hannabiell actually dances with Tyler, then comes a chant and a train rhythm and a final song.
The audience naturally demand an encore, and Hannabiell comes off the stage to the front row, dances with one or two people (I was one), then the whole band comes off stage and leads us all out, downstairs, to play rhythms on the concourse.  A fitting end to the festival!
Ann Alex

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