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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.

Monday, June 23, 2014

British Sea Power, BBC Big Band and Jo Hamilton get brassy in the North East

(More info.)
If you've ever watched the Mardi Gras marching bands in Tremé or Live And Let Die and idly wished something similar existed closer to home, then wish no more, because it was right here under your nose the whole time.
This summer Durham will bring a series of shows to venues across the historic city – Brass: Durham International Festival. Running between 12th and 20th July, Brass will play host to an unexpected mix of acts like British Sea Power performing with a brass band and Jo Hamilton performing with Lanterns on the Lake and a brass ensemble and  the BBC Big Band.
It may never have been considered especially cool (indeed, the day it is will probably be its death-knell), but the brass band is a deeply-rooted and profoundly British tradition - specifically a Northern, English working class one - as typified in the popular imagination by colliery ensembles such as the famous Brighouse & Rastrick Brass Band, or fictional counterparts like the Grimley Colliery Band in the much-loved 1996 film Brassed Off. Brass: Durham International Festival, held in a city with a centuries-old history of mining and miners' galas, is a joyous celebration of that culture. But it's also much, much more.
Because if you're just picturing old-fashioned military bands parping through some old Sousa numbers, or the Sally Army playing Christmas carols, you're way wide of the mark. Now in its eighth year, Brass welcomes exciting artists from dozens of other nations, and goes out of its way to embrace experimentalism and unlikely collaboration.
Heading 2014's eclectic lip-puckering, horn-polishing line-up are indie rock legends British Sea Power, who will be giving the world premiere of their Sea Of Brass show at Gala Theatre, a purpose-built venue on the banks of the Wear, on Thursday 17th July. The Cumbrian-reared, Brighton-based band are something of a unique national treasure, and have become known for their unusual concert locations (from the Sealand fortresses to the Natural History Museum), their inspired collaborations (from The London Bulgarian Choir to The Wurzels) and their off-kilter projects (re-scoring the 1934 film Man Of Aran to recording a soundtrack for a documentary about Britain's coastlines), and Sea Of Brass follows in that singular lineage. With the NASUWT Riverside Band, and the help of arranger Peter Wraight (Matthew Herbert Big Band), BSP will perform favourite selections from their back catalogue reinvented for brass. This event has been co-commissioned by BRASS in partnership with the Quad in Derby, Barbican London, and De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill, with grateful support from the Arts Council England, PRS for Music Foundation and New Music Plus.UK.
If you've ever gazed at the spectacular Norman architecture of Durham Cathedral from the window of the East Coast Mainline and wondered what it's like inside, then Fractal Sparks is probably the most thrilling way you could possibly find out. The cathedral - part of a World Heritage Site (along with the nearby Castle) and a prime location in the 1998 film Elizabeth - will play host to an innovative new commission from Brass. This stunning live music and multimedia event, on Friday 18th July, will showcase ground-breaking visual effects accompanied by specially-arranged songs from Jo Hamilton with musicians from the Corps of Army Music. Set to live performances of Jo's forthcoming second album 'Fractals', the show will feature 'force of nature' full-height visual effects that explore the theme of perspective; that our lives continually repeat the same patterns in different contexts and on different scales. Hamilton, a product of the Birmingham Conservatoire (which has also given us Laura Mvula, Rhydian Roberts and Jim Moray in recent years), released her acclaimed debutGown in 2009, which earned comparisons to the likes of Bjork and Sigur Ros, and has become renowned as the first artist in the world to use an Airpiano (a non-contact instrument which has often been compared, albeit inaccurately, to a theremin). Also performing at Fractal Sparks will be Lanterns On The Lake, the Newcastle-based, Bella Union-signed indie band whose most recent album Until The Colours Run was hailed as "one of the best records of the young decade" by Drowned In Sound, and who will be performing with the Durham County Youth Big Band.
The BBC Big Band have played with 'em all, from Van Morrison to Tony Bennett to Ray Charles, and are best known for appearances on BBC Radio’s Big Band Special and Jazz Line Up. At the Gala Theatre on Friday 18th July, the internationally-acclaimed band and conductor Barry Forgie will celebrate the music of the great swing bands including Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Glenn Miller and Benny Goodman.
The rest of the festival programme features some familiar names, such as reigning National Champions Of Great Britain, the legendary Brighouse & Rastrick Brass Band, known affectionately as 'Briggus', who made it onto Top Of The Pops in 1977 with their No.2 hit "The Floral Dance" (which was only held off the top by Wings' "Mull Of Kintyre"), as well as The Stars From The Commitments, John Kefala-Kerr, Jon Faddis with The Andy Champion Quintet, two fascinating art/film installations Cycles Of Brass and Hjem (Hyem), and an interactive exhibit called Connections. There will also be a number of Streets Of Brass free events which will bring the atmospheric narrow terraces and alleys of this historic city bursting into jubilant life.
For further information, visit www.brassfestival.co.uk

1 comment :

Lance said...

Hope you didn't miss the preview of the highlight of the festival (in our eyes) that of the gig by American trumpet player Jon Faddis with the Andy Champion Quintet (July 15). This was squeezed in at the bottom when, in truth, it should have been headlines. Then on July 18 the BBC Big Band play at Gala Theatre. On the same day King Bee are down the road at Barnard Castle. July 18 is also the opening night for the Jazz Co-operative's jazz pub - the Globe in Newcastle with the Strictly Smokin' Big Band and the Americana Festival at Sage Gateshead also kicks off that night!

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