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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

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

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.

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.

Wednesday, June 04, 2014

CD Review: Matthew Halsall & the Gondwana Orchestra - When the World Was One

Matthew Halsall (trumpet), Nat Birchall (soprano saxophone), Lisa Mallett (flutes), Keiko Kitamura (koto), Rachael Gladwin (harp), Taz Modi (piano), Gavin Barras (double bass) & Luke Flowers (drums)
(Review by Russell).
The Gondwana Orchestra’s opening track, the eponymous When the World Was One more than hints at a Coltrane vibe – Nat Birchall’s soprano, Taz Modi’s piano (McCoy) and Luke Flowers’ drums (Elvin). Bandleader Halsall leaves it late, contributing fluent trumpet work to take it out. A Far Away Place (the Far East at a guess) evokes ethereal woodwind sounds (bansuri flute), Rachael Gladwin’s elegant harp riding on Flowers’ desultory rhythmic snare.
Trumpeter Matthew Halsall’s thoughtful solos are best illustrated on Falling Water – considered, conscious of Modi’s piano part to follow. Patterns hears an up beat Modi giving way to more of the measured Halsall. Flowers takes a few bars without losing the momentum with soprano and flute (Lisa Mallett) supplying the coda. Halsall’s interest in, and travels to Japan, demands the inclusion of ‘non-traditional’ jazz instruments (bansuri flute, Keiko Kitamura’s koto, harp) and they feature on Kiyomizu-Dera (a Buddhist temple in Japan).
Gladwin’s harp and Birchall’s soprano respond to Halsall’s growling trumpet work on Sagano Bamboo Forest, peace sought and found. On the closing track – Tribute to Alice Coltrane – bassist Gavin Barras suggests a groove, the excellent Flowers goes with it, Modi dreams awhile, flute awakens Halsall’s distant trumpet and harpist Gladwin has the final word.
When the World Was One is a beautifully conceived album, a million miles away from the Western jazz world’s historic predilection for the bravura performance. The work is available now in several formats on Gondwana Records.
Russell.

                

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