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Bebop Spoken There

Simon Spillett: “ Bebop and hard bop came naturally to him [Tubby Hayes]". Morning Star, March 28, 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

Fri 29: FILM: Soul @ The Forum Cinema, Hexham. 12:30pm. Jazz-themed film animation.
Fri 29: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 29: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 29: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 29: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 6:00pm. Free. POSTPONED!
Fri 29: Thundercat @ Newcastle City Hall.
Fri 29: John Logan @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Fri 29: True Colours @ Barrels Ale House, Berwick. 9:00pm. Blues, jazz & swing.

Sat 30: Papa G’s Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sat 30: Pete Tanton’s Cuba Libre @ Whitley Bay Library, York Road, Whitley Bay. 8:00pm.

Sun 31: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay Metro Station. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 31: Ruth Lambert Trio @ Juke Shed, Union Quay, North Shields NE30 1HJ. 3:00pm. Free. Lambert, Alan Law & Paul Grainger.
Sun 31: Sid Jacobs & Tom Remon @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. USA/London jazz guitar duo.
Sun 31: Bellavana @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

April
Mon 01: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 01: Ray Stubbs R&B All Stars @ Billy Bootlegger’s, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 3:00pm. Free.

Tue 02: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Dean Stockdale, Paul Grainger, Abbie Finn.

Wed 03: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 03: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 03: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 04: FILM: Soul @ Forum Cinema, Hexham. 2:00pm. Jazz-themed film animation.
Thu 04: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 04: Funky Drummer @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Thu 04: Eva Fox & the Jazz Guys @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 04: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm.

Friday, August 22, 2014

CD Review: Blue-Eyed Hawk – Under the Moon

Lauren Kinsella (voice), Alex Roth (guitar, effects, synth, voice), Laura Jurd (trumpet, synth, voice), Corrie Dick (drums, percussion, harmonium, piano, voice).
(Review by Hugh Cochrane)
Blue-Eyed Hawk are a London-based band who take their name from a line in a W.B. Yeats poem Under the Moon. This their debut album, titled after the same poem.
The album is a record sellers nightmare, as it defies classification by genre. While there are certainly elements of jazz in what is offered, it would probably not be out of place any of the conventional categories.
Writing is shared between all four musicians, each contributing in more or less equal measure across the album. Kinsella and Jurd also wrote some of the lyrics with acknowledgements of inspiration to W.B. Yeats, Seamus Heaney, and Armand Silvestre.
In the studio, the electronic artistry of Leafcutter John and production skills of Tom Herbert  enhanced the spectrum of sounds that were recorded over 4 days in April in Giant Wafer Studios – deep in the heart of the mid Wales countryside.
The first track Oyster Trails commences with electronic effects worthy of the BBC Radiophonic workshop and Dr Who. The melody, provided by Kinsella's vocals and Jurd's trumpet gradually develops.
Somewhere is way, way Over the Rainbow, man, as you have never heard it before and is punctuated with a heavy guitar riff that would not be out of place on my metal-loving, teenage daughter's ipod. This track then segues through a recording of birdsong (Bluebirds – geddit?) into the balladic Aurora Sam, stripped down to acoustic basics.
Spiderton is an upbeat number with a jaunty, rhythmic feel driven by the percussive input of Corrie Dick. O Do Not Love Too Long slows things down again with long, haunting chords underneath , supported by almost skeletal percussion and overlain with beautiful drawn out trumpet from Jurd.
The minimalist Reflections in the Spiral keeps things in a contemplative groove before things (perhaps predictably) hot up for Living in the Fast Lane.
Intro (For Fathers) puts us back in a more reflective mood before the rhythmic and beautiful For Tom and Everything. Try to Turn Back is primarily basic vocals and piano, where the purity of Kinsella's vocal line is perhaps best appreciated. Valediction does what it says on the tin and closes the show.
All in all then, this is not jazz, but certainly has something of interest for the die hard jazzer. This is perhaps likely to appeal to a much wider audience than the customary jazz crowd. It is, as the record company website has it, “a genre defying and boundless approach to music making”.
There is a prominent quote at the head of the record company publicity:
So brilliant. Everyone in the room was spellbound – BBC Radio 3. I would wager a fiver this would be Jez on 3 (Jazz on 3 – hosted by Jez Nelson), this album is seriously melodic compared with some of the usual fare.
Under the Moon is released by Edition Records on September 15. Catalogue No. EDN1054
Blue-Eyed Hawk will be on tour in the Autumn of 2014 and play Splinter at The Bridge, Newcastle upon Tyne on October 5.
Hugh C.

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