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Bebop Spoken There

Kelly Sill: "Just because everyone is playing through the changes in the same time doesn't mean they're actually playing together" - (JazzTimes March/April 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

15260 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 279 of them this year alone and, so far, 92 this month (March 29).

From This Moment On ...

April

Sun 02: Smokin' Spitfires @ The Cluny. 12:45pm.
Sun 02: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 3:00pm.

Mon 03: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

Tue 04: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 04: Jam session @ Black Swan, Newcastle Arts Centre. 7:30pm. House trio: Bradley Johnston (guitar); Paul Grainger (double bass); Abbie Finn (drums).

Wed 05: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 05: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 05: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 7:00pm.
Wed 05: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 06: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 06: Thursday Night Prayer Meeting @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Donations. Feat. John Pope, Marie Shreer, John Garner.
Thu 06: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibtion Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Ragtime piano. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.
Thu 06: Darlington Big Band @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm. Note earlier start time.

Fri 07: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 07: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 07: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 07: Gaz Hughes Trio @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm.
Fri 07: Mark Toomey Quartet @ Traveller's Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. £8.00.
Fri 07: Finntet + Zoë Gilby & Andy Champion @ Bobik's, Punch Bowl, Newcastle. 8:00pm. JNE.
Fri 07: TBA @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig. Blind Pig Blues Club.

Sat 08: Me Lost Me + Ceitidh Mac + Heather Ferrier @ Bobik's, Punch Bowl, Newcastle. 7:30pm. JNE.
Sat 08: Joseph Carville Trio @ The Vault, Darlington Covered Market, Darlington DL1 5PN. 6:00pm. New venue, live jazz!
Sat 08: Rendezvous Jazz @ Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00. RESCHEDULED from last week (Sat 01).
Sat 08: Robbie Reay @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Acoustic blues. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.
Sat 08: Anth Purdy @ Mr Tighe's, Bebside, Northumberland. 8:30pm.

Saturday, August 09, 2014

CD Review: Grand Fatilla - Global Shuffle

Roberto Cassan (accordion); Matt Glover (electric mandolin); Fabio Pirozzolo (percussion, voice); Mike Rivard (double bass, sintir); also Claudio Ragazzi (acoustic and 12 string guitars, cuatro puertorriqueno); Christian Cassan (additional percussion)
(Review by Ann Alex).
Lance said ‘You’ll love this CD’ and he certainly wasn’t wrong, though I still don’t know what a ‘cuatro puertorrqueno’ is.  It sounds like a Spanish medicine.  The sintir is apparently a 3-stringed bass lute, so think Medieval for that one.  Anyway this is a humdinger of great listening, a whirl of world sounds, encompassing Bulgarian dance song, Moroccan chaabi grooves, Italian folk ballads and slinky tango rhythms.  Not jazz as such, but some tracks have what sound like improvised solos, so why worry about classifying it, the music is superb.
It begins with a lively Cigansko Oro, a Balkan dance tune with percussion, rousing accordion, shifting time signatures, ending with accordion playing in 7/8 time, then comes Five Of Swords, featuring the sintir.  Alla Carpinese  starts with a bass solo, followed by mandolin and a traditional song with  Castanets.  Bebe features a melody with descending riffs and (I think) improvised solos from the band; Sandansko Oro, a Bulgarian dance, gradually builds tension and speed; Milonga Para Lucia is a sort of slow tango where chimes of music are overlaid by an accordion tune, with whistling to round off the track.  Fracanapa is another tango, this time with a ‘dragging’ effect in the music.  (A fracanapa is a Venetian mask.)  My favourite track 11 Southern Italian Medley is a combination of 2 songs, a haunting shepherd’s song sung over a drone, and a fast song which is meant to cure the listener of the effects of a bite from the tarantella spider.  I’m not sure if the cure worked but the music does, with effective percussion. 12 tracks in all, many lasting more than 7 minutes, providing good value.
Although Grand Fatilla have been performing for over 6 years, this is their debut album, which was recorded live in an old church which is now used as a studio.  You can see the band at the CD release party on September 4 but you will have to go to Cambridge MA, USA. See also www.grandfatilla.com 
Ann Alex.

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