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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

Fri 22: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 22: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 22: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 22: Brief Encounter @ Bardon Mill Village Hall, Northumberland. 7:00pm. Tickets: £10.00. adv from 07885 303166; £12.00. on the door. Chris & Veronica Perrin improvising to a screening of the 1929 'Jazz Age' silent film Piccadilly (Dir. Ewald André Dupont).
Fri 22: Paul Edis & Graeme Wilson + Three Tsuru Origami @ Jesmond United Reformed Church, Newcastle. 7:30pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Fri 22: Crooners @ Tyne Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm.
Fri 22: Abbie Finn's Finntet @ Traveller's Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. Opus 4 Jazz Club.

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.

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

CD Review – Stefano Bollani – Joy In Spite of Everything

Stefano Bollani (piano), Mark Turner (tenor saxophone), Bill Frisell (guitar), Jesper Bodilsen (bass), Morten Lund (drums)
(Review by Hugh)
Stefano Bollani has had previous collaborations with Enrico Rava and Chick Corea and has also improvised solo or led a trio. On this album we find him with a transatlantic quintet powered by a Danish rhythm section and joined by guitarist Bill Frisell and saxophonist Mark Turner. The album, which comprises nine new compositions by Bollani was recorded in New York City's Avatar Studios. The albums performance configurations range from quintet to quartet to trio to duo.
The title of the work, Joy in Spite of Everything, speaks for itself and the CD opens with the jaunty, upbeat calypso number Easy Healing, featuring the mellow tones of Turner's tenor and Frisell's intricate guitar work over the rhythmic background provided by his compadres.
No Pope No Party features Turner and Frisell sequentially with the trio. This is a more straight ahead, but rhythmically intricate piece, the participants playing off against each other. Alobar e Kudra has a slight air of the mystic East and features the trio players Bollani, Bodilsen and Lund. Las Hortensias is a beautiful, pensive ballad with breathy tenor from Turner interspersed by Bodilsen's lyrical bass work, the other two trio members being in a supportive role.
The twelve minute plus centrepiece, Vale, reintroduces the quintet, still in reflective mood, with Bollani's piano featured. Teddy was written with swing era pianist Teddy Wilson in mind and features the piano – guitar duo of Bollani and Frisell. The guitar is also featured with the trio on Ismene, the melody particularly suiting Frisell's way with a tune. The full quintet are back for Tales From the Time Loop which again showcases the individual skills of the musicians, but also their complex melodic interplay. One can almost sense their interactions and this would be a great gig to see in intimate venue. The CD finishes with the title track Joy in Spite of Everything, which ups the tempo again, to finish on a high.
The were apparently no preconceptions regarding this album, the band were brought together just for the session. As Bollani explains “We went into the studio without all meeting each other. I had never met Bill, neither had Jesper and Morten. And Morten had never played with Mark. But that's what I like about jazz music: You just go in and see what happens”.
Well it certainly happened here – this is a cracking album and a pleasure to listen to. I cannot but agree with ECM's assertion that “Joy in Spite of Everything brims with an indefatigable lightness of spirit despite the inevitable shadows of life”.
Hugh.
The CD was released in the UK on August 25 and is available under the ECM catalogue number 378 4459.

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