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Bebop Spoken There

Branford Marsalis: "As ignorance often forces us to do, you make a generalisation about a musician based on one specific record or one moment in time." - (Jazzwise June 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

15491 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 512 of them this year alone and, so far, 133 this month (May 31).

From This Moment On ...

Tue 06: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 06: Jam session @ Black Swan, Newcastle Arts Centre. 7:30pm. House trio: Stu Collingwood (piano); Paul Grainger (double bass); Sid White (drums).

Wed 07: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 07: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 07: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 7:00pm.
Wed 07: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 08: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free. CANCELLED! BACK ON JUNE 15.
Thu 08: Easington Colliery Brass Band @ The Lubetkin Theatre, Peterlee. 7:00pm. £10.00.
Thu 08: Faye MacCalman + Blue Dust Archive @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 08: Dilutey Juice + Ceramic @ The Ampitheatre, Sea Road, South Shields. 7:00pm. Free. A South Tyneside Festival event.
Thu 08: Lara Jones w. Vigilance State @ Lubber Fiend, Blandford Square, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 08: Michael Littlefield @ the Harbour View, Roker, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Country blues.
Thu 08: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 09: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 09: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 09: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 09: Castillo Nuevo @ Revolución de Cuba, Newcastle. 5:30-8:30pm.
Fri 09: Emma Rawicz @ Sage Gateshead. 8:00pm.

Sat 10: Miners' Picnic @ Woodhorn, Ashington. Music inc. Northern Monkey Brass Band (3:00-3:50pm); New York Brass Band (4:00-4:55pm).
Sat 10: Front Porch Three @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. Americana, blues, jazz etc.
Sat 10: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

Sun 11: WORKSHOP: Tim Richards' Jazz Piano Workshop @ JG Windows, Newcastle. Time TBC. Further details tel. 0191 232 1356.
Sun 11: Jeremy McMurray's Pocket Jazz Orchestra @ Ropner Park, Stockton TS18 4EF. 2:00-4:00pm. Free.
Sun 11: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:30pm. Free.
Sun 11: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 3:00pm.
Sun 11: Groovetrain @ Innisfree Sports & Social Club, Longbenton NE12 8TY. Doors 6:30pm. £15.00 (£7.00. under 16).
Sun 11: Jeffrey Hewer Collective @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 12: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

Thursday, October 02, 2014

CD Review: Ana Velinova: The Thief

Ana Velinova (vocals); Misha Platigorsky (keys, melodica); Neil Swainson (bass); Willard Dyson (drums, percussion); Gordon Clements (reeds); Joby Baker (bass on 1 track); Various (brass, clarinet, backing vocals).
(Review by Ann Alex).
Ana Velinova hails from Bulgaria and has worked and performed in major USA and Canadian cities.  She has a Master’s degree in Jazz and Contemporary-Classical Voice Performance and has taught singing.  This is a fine album, her third, of very varied material performed in a jazz style, 5 tracks written by the singer and other tracks by writers not familiar (to me at any rate), such as Eric Dozier.  I’ve reviewed many such CD’s for BSH, showing that there’s no shortage of singing talent around – bring it on I say - even if some of these women singers will never be internationally known. (Ed: Bulgaria, major Canadian and USA cities?)
The variety of material comes from the originality of the self-composed songs, eg ‘Why should I sleep when I often get visits, from magical creatures that dance on my eyelids’. These particular words are accompanied by clever melodica playing, giving a touch of magic.  There are love songs; a song which is a tribute to someone called Elis Regina; Mystic In My Soul which is a version of Gypsy In My Soul; a Bulgarian Folk song Nani Mi Damiancho, which is true to the original yet with jazz elements; Cool, which manages to be just that, very sophisticated; and the title song which concludes the album, all about stealing parts of nature, eg ‘I stole a secret from a shell, sleeping gently on a rock.’  All sung in a beautifully flexible voice, sweet for love songs but edgier for the more jazz-like numbers, and with the occasional burst of wordless singing which is not quite scat.  The band is well up to the job and they get opportunities to solo, notably on Cool and a drum solo on Mystic In My Soul. This is a band which also knows when to hold back, as in I Want You, a song of longing, with discreetly sparse accompaniment with only the keys being expansive.
‘The Thief’ was issued on the Ward Street Music Records label on September 16. 
Ann Alex.

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