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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 ...

June

Sat 03: Newcastle Record Fair @ Northumbria University, Newcastle NE8 8SB. 10:00am-3:00pm. Admission: £2.00.
Sat 03: Pedigree Jazz Band @ St Augustine's Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm.
Sat 03: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. Tutor: Sue Ferris. £25.00. Enrol at: www.jazz.coop.
Sat 03: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 6:00pm. Free.
Sat 03: Rendezvous Jazz @ Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.
Sat 03: Papa G's Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

Sun 04: Smokin' Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm.
Sun 04: Central Bar Quintet @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00-4:00pm. £5.00. The Central Bar Quintet plays Sonny Rollins' Saxophone Colossus. Featuring Lewis Watson.
Sun 04: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 3:00pm.
Sun 04: Struggle Buggy + Michael Littlefield @ Tyne Bar, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. Acoustic blues.
Sun 04: Swinging at the Cotton Club: Harry Strutters' Hot Rhythm Orchestra @ The Fire Station, Sunderland. 7:30pm.
Sun 04: Richard Jones Trio @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Sun 04: Jam No. 18 @ Fabio's Bar, Saddler Street, Durham. 8:00pm. Free. All welcome. A Durham University Jazz Society event.

Mon 05: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

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.

Monday, November 10, 2014

CD Review: Simon Purcell – Red Circle

Chris Batchelor (Trumpet), Julian Siegel (Tenor and Soprano Saxophones), Simon Purcell (Piano), Steve Watts (bass), Gene Calderazzo (Drums)
(Review by Hugh C.)
Red Circle is the début release from internationally acclaimed pianist and educator Simon Purcell, currently the head of Jazz at the Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Dance and Music in London. Purcell originally came to prominence during the UK jazz boom of the 1980s through his band 'Jazz Train'. He has performed with many leading musicians. Red Circle marks his return to a more active performing career after nearly three decades in the world of jazz education.
Purcell's band comprises some of the most important contributors to the UK scene during the last two decades. They're also a bunch of old friends with years of playing experience and, in this spirit, the music was recorded in one room with no real isolation between the instruments, giving the album a 'live date' feeling.
All the material has been composed by Purcell with the intention of being less about complex themes, instead providing attractive contexts for improvisation where the artists can masterfully stretch out.
There are eight tracks on the album, plus a further bonus track featuring the stylish vocal presence of Liane Carroll.
The first three tracks Spirit Level, Red Circle – Enchantress and Minos are very much in a straight ahead groove. The experience of the musicians allows for complex interplay with more or less equal representation of Batchelor on trumpet, Siegel on saxophones and Purcell on Piano. Answers for Job is more laid back with a west coast (USA, not GB!) feel to it. If you didn't know you could almost imagine it's Miles' band. There is a return to up tempo with Pandora. Dark Night has (as might be expected) a slightly mysterious quality, with subtle Middle Eastern sonorities in places. Ithaca slows things down before the fast and furious Maestros and Musos. The bonus track is a balladic revisiting of Ithaca with the added sumptuous vocals of Liane Carroll.
All in all this is an excellent album and reflects the quality of British jazz currently and over the previous three decades. Let's hope we don't have to wait another 30 years for the next one!
Red Circle is released on Monday November 10 (Today!). The album launch is at the Pizza Express Jazz Club, Soho on November 16 and forms part of the EFG London Jazz Festival.
Simon Purcell – Red Circle, Whirlwind Recordings WR4651.
Hugh.

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