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Bebop Spoken There

James Brandon Lewis: "Sometimes I'm not thinking about anything other than blowing the paint off the walls, and other times I'm narrating a story about my life." - (DownBeat 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

15516 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 536 of them this year alone and, so far, 25 this month (June 7).

From This Moment On ...

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: Jeffrey Hewer @ The Vault, Darlington Covered Market, Darlington. 6:00-8:00pm. Free.
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.
Sun 11: Jam No. 19 @ Fabio's Bar, Saddler Street, Durham. 8:00pm. Free. All welcome. A Durham University Jazz Society event.

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

Tue 13: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 13: Infusion Trio @ Forum Music Centre, Darlington. 7:30pm.
Tue 13: Alice Grace & Pawel Jedrzejewski @ Black Swan, Newcastle Arts Centre. 8:00pm. £12.00 (£10.00. adv.).

Wed 14: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 14: NUJO Final Jazz Jam @ Bar Loco, Newcastle. 6:30pm. Free. Newcastle University Jazz Orchestra's final jam session of the academic year. All welcome.
Wed 14: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 14: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 7:00pm.
Wed 14: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 15: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 15: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Gateshead Central Library. 2:30-4:30pm. £2.00. All welcome.
Thu 15: Castillo Nuevo @ Revolución de Cuba, Newcastle. 5:30-8:30pm.
Thu 15: Alexander Ord Trio @ Tynedale Beer & Cider Festival, Tynedale Rugby Club, Corbridge. Evening, time TBC.
Thu 15: Têtes de Pois + Nauta @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. Time TBC.
Thu 15: Indigo Jazz Voices @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:45pm. £5.00.

Tuesday, January 20, 2015

CD Review: Chris Potter Underground Orchestra – Imaginary Cities

Chris Potter (tenor & soprano saxophones, bass clarinet), Adam Rogers (guitar), Craig Taborn (piano), Steve Nelson (vibraphone & marimba), Fima Ephron (bass guitar), Scott Colley (double bass), Nate Smith (drums), Mark Feldman (violin), Joyce Hammann (violin), Lois Martin (viola) & David Eggar (cello)
(Review by Russell).
Chris Potter has augmented his regular quartet – Adam Rogers, Craig Taborn and Nate Smith – with two bassists, a string quartet and former sparring partner Steve Nelson on vibes and marimba to record Imaginary Cities. The CD comprises a four part suite (the title composition) and four other pieces.
Lincoln Center, New York, invited Potter to write new music with a view to performing it at the prestigious venue. Initially, Potter had his working band in mind but in time the project grew to incorporate parts for the other musicians featured on this ECM recording.
Potter’s writing evolved from ‘a non-specific utopian idea of how the modern city could be better.’ The first of eight tracks (Lament) opens with strings, bass guitar and Smith’s languid drum patterns laying the groundwork for Potter’s searching tenor saxophone.
Imaginary Cities is divided into four parts – Compassion, Dualities, Disintegration then Rebuilding. The first part hears more of Potter’s accomplished tenor playing followed by Adam Rogers’ ever-excellent guitar playing. Smith drives Dualities, lifting Potter to ever greater heights, Nelson’s vibes break away from the strings’ secure foundation seeking to emulate the bandleader’s sense of adventure. Craig Taborn plays acoustic piano on the album and sketches a delicate opening to the impressionistic Disintegration ahead of Potter’s floating soprano above a field of decaying strings. Smith’s sparkling drum part revitalises the ensemble’s optimism on the suite’s end piece, Rebuilding.
Firefly burns brightly; Fima Ephron’s lithe bass pattern, urgent tenor, guitar and strings chase the melody, then vibes, Smith again pivotal. Shadow Self  suggests an ‘out’ string quartet piece, politely discordant. The final track, Sky, dazzles briefly (Taborn and once more Smith) and it is down to Potter to conclude matters. Imaginary Cities is released on January 19 on ECM (catalogue no. 470 4075). Chris Potter’s Underground Quartet (on this occasion Potter, Adam Rogers, Fima Ephron and Nate Smith) can be heard at Ronnie Scott’s, London, February 16 and 17.  
Russell.

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