Total Pageviews

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 ...

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.

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: 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.

Saturday, May 09, 2015

CD Review: Matt Owens - The Aviators’ Ball

(Review by Russell)
Matt Owens’ CD The Aviators’ Ball is an ambitious project; large in scale, multi-genre in concept and realisation. The album is the bassist’s debut as a leader and he has assembled some of the north west’s finest musicians to assist him in his endeavours. Leftfield, indie, alt folk, string and wind ensembles, much of the music was written as a commission from the Manchester Jazz Festival.
On a visit to Prague during the city’s ball season Owens found himself, as one does, at an aviators’ ball, hence the title of the album. The CD’s cover artwork features a photograph taken in 1905 on the rooftop garden of the Midland Hotel, Manchester. Grainy, evocative of a bygone era, the image illustrates the retro aspect of Owens’ compositions. Retro, yes, yet of the moment too, with the composer’s interest in contemporary music developments and the art of the moving image (film and television credits). The musicians contributing to the project are drawn from across the spectrum. Bassoon introduces the opening track – Raindrops on Our Rooftop – and it could be straight from Peter and the Wolf. Trumpet ace Neil Yates (a bona fide jazz player) is heard on tin whistle, percussion (Rick Weedon and Danny Ward excellent throughout) references the folk music scene and the strings of the Vintage String Quartet suggest the filmic qualities found in the writing of Philip Glass and others.
So, is The Aviators’ Ball of interest to readers of Bebop Spoken Here? Should the album receive a recommendation? The jazz content is, at best, minimal, the music excellent. A worthwhile purchase, but switch off your jazz antenna. Matt Owens’ Aviators’ Ball will be released on Monday May 18 on All Made Up Records AMU0007 and on the night Owens will be playing the music at St Werburgh’s Church, Chorlton, Manchester during the Chorlton Arts Festival. Seven o’clock start, admission £5.00..    Russell.                            
Matt Owens (double bass), Neil Yates (trumpet & tin whistle), Steve Chadwick (trumpet & cornet), John Ellis (piano & organ), Edward Barnwell (piano), Tom Davies (guitar & vocals), Billy Buckley (guitar & lap steel), Zoe Kyoti (guitar & vocals), Kirsty Almeida (vocals), Rosa Campos Fernandez (vocals), Rioghnach Connolly (vocals), Orli Nyles (vocals), Cara Robinson (vocals), Caroline Sheehan (vocals), Simon Davies (bassoon), Jill Allen (clarinet), Rosa Campos Fernandez (clarinet), Amina Hussain (clarinet), Atholl Ransome (alto flute), Philip Howarth (cor anglais), Sophie Hastings (glockenspiel, marimba & vibes), Rick Weedon (drums, percussion & vibes) Danny Ward (drums), Souza Wind Quintet: Carla Souza (flute), Daniel Benfield (oboe), Lucy Rugman (clarinet & bass clarinet), Lucy Keyes (bassoon) & Jon Harris (French horn), Vintage String Quartet: Naomi Koop (violin), Alison Williams (violin), Aimée Johnson (viola) & Semay Wu (cello).     

No comments :

Blog Archive