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Bebop Spoken There

Billy Boy Arnold: “As long as you don't think old you're good.” - DownBeat, December, 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!"

Simon Spillett: A lovely review from the dean of jazz bloggers, Lance Liddle...

Postage

16051 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 1058 of them this year alone and, so far, 12 this month (Dec. 6).

From This Moment On ...

December

Sun 10: Musicians Unlimited’s Xmas Party with Zoë Gilby Quartet @ Park Inn, Hartlepool. MU 1:00-3:00pm; Zoë Gilby Quartet 4:00-6:00pm. Tickets: £7.50.
Sun 10: Alan Law, Paul Grainger & Abbie Finn @ Darlington Market, Market Square, Darlington. 1:00pm. Free. A ‘Christmas Market’ outdoor gig. Wrap up warm!
Sun 10: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00-4:00pm. Free.
Sun 10: Funk Soul Sista @ Stack, Seaburn. 5:00-7:00pm. Free.
Sun 10: Beth Clarke @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 10: Hayley's Little Big Band @ Whittingham Memorial Institute, Alnwick. 7:30pm. £12.00., £10.00.
Sun 10: Tele-Port @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Line-up inc. Zhenya Strigalev.

Mon 11: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 11: Interim Final Recitals @ Newcastle University. Details TBC.

Tue 12: Stu Collingwood Organ Trio @ Forum Music Centre, Darlington. 7:00pm. £10.00.

Wed 13: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 13: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 13: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 13: Bold Big Band @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:30pm.
Wed 13: Giles Strong Quartet @ Alphabetti Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 14: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 14: Hot Fingers @ The Lubetkin Theatre, Peterlee. 7:00pm. £10.00.
Thu 14: After Hours Student Jazz Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 14: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. . Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 14: Niffi Osiyemi Trio @ Harbour View, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 14: Mo Scott ‘Little Mo’s Festive Appearance’ @ The Schooner, Gateshead. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 14: Tees Hot Club w. Kevin Eland, Josh Bentham, Garry Hadfield, Adrian Beadnell @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 15: Paul Edis @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 15: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 15: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 15: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 15: Paul Skerritt @ Black Horse Inn, Crook. From 7:00pm.
Fri 15: Paul Edis: A Jazzy Christmas @ St Cuhtbert's Centre, Crook. 7:30pm. £15.00. SOLD OUT! Waiting list open.
Fri 15: Zoë Gilby Trio @ Seventeen Nineteen, Hendon, Sunderland. 7:30pm. £12.00. POSTPONED!
Fri 15: Strictly Smokin' Big Band @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 8:00pm. First night of two. SOLD OUT!
Fri 15: Darlington Big Band @ Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. £10.00. Opus 4 Jazz Club.
Fri 15: Baghdaddies @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £14.00.; £10.00.

Sat 16: Paul Edis: A Jazzy Christmas @ Sage Gateshead. 2:00pm. A Jazzy Christmas + Jambone.
Sat 16: Porritt & Barrett & Friends Xmas Special @ Cullercoats Watch House. 7:00pm. £4.00.
Sat 16: Milne-Glendinning Band @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 16: Red Kites Jazz Band @ The Staithes Café, Gateshead. 7:00pm--9:00pm.
Sat 16: Hayley's Little Big Band @ Ellingham Village Hall, Chathill. 7:30pm. £12.00., £8.00.
Sat 16: Paul Edis: A Jazzy Christmas @ Sage Gateshead. 8:00pm.
Sat 16: Strictly Smokin' Big Band @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Second night of two.

Sunday, September 27, 2015

CD Review: Matthew Halsall & the Gondwana Orchestra – Into Forever

(Review by Russell)
Trumpeter Matthew Halsall set up his own record label as a means of getting his music heard and with any luck to attract interest from established major companies. That was seven or eight years ago. He has gone on to release five critically acclaimed albums, all on Gondwana Records. Into Forever is Halsall’s latest CD featuring several of his long term collaborators and two new, most welcome, voices.
Buddhism and transcendental meditation are key elements in Matthew Halsall’s life and music. He has travelled widely, visiting and studying in the Far East. His music extends beyond any notional jazz boundaries embracing non-Western forms. Into Forever is the first of Halsall’s albums to feature vocals. Working with lyricists/vocalists has been one of his ambitions and in being introduced to the work of Josephine Oniyama, trumpeter/ composer/ arranger/ label boss Halsall knew the time was right to embark on this project.
Eleven tracks, on which the leader’s trumpet is heard on two tracks only, Into Forever is beautifully recorded; bassist Gavin Barras underpins much of the music, unobtrusive yet anchoring the ensemble, and the Cinematic Orchestra’s drummer Luke Flowers finds the right sound working alongside the album’s string section. Barras’ bass leads off many of the tunes with Flowers right there. As I Walk, one of several numbers featuring Oniyama, includes the lyric: …a world of tranquility. This, perhaps, exemplifies the ethos and vibe. Halsall’s vision isn’t about the grandstanding soloist backed by a rhythm section. All of the tracks coalesce, presenting a broader canvas; contemplation, conversation, stillness. Oniyama’s intoned vocals on Badder Weather suggest a soul voice (of which we should hear more) as pianist Taz Modi takes a solo. The string section – viola and violin, cello, harp and koto – isn’t a bolt-on addition, it is integral to the album’s sound. The title track – Into Forever – is the first of two on which Halsall is heard playing trumpet as a member of the ensemble. The collective triumphs over the individual ego on this new CD. It will be released later this week – Friday October 2 – and Halsall and his accomplished troupe have a number of gigs lined-up starting on October 1 at the Capstone Theatre, Liverpool, on home-town turf at St Peter’s Church, Manchester (23) and a London show at Union Chapel (29) with other dates in between.
Russell
Into Forever  by Matthew Halsall & the GondwanaOrchestra (Gondwana Records CD013) is released on October 1. It will also be available on vinyl and as a download.                       
Matthew Halsall (trumpet), Lisa Mallett (flute), Rachael Gladwin (harp), Keiko Kitamura (koto), Taz Modi (piano), Gavin Barras (double bass), Luke Flowers (drums), Sam Bell (percussion), Chris Cruiks (percussion), Margit Van Der Zwan (cello), Natalie Purton (viola & violin), John Purton (violin), Jote Osahn (violin), Ollie Izod (violin), Josephine Oniyama (vocals) & Bryony Jarman-Pinto (vocals)

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