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Bebop Spoken There

Kurt Elling: ''There's something to learn from every musician you play with''. (DownBeat, December 2024).

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...

Josh Weir: I love the writing on bebop spoken here... I think the work you are doing is amazing.

Postage

17630 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 16 years ago. 904 of them this year alone and, so far, 49 this month (Dec. 20).

From This Moment On ...

December

Mon 23: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 23: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Wheatsheaf, Benton Sq., Whitley Road, Palmersville NE12 9SU. Tel: 0191 266 8137. 1:00pm. Free. CANCELLED!
Mon 23: Edison Herbert Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 4:00pm. Free.
Mon 23: Jason Isaacs @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 4:00-6:00pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Mon 23: Milne-Glendinning Band @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.

Tue 24: Lindsay Hannon & Mark Williams @ Ernest, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 11:00am-1:00pm. Free.
Tue 24: Paul Skerritt @ Mambo Wine & Dine, South Shields. 1:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.

Wed 25: Wot? No jazz!

Thu 26: The Boneshakers @ Tyne Bar, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. The 17th annual Boneshakers’ Shindig.

Fri 27: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 27: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free. Business as usual!.
Fri 27: Jason Isaacs @ Seaburn STACK, Seaburn. 3:30-5:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Fri 27: Michael Woods @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Country blues guitar & vocals.

Sat 28: Jason Isaacs @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 11:30am. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 28: Fri 20: Castillo Nuevo @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 5:30pm. Free.
Sat 28: Jude Murphy, Rich Herdman & Giles Strong @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sat 28: Ray Stubbs R & B All-Stars @ Billy Bootlegger’s, Stepney Bank, Newcastle. 9:00pm. Free.

Sun 29: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 29: Alexia Gardner Quintet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Reviewers wanted

Whilst BSH attempts to cover as many gigs, festivals and albums as possible, to make the site even more comprehensive we need more 'boots on the ground' to cover the albums seeking review - a large percentage of which never get heard - report on gigs or just to air your views on anything jazz related. Interested? then please get in touch. Contact details are on the blog. Look forward to hearing from you. Lance

Thursday, September 03, 2015

Newcastle University Postgraduate Recitals @ The Jazz Café. September 2

(Review by Russell)
Following the resounding success of staging several undergraduate final recitals earlier this year at the Jazz Café, two postgraduate students chose the Pink Lane venue to give their recitals in the presence of examiners, fellow students and supporters. Drinking tea, coffee or something a little stronger in a real jazz venue beats the cloistered campus set-up every time.
Stelios Arodites (alto saxophone) with Stuart Collingwood (piano)
Alto saxophonist Stelios Arodites walked onto the stage with a supportive pat on the back from accompanist Stuart Collingwood. The duo ready, Arodites embarked upon a journey of twenty minutes or so interpreting Phil Woods’ Sonata for alto saxophone and piano. A challenging work, composed for Victor Morosco’s 1962 solo recital at Carnegie Hall, the piece was originally named Four Moods, although thereafter it became known as Woods’ Sonata.
The composition presented four movements to negotiate with frequent changes in time signature (in places every two or four bars). In addition, some sections were marked free improvisation. Arodites played acoustically; tone rich and unwavering. Bespectacled Collingwood, the assured accompanist, the anchor, the buoy, Arodites’ reassurance. Each movement challenged the examinee, variously playing ‘tonic minor’, ‘modal’ – Arodites’ programme notes were most useful! The audience listened intently, a tension in the air. A ferocious section – alto traversing into gritty, grinding tenor territory – lifted the duo onto a higher plain. Mr Arodites is some player. His postgraduate studies continue into 2016, a further recital is to be scheduled.
-----            
Richard Hammond (vibraphone) MMus Major Creative Project Recital
A familiar figure in and around the music department in Armstrong Building, Newcastle University, a youthful Richard Hammond, with carefully cultivated unruly mop-top, took to the stage in front of a full house. The folk glitterati were out in force (a superstar of the scene took her seat), Hammond was about to play a folk set. The improvised element did materialise, due in no small part to the virtuosic skills of his band mates. Vibraphone, not your regular folk instrument, took centre stage. To Hammond’s left, Callum Younger sat with bohdrán, a bearded rhythm master. The examinee’s presentation Room to grow: An exploration of improvisation and ‘free’ music within folk styles embraced the five string fiddler Robbie Sherratt (improvising for the Gaelic Isles), Alasdair Paul (bouzouki) and a couple of familiar faces – Jessica Bates (piano) and Mercedes Phillips (soprano sax). Ten or so tunes in three quarters of an hour, some of them Hammond compositions, others an eclectic mix including Michael ‘Snarky Puppy’ League’s Shofukan. Hammond referred to jazz players’ abilities to improvise and reharmonise and this has informed his studies. Using four mallets, Hammond’s writing skills opened-up tunes enabling the collective to improvise chorus upon chorus. The audience showed its appreciation. Another success at the Jazz Café.
Hammond’s band: Jessica Bates (piano), Alasdair Paul (bouzouki),  
Mercedes Phillips (soprano sax), Robbie Sherratt (fiddle), Callum Younger (bohdrán).
Russell.

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