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Bebop Spoken There

Spasmo Brown: “Jazz is an ice cream sandwich! It's the Fourth of July! It's a girl with a waterbed!”. (Syncopated Times, July, 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

17372 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 16 years ago. 656 of them this year alone and, so far, 61 this month (Sept. 17).

From This Moment On ...

September

Fri 20: Lindsay Hannon’s Tom Waits for No Man @ Gala Theatre, Durham. 1:00pm. £8.00. SOLD OUT!
Fri 20: Rob Hall & Chick Lyall @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Free (donations). SOLD OUT!
Fri 20: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 20: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 20: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 20: Leeway @ 1719, Hendon, Sunderland. 7:30pm. The Old Black Cat Jazz Club. CANCELLED!
Fri 20: Gaz Hughes Trio @ Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. Opus 4 Jazz Club.

Sat 21: Jason Isaacs @ Seaburn STACK, Seaburn. 1:00-2:45pm. Free.
Sat 21: Vieux Carré Hot Four @ The Beehive, Hartley Lane, Earsdon Whitley Bay NE25 0SZ. 4:30pm-6:30pm.
Sat 21: Baghdaddies @ Two by Two, Albion Row, Byker, Newcastle NE6 1RQ. 6:00pm.
Sat 21: Milne-Glendinning Band @ The Northumberland Club, Jesmond, Newcastle. 7:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Sat 21: Jude Murphy & Alan Law @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 22: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 22: Jason Isaacs @ St James’ STACK, Newcastle. 2:30-4:30pm. Free.
Sun 22: Dulcie May Moreno Quartet @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm.
Sun 22: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 22: Richard Herdman @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 22: Remy CB Band @ Blues Underground, Nelson St., Newcastle. 8:30pm. Free. Remi, 2024 Newcastle Uni graduate, superb soul/blues voice!

Mon 23: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 23: Paul Booth with the Paul Edis Trio @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00. A Blaydon Jazz Club 40th anniversary concert! SOLD OUT!

Tue 24: Dulcie May Moreno Quartet @ Newcastle House Hotel, Rothbury. 7:30pm. £12.00. (£10.00. adv. from Tully’s of Rothbury). Coquetdale Jazz.
Tue 24: Sarah Gillespie @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £16.50. Duo performance with Chris Montague.

Wed 25: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 25: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 25: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 25: Moonlight Serenade Orchestra UK: Glenn Miller & Big Band Spectacular @ Middlesbrough Theatre. 7:30pm.

Thu 26: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 26: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. ‘Contemporary Jazz & the Piano’.
Thu 26: The New 58 Jazz Collective @ Hops & Cheese, Hartlepool. 7:30pm. Free.
Thu 26: Jo Harrop & Friends @ Hexham Abbey. 8:00pm. ‘An Evening with Jo Harrop & Friends’. A Hexham Abbey Festival of Music & Arts event. £20.00., £5.00. child/student.
Thu 26: Neil Yates & Tom Remon @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 26: Loco House Band @ Bar Loco, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 26: Tees Hot Club @ Dorma’s Club, Middlesborough. 8:30pm. Free. Mark Toomey, Neil Brodie, Graham Thompson, Adrian Beadnell.

Monday, October 05, 2015

Interview with Julian Argüelles

Julian Argüelles brings his current project Tetra to Sage Gateshead on October 26. We caught up with him to get his thoughts on Tetra and other ensembles he's been associated with.
Julian, you are returning to Sage Gateshead with Tetra for the first time since appearing earlier this year with Loose Tubes at the Gateshead International Jazz Festival. Do you have a preference – the large ensemble or the small group setting?
I don't have a Preference, I enjoy both hugely. But I would say as a performer I prefer the intimacy of the solo and the group improvisation possibilities of a small group. As a composer/writer I enjoy larger groups because you have more possibilities in terms of musical colour, orchestration, more individual voices, and there is nothing quite like the sound of a big band all 'breathing' as one, it can be very powerful.

On the subject of Loose Tubes, Jazzwise magazine described Dancing on Frith Street as ‘the great lost live album’. What are your thoughts about live albums in general?
Some of my favourite albums are of live recordings, there is nothing like the experience of a live concert but a recording of a live concert is, of course, the neared thing to it.
Over the years I have done lots of live recordings and studio recordings, I don't have a preference but I do treat them differently as a performer. I think the studio environment makes you play slightly more concisely or 'to the point', often things which work in a live situation simply don't feel right in a studio, stuff often needs to be changed.

And talking about big bands…what do you think of Ben Cottrell’s Beats and Pieces band? In recent times they’ve given two extraordinary performances in Gateshead. Do you see them as part of a lineage – Gibbs, Westbrook, Wheeler, Loose Tubes…?

I know Ben and some of the members of his band a little from my teaching activities at the RNCM in Manchester. I don't really see them as part of the lineage you mention, in fact I'm not sure there is a lineage, just good bands with unique approaches.

You work a lot in Europe, for example with the NDR big band. Is this an artistic or financially driven decision?
Well put it this way, I wouldn't spend 6 months writing 2 hours of music and take it over to Germany rehearse and perform it for no money!
I love writing, I learn each time I do it, and fortunately the NDR and the band I work most with, The Frankfurt Radio Big Band, are relatively well funded and they can offer opportunities to people like me. I'm hoping to continue to work with these bands. 
At the moment, even though I'm in Graz, Austria, I'm finishing another project which is arrangements of Phronesis music which will be performed at the London Jazz Festival in November with the Frankfurt Radio Big Band.

From your perspective, is the European jazz scene different, complementary to, or indivisible from that of the British scene? 
There are some similarities with the various scenes throughout Europe. They are packed with great musicians, especially young ones. There seems to be a relative shortage of places to play, and venues are struggling with audience numbers. Some scenes are well supported by government/arts organisations, such as in Scandinavia, Germany and France and others aren't such as Spain, Italy, and Eastern Europe. There are some differences in terms of the music played too, Norway seems to have a very strong and distinctive voice with an emphasis on sound and space, some countries have a strong connection with a local culture or folk music. I  do like the differences  in the various scenes.

We here on Tyneside have been lucky to hear Kit, Sam and James on a number of occasions in various line-ups. As a composer do you write with individual voices in mind and is this the case with the Tetra guys?
Certainly. All the new music I've written (apart from the big band stuff) is written for these guys, I think it’s an extension of the music I've been writing up to now. Because of the huge range of their abilities it’s enabled me to write music I could not have possibly written for others, in fact I think some of it couldn't be performed by others.

Do you think Tetra reflects your Spanish ancestry? Indeed do you think your music as a whole is influenced by the music you grew up with or was it always jazz?
I think the influence of Spanish music has been part of my musical character for a long time. I wouldn't say I grew up with Spanish music around the house but I have been hugely influenced by Spanish music, especially the music of Andalusia (flamenco).

And do you see Tetra as a long term project or do you have other ideas you want to pursue in the future?
I see it as a  long term project. It feels like a while since I had a working band that was regular and I'm enjoying the development this provides.

Thanks, Julian. We look forward to seeing you – and Tetra – at Sage Gateshead on October 26!
I'm looking forward to playing there, thanks
Julian

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