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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

Monday, November 23, 2015

CD Review: Malija – The Day I Had Everything

Mark Lockheart (tenor & soprano saxophones, bass clarinet), Liam Noble (piano) & Jasper Høiby (double bass) + Ligeti Quartet: Mandhira de Saram (violin), Patrick Dawkins (violin), Richard Jones (viola) & Val Welbanks (cello) (tracks 2 & 11)
(Review by Russell)
Malija comprises three familiar names on the contemporary European jazz scene; Mark Lockheart (Loose Tubes, Polar Bear), Liam Noble (Julian Siegel, Bobby Wellins, Tom Rainey) and Jasper Høiby (Julia Biel, Phronesis). The reeds, piano and double bass trio began their enduring working relationship in 2009 recording, and subsequently touring, Lockheart’s In Deep CD project. The Day I Had Everything is, according to Lockheart: about many musical things…to me this is London jazz music, distinct and different from the American sound.
Eleven tracks, five composed by Lockheart, three each by Noble and Høiby, with strings augmenting two cuts, The Day I Had Everything is a masterful example of chamber jazz markedly of our time. Elegant, subtle, robust, heart-felt, this new Edition Records release surprises, and, in turn, reassures the listener. Myriad influences pepper the recording (CD and LP format); Ellingtonia, township, tango, classical motif, late-night Ronnies’ hosting the great American horn players of yesteryear. The opening track – Squared – is the first tune the trio ever played together. It reminds the trio of a ‘bluegrass feel’. It certainly has a forward motion propelled by Lockheart’s tenor.
Noble’s Mr Wrack strides purposefully into an urgent, discordant tenor squall. Lockheart’s The Pianist is a piece inspired by two musicians that the composer and pianist Noble – Duke Ellington and Earl Hines – love to bits. Measured Ellington and muscular tenor somehow work hand in glove. Malija (Ma – Mark; li – Liam, ja – Jasper), the title track, embraces breathy tenor, stately classicism, an elegant township melody as might be played by Loose Tubes, resolving on Høiby’s bass pattern.
Almost a Tango may or may not be almost a tango. One thing is for sure – the tune shifts constantly, never still, twisting tenor, Noble’s commanding piano. Mark Lockheart’s One for Us sounds for all the world like a celebration of the magic of the moment when, only in jazz, the music captures the essence of why so many listen to it. You’ve been there – a beer in hand, late night, a great gig, then one tune hits home. Jazz at its best.
The Ligeti Quartet recorded two contributions at Trinity Laban, London (strings arranged by Mark Lockheart) and the trio recorded over two days in Cardiff at Fieldgate Studios in May, 2015. The Day I Had Everything by Malija will be released on November 27. The Edition Records CD catalogue no. is: EDN 1064. Heartily recommended.      
Russell.

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