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Bebop Spoken There

Abbie Finn: "Even though there's a lot of great work being done to promote women in jazz, I still come up against some attitudes! I pulled up at a recording session with my drums in the car and the studio owner said, 'I'm sorry, this space is reserved for the drummer!'" - (Jazzwise April 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

15245 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 264 of them this year alone and, so far, 77 this month (March 25).

From This Moment On ...

March

Mon 27: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

Tue 28: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 28: Sanaz Lavasani Trio @ Black Swan, Newcastle Arts Centre. 8:00pm. £12.00 (£10.00. adv).

Wed 29: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 29: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 29: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 7:00pm.
Wed 29: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 30: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Gateshead Central Library. 2:30-4:30pm. £2.00. All welcome.
Thu 30: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. Back to 1:00pm stomp off. Free.
Thu 30: '58 Jazz Collective @ Hops & Cheese, Hartlepool. 7:30pm. Free.
Thu 30: Lindsay Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ Harbour View, Sunderland. 8:00pm.
Thu 30: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 31: Lewis Watson Quartet @ Bishop Auckland Town Hall. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 31: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 31: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 31: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm. CANCELLED! Back next week (April 7).
Fri 31: Jasmine Myra + Waclaw Zimpel @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Fri 31: The Revolutionaires @ The Shack, Boldon Colliery. 7:30pm. £10.00. The Revolutionaires' big band (horn section) line-up.
Fri 31: Andrew McCormack @ Maltings, Berwick. 8:00pm. £20.00.

April
Sat 01: The Big Easy @ St Augustine's Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm.
Sat 01: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. Tutor: Steve Glendinning - In a Minor Key. £25.00. Enrol at: www.jazz.coop.
Sat 01: Hot Club du Nord @ Pleased to Meet You, Bridge St., Morpeth. 8:00pm. £79.00. A charity fundraising event.
Sat 01: Boys of Brass @ Stack, Seaburn. 7:00-9:00pm.
Sat 01: Rendezvous Jazz @ Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00. RESCHEDULED to next week (Sat 08).

Sun 02: Smokin' Spitfires @ The Cluny. 12:45pm.
Sun 02: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 3:00pm.

Mon 03: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

Thursday, January 28, 2016

CD Review: Gerard Presencer & the Danish Radio Big Band – Groove Travels

(Review by Russell)
Groove Travels is Gerard Presencer’s first big band album. The third of his three solo recording projects dates from 2001. An academic career and touring world wide with a number of Charlie Watts’ jazz ensembles has more than occupied the British trumpeter. Relocating to Copenhagen to work with the acclaimed Danish Radio Big Band opens a new chapter.
This Edition Records’ release comprises eight tracks (all arranged by Presencer, five of them composed by the trumpeter and three others of ‘classic’ status) recorded by Lars C Bruun at Danish Radio Studios in January 2015. Presencer has a nineteen piece band to work with plus two guest musicians – American Adam Rapa recruited as lead trumpeter and Cuban percussionist Eliel Lazo – making for a mammoth exercise. Presencer has an ace up his sleeve in having worked with the musicians for several years. Another Weirdo opens Groove Travels. We’ve all been there – sitting quietly on the bus, or in Presencer’s case, the train, minding one’s own business when the weirdo gets on and sits down in the one available seat…the one next to you. GP takes a flugel solo on this one, trumpet is his secondary instrument on this recording. The tune is a ‘groove’ vehicle, a common theme across the album. The rhythm section is given due prominence throughout, bassist Kaspar Vadsholt’s electric excursions to the fore, as is the smart drumming of Søren Frost and an eclectic mix of Fender Rhodes, Hammond and synths courtesy of Henrik Gunde.
Groove Travels references time and place; Eleanor Rigby (GP: This melody has always captured my imagination), Blues for Des (GP: This is essentially a West African rhythm …something trumpeter Woody Shaw would play), Wayne Shorter’s Footprints features tenor saxophonist Hans Ulrik, Presencer inspired by American tv cop shows and an Afro- Cuban groove in a reharmonisation of the tune. The Devil’s Larder is an exercise in the ‘shameless excess’ sometimes evident in progressive rock and the jazz big band. Gerard Presencer states: I wrote this piece for the drummer in my small band Chris Dagley. The dubious prospect of melding rock with jazz is quickly dispelled. What makes it work is the writing and playing. Presencer is well aware he has got a great band at his disposal.
Groove Travels by Gerard Presencer & the Danish Radio Big Band on Edition Records is released on January 29, available on CD EDN 1065 and LP EDN 1065.
Gerard Presencer: This recording is dedicated to the grooving memory of Chris Dagley.           
Russell.
Gerard Presencer (trumpet & flugelhorn) & 
Danish Radio Big Band
Trumpets Michael Mølhede, Christer Gustafsson, Thomas Kjaergaard, Jens Chr. Gotholdt. 
Trombones Vincent Nilsson, Steen Hansen, Anders Larson, Ola Nordquist.
Tuba & bass trombone André Jensen. 
Saxophones Nicolai Schultz, Peter Fuglsang, Pelle Fridell, Hans Ulrik Jensen, Karl-Martin Almqvist, Anders Gaardmand. 
Guitar Per Gade. 
Double bass & electric bass Kaspar Vadsholt. 
Drums Søren Frost.
Fender Rhodes, Hammond organ & synths Henrik Gunde. 
Special guests lead trumpet Adam Rapa; percussion Eliel Lazo.

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