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Bebop Spoken There

Art Blakey: "You [Bobby Watson] don't want to play too long, because you don't know they're clapping because they're glad you finished!" - (JazzTimes, Nov. 2019)..

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

15848 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 855 of them this year alone and, so far, 53 this month (Sept. 18).

From This Moment On ...

September

Fri 22: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 22: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 22: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 22: Brief Encounter @ Bardon Mill Village Hall, Northumberland. 7:00pm. Tickets: £10.00. adv from 07885 303166; £12.00. on the door. Chris & Veronica Perrin improvising to a screening of the 1929 'Jazz Age' silent film Piccadilly (Dir. Ewald André Dupont).
Fri 22: Paul Edis & Graeme Wilson + Three Tsuru Origami @ Jesmond United Reformed Church, Newcastle. 7:30pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Fri 22: Crooners @ Tyne Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm.
Fri 22: Abbie Finn's Finntet @ Traveller's Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. Opus 4 Jazz Club.

Sat 23: Tyne Valley Big Band @ Tanfield Railway, Gateshead. 2:00-4:00pm. Free. A '1940s Weekend' event.
Sat 23: Jason Isaacs @ Stack, Seaburn. 3:30-5:30pm. Free.
Sat 23: Andrew Porritt & Keith Barrett @ Cullercoats Watch House, Front St., Cullercoats NE30 4QB. 7:00pm.
Sat 23: Michael Woods @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig. Country blues.

Sun 24: Musicians Unlimited @ Park Inn, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 24: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.

Mon 25: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Mon 25: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 7:00pm.

Tue 26: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.

Wed 27: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 27: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 27: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 28: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 28: Alice Grace Quartet @ King's Hall, Newcastle University. 1:15pm. Free.
Thu 28: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Gateshead Central Library, Gateshead. 2:30pm. All welcome.
Thu 28: Faye MacCalman + Snape/Sankey @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 28: Zoe Rahman @ Jesmond United Reformed Church, Jesmond, Newcastle. 7:30pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Thu 28: '58 Jazz Collective @ Hops & Cheese, Hartlepool. 7:30pm.
Thu 28: Speakeasy @ Queen's Hall, Hexham. 7:30pm. £15.00. A Southpaw Dance Company presentation. Dance, audio-visuals, Count Basie, Benny Goodman, swing dancers etc.
Thu 28: Mick Cantwell Band @ Harbour View, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Ace blues band.
Thu 28: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Tuesday, April 19, 2016

CD Review: Manu Katché – Unstatic

Ellen Andrea Wang (bass, vocals); Manu Katché  (drums, vocals); Jim (James) Watson (piano, keyboards); Tore Brunborg (saxes); Luca Aquino (trumpet)  +  Nils Langren (trombone).
(Review by Hugh C)
Manu  Katché was born in 1958 in France and initially studied classical piano at age 7 in Paris.  At age 15 he enrolled at Conservatoire National de Paris and subsequently became a session and concert drummer.  He began to come to international attention in the mid-'80s when he was involved in recording and touring projects with Peter Gabriel and Sting.  He then acted as a backup musician with a variety of international artists in various genres but including Jan Garbarek.  He joined the ECM stable in 1999, releasing his first disc, Neighbourhood, followed by (in 2007) Playground.
On Unstatic, he performs with a truly international band. The first track Introducción, is a catchy rumba and does what it says on the bote – setting the tone for the rest of the disc.  The title track Unstatic kicks off with a decidedly funky groove underpinned by Katchés drumming and given that funky feel by Englishman Jim Watson's fingerwork on keyboards.  Flame&co (is there a pun in there?) follows on, taking the pace down a little, but still with a driving rhythm overlain by Aquino's nifty trumpet work.  The frantic City permits no rest until the gospel style Blossom follows featuring Brunborg's melodic alto saxophone and vocals from Wang and Katché; the listener can now draw breath.  The balladic Daze Days maintains the meditative atmosphere of the previous track with thoughtful trumpet and saxophone from Aquino and Brunborg respectively.  Rolling has both drum 'n bass setting the rhythmic undercurrent, over which the horns can play - featuring also a chorus from the beautifully toned trombone of Nils Landgren.  The track rolls away and fades to Ride Me Up.  Solo piano from Watson introduces Trickle, Wang's bass is to the fore in this track.  Katchés drum-work provides an insistent after-beat on Out of Sight over which the trumpet and saxophone weave melodic interplay.  The distinctly smoooth sound of Presentation concludes the show and MC, drummer, bandleader and composer Manu Katché introduces us to the band, as if in a live setting.
I have admired and enjoyed Katchés work since purchasing Neighbourhood way back when.  Unstatic is a fine addition to his output and is released by Anteprima Productions on April 22 in the UK. catalogue Number CD18021.  No tour dates are currently listed for the UK, but you can next catch the band at the Lublin Jazz Festival in Poland on April 24.
Hugh.

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