Total Pageviews

Bebop Spoken There

Delfeayo Marsalis: "Slide Hampton once told me that it's not always the person that is playing the highest or playing the fastest that's making the greatest impact." - (DownBeat March 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

15229 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 248 of them this year alone and, so far, 61 this month (March 20).

From This Moment On ...

March

Mon 20: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Mon 20: Central Bar Quintet plays Wes Montgomery @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 7:30pm. Feat. Joe Steels.

Tue 21: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 21: Jam session @ Black Swan, Newcastle Arts Centre. 7:30pm. House trio: Jacob Egglestone (guitar); Jamie Watkins (bass guitar); Bailey Rudd (drums).

Wed 22: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 22: Darlington Big Band @ Traveller's Rest, Cockerton. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public). Note change of venue - this week only.
Wed 22: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 7:00pm.
Wed 22: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 23: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 4:00-6:00pm. Free.
Thu 23: NUJO Jazz Jam @ Bar Loco, Newcasatle. From 6:30pm 'til late. Free. Newcastle University Jazz Orchestra jam session. All welcome (students & non-students).
Thu 23: Kerrin Tatman + John Garner & John Pope @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 23: Sunna Gunnlaugs & Julia Hülsmann @ Sage Gateshead. 8:00pm. A two-piano gig. A Sage Gateshead-JNE promotion.
Thu 23: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Ragtime piano.
Thu 23: Sleep Suppressor @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £10.00., £8.00. adv. Upstairs.
Thu 23: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 24: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 24: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 24: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 24: FILM: Mo' Better Blues @ Forum Cinema, Hexham. 7:00pm.
Fri 24: Ian Millar & Dominic Spencer @ Scarth Hall, Staindrop, Co. Durham. 8:00pm. £10.00.
Fri 24: Archipelago + Bulbils @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.

Sat 25: Vermont Big Band @ Walker Community Centre, Walker, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Fundraiser for Benfield Juniours Football Club. Hot food available, BYOB.
Sat 25: John Logan & Friends @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Rat Pack, Motown etc. 8:00pm. Free (donations).

Sun 26: Musicians Unlimited @ Park Inn, Hartlepool. 1:00pm.
Sun 26: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 3:00pm.
Sun 26: Outlines @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. JNE promotion (upstairs).

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

Wednesday, June 22, 2016

CD Review: Miroslav Vitous – Music of Weather Report

Miroslav Vitous – double bass, keyboards; Gary Campbell, Roberto Bonisolo – soprano and tenor saxophones; Aydin Esen – keyboards; Gerald Cleaver, Nasheet Waits – drums.
(Review by Hugh C).
Miroslav Vitous, with Joe Zawinul and Wayne Shorter, was one of the co-founders of Weather Report in the early 1970s.  In Music of Weather Report he revisits some of their repertoire.  Scarlet Woman Variations is a great introduction and recognisably derived from Johnson, Shorter and Zawinul's original, but with some interesting takes on this signature melody.  Vitous then turns his attention one of his own compositions, Seventh Arrow.  This has a “free” feel with the two drummers, both independently minded, often apparently at odds with each other, but at the same time palpably interacting. 
One and one half minutes of Multidimension Blues 2 follows, this being one of three such pieces dotted through the CD.  Birdland Variations offers fleeting glimpses of Zawinul's original, whilst at the same time being almost a new composition.  Vitous often plays arco on this track complementing Gary Campbell and Roberto Bonisolo on saxophones as a virtual third horn.  Multidimension Blues 1 now turns up.  Pinocchio by Wayne Shorter, originally appeared on a Miles Davis album in 1967, reappearing on Weather Report's Mr Gone in 1978.  This is another interesting take on this oft-played tune with reharmonisation by keyboardist Aydin Esen.  Acrobat Issues and Scarlet Reflections, both compositions by Vitous, precede Multidimensional Blues 3.  The CD finishes with Morning Lake, another Vitous composition for the original band and (along with Seventh Arrow) on their debut CD.  A recording of a real thunderstorm in real time (it was meant to be, according to Vitous) forms part of this final track.
This CD is a bit like the British weather:  periods of dull grey skies with the occasional sunny interval and unexpected showers.  One really doesn't know what to put on!  I must admit that, with the exception of  Birdland and Scarlet Woman, the original versions were unfamiliar to me.  I did hear snippets of melody that I recognised in some of the other tracks.  There is certainly the spirit of Weather Report throughout, whether (no pun intended) there is enough to persuade lovers of the original band to buy this is open to question.  It is certainly an interesting take on their music and artistically of a very high standard (not unexpected given the calibre of the musicians involved).  Would I buy it for myself – probably not.  Would I recommend it to others?  If you have money to spare and are interested in a quirky and inventive take on the music of Weather Report – yes.
Hugh C
Music of Weather Report is now out on ECM – Catalogue Number: 377 2956

1 comment :

Steven T. said...

It will go in to my basket and hopefully at some point I'' buy it. I love Weather Report and all her bass players and I think all of his albums for ECM are amongst the best I've ever heard from the label.

Blog Archive