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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

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.

Fri 29: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 29: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 29: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.

Sat 30: John Pope Quintet + Late Girl + Shapeshifters @ Bobik's, Jesmond, Newcastle.
Sat 30: Papa G's Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

OCTOBER

Sun 01: Smokin' Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm.
Sun 01: Dulcie May Moreno sings Portrait of Sheila @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £10.00. Moreno sings Sheila Jordan with Giles Strong, Mick Shoulder & John Bradford.
Sun 01: Middlesbrough Jazz & Blues Orchestra @ Saltburn Community Hall. 2:00pm.
Sun 01: The Easy Rollers @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £13.70., £11.55.
Sun 01: Brand/Roberts/Champion/Sanders @ Blank Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Sun 01: Papa G's Troves @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 02: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Mon 02: FILM: Wattstax; 50th Anniversary @ Forum Cinema, Hexham. 8:00pm.

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.

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