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Bebop Spoken There

Ambrose Akinmusire: “ I am certainly always aware of what the masses are doing. And when I see too many people going one way, I'm going another way - even when I don't know what's over that way". DownBeat, March, 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

16287 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 16 years ago. 169 of them this year alone and, so far, 41 this month (Mar 18).

From This Moment On ...

March

Tue 19: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Michael Young, Paul Grainger, Tim Johnston.

Wed 20: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 20: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 20: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 21: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 21: Castillo Neuvo Trio + Conor Emery & His ‘Bones Band @ The Grove, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 7:30pm (7:00pm doors). £10.00. (£7.00. student).
Thu 21: Remi Banklyn + Chris Corcoran Trio @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.50. Chicago blues. An International Guitar Foundation promotion.
Thu 21: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Ragtime piano.
Thu 21: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm.

Fri 22: Vasilis Xenopoulos & Paul Edis @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. £8.00. SOLD OUT!
Fri 22: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 22: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 22: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 22: Nauta + Remy CB + Last Orders @ Hoochie Coochie, Newcastle. 8:30pm (7:30pm doors). Free.
Fri 22: Vasilis Xenopoulos-Paul Edis Quartet @ Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. £15.00. Opus 4 Jazz Club.
Fri 22: Redwell @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sat 23: Jambone @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 6:30pm. Free (ticketed). End of term performance in the Northern Rock Foundation Hall.
Sat 23: Milne-Glendinning Band @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 23: Red Kites Jazz @ Rowlands Gill Community Centre NE39 1JB. 7:00pm. Tickets: £12.00. (gibsidecommunityfarm@gmail.com). A ‘Build a Barn’ fundraiser. BYOB, tea/coffee available.
Sat 23: New Century Ragtime Orchestra @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £20.00. + bf (book in person at venue - no booking fee!). Featuring pianist Martin Litton.
Sat 23: Pete Tanton’s Cuba Libre @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 24: Musicians Unlimited @ Park Inn, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 24: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:30pm. Free.
Sun 24: Luis Verde @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm. Verde (alto sax); Joe Steels (guitar); John Pope (double bass); John Hirst (drums). Alto sax brilliance!
Sun 24: Elsie Franklin @ The Globe, Newcastle. 3:00pm. £10.00. Country blues. An International Guitar Foundation promotion.
Sun 24: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay Metro Station. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 24: Las Vegas Live with the Rat Pack @ The Forum, Billingham.
Sun 24: Ian Millar & Dominic Spencer @ Otterburn Memorial Hall. 7:30pm. £12.00.
Sun 24: Lindsay Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Note start time - 7:00pm.
Sun 24: Bold Big Band @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 25: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 25: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 6:30pm. Free.

Thursday, June 09, 2016

Ian Shaw on The Theory of Joy

(Interview by Russell)
Welsh-born world class vocalist Ian Shaw appears at Sage Gateshead on Wednesday (June 15) singing tunes from his new CD The Theory of Joy. An award-winning man of many talents – composer, singer, pianist, producer – Shaw shares his thoughts on recording, touring and other matters.

Hi Ian, it’s good of you to take time to talk to Bebop Spoken Here.

The Theory of Joy tour calls in at Sage Gateshead next week, Wednesday 15th June. When did you start to put the album together, and were Barry Green, Mick Hutton and David Ohm on board early on?

The Theory of Joy was a gathered set of new arrangements which I gigged and tried out with the trio…so really had a chance to get the right ones forward! The trio is a solid unit...made of friendship and musical trust.
Claire Martin produced the new album. How did Claire’s involvement come about?

Claire was the natural choice. She knows me inside out and we’ve always trusted each other’s ears and taste.

You have worked as a producer. Has the experience proved to be useful with regard to shaping your own subsequent recordings?

I don’t listen to my recordings so not sure if I can effect an objective listening distance. My production work is so much easier as it's someone else’s precious work (and paid!).

You were up here in April to perform at the Gateshead International Jazz Festival.
As always, you went down a storm. You sang My Brother – it was spellbinding stuff.
Were you aware at the time that you had the audience in the palm of your hand?

I loved playing the festival. I often find it easier to be intimate if I’m solo.

Going way back….Lazy Blue Eyes (1990) with Carol Grimes featured gems from the Great American Songbook plus the title track which you wrote. Subsequent releases have drawn on original material and more contemporary popular songs. Therefore,  with a wealth of material to choose from has it become all the more difficult to select songs, and indeed, discard songs? Was this the case with The Theory of Joy

There is always a wealth of other people’s songs…It’s a simple case of you find a great restaurant…is it the Crustacea or the salad bar you breathlessly aim for? I do need to be more prolific…but I have to be 100 percent convinced of my own writing. The idea for an album that had a load of songs that seemed to present hope and happiness but with a darker background appealed to me.
    
You are known for your frequent visits to Calais, helping, as best you can, refugees stranded/abandoned in the so-called ‘Jungle’. Are you optimistic or pessimistic that politicians will suddenly discover a collective humanitarian streak?

I’m optimistic (more cautiously hopeful) that, given the amount of missing kids and vulnerable young families we are seemingly not responsible for, in or out of EU (!!)…surely badgering politicians (we did it alongside Calais Action, a superb politically motivated NGO…) is the only way…we also took France to court over kids in the jungle and sanitation…and won…ish. Freshwater pumps and gravel happened. The Dubs amendment was re-visited a second time…and the motion was yayed. It’s of course, because of scant governmental intervention, taking forever to become a local reality.

Perhaps a ‘Side by Side’ fundraising gig could work here on Tyneside?

A Side by Side fundraiser would be fantastic. Please make a persuasive call! I will too.

Finally, on a lighter note…
   
Do you enjoy being on the road? Looking at your itinerary…Tuesday London, up to Gateshead Wednesday, Hamburg Thursday, Minsk Saturday and York Sunday!            

Being on the road? As the prostitute said…“It’s not the work, it’s the stairs”

Thanks for your time Ian. We’ll see you at Sage Gateshead on the 15th.
Russell.

Ian Shaw and The Theory of Joy Trio play Sage Gateshead on Wednesday 15 June in Sage Two, 8:00pm. To be sure of your seat contact Sage Gateshead’s ticket office on 0191 433 4661.     

      

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