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Bebop Spoken There

Branford Marsalis: "As ignorance often forces us to do, you make a generalisation about a musician based on one specific record or one moment in time." - (Jazzwise June 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

15491 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 512 of them this year alone and, so far, 133 this month (May 31).

From This Moment On ...

June
Thu 01: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 01: Thursday Night Prayer Meeting @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Donations.
Thu 01: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Ragtime piano. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.
Thu 01: Jake Leg Jug Band @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Thu 01: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 02: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 02: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 02: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 02: Joseph Carville Trio @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm.
Fri 02: Claire Martin & Her Trio @ The Witham, Barnard Castle. 7:30pm. £25.00., £20.00. Feat. Jim Mullen, Alex Garnett & Jeremy Brown.
Fri 02: Guy Davis + Michael Littlefield & Scott Taylor @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. Doors 7:30pm. Blues double bill.
Fri 02: Anders Ingram @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Blind Pig Blues Club. Country blues. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

Sat 03: Newcastle Record Fair @ Northumbria University, Newcastle NE8 8SB. 10:00am-3:00pm. Admission: £2.00.
Sat 03: Pedigree Jazz Band @ St Augustine's Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm.
Sat 03: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. Tutor: Sue Ferris. £25.00. Enrol at: www.jazz.coop.
Sat 03: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 6:00pm. Free.
Sat 03: Rendezvous Jazz @ Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.
Sat 03: Papa G's Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

Sun 04: Smokin' Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm.
Sun 04: Central Bar Quintet @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00-4:00pm. £5.00. The Central Bar Quintet plays Sonny Rollins' Saxophone Colossus. Featuring Lewis Watson.
Sun 04: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 3:00pm.
Sun 04: Struggle Buggy + Michael Littlefield @ Tyne Bar, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. Acoustic blues.
Sun 04: Swinging at the Cotton Club: Harry Strutters' Hot Rhythm Orchestra @ The Fire Station, Sunderland. 7:30pm.
Sun 04: Richard Jones Trio @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Sun 04: Jam No. 18 @ Fabio's Bar, Saddler Street, Durham. 8:00pm. Free. All welcome. A Durham University Jazz Society event.

Mon 05: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

Tue 06: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 06: Jam session @ Black Swan, Newcastle Arts Centre. 7:30pm. House trio: Stu Collingwood (piano); Paul Grainger (double bass); Sid White (drums).

Wed 07: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 07: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 07: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 7:00pm.
Wed 07: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Friday, July 22, 2016

CD Review: Jazz-Philosophy Fusion - Continuum Of Selves

Jessica Radcliffe (vocals); Sonja Morgenstern (conceptual vocals); James Tartaglia (composer, tenor sax); Gareth Fowler (guitar); Steve Tromans (piano); David Hilton (electric bass);
Tymoteusz Jozwiak (drums)
(Review by Ann Alex)
First, an appeal to Mr Blogmaster to supply each of us humble (?) reviewers with a large magnifying glass: both CD’s I’m covering this week have inserts with microscopic print. At least in former vinyl days we had record sleeves with large print, even if the sound wasn’t so good. I’m always somewhat wary of ‘fusions’ with other disciplines, as jazz stands up well on its own, and the fusion in this case sort of works ok and is entertaining, but the jazz is indeed good enough on its own, and as I’ve said the print was a bit too small to read much about the ideas behind the CD anyway.
James Tartaglia is Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at Keele University, a much-published author, a previous soloist winner of Young Jazz Musician of The Year (Daily Telegraph 1991); he has studied in the USA and this is his third album.
Ms Radcliffe gives us word-rich rhyming lyrics about various philosophical ideas and Ms Morgenstern provides spoken word explanations of concepts, both performing to a modern, sometimes boppy jazz background which illustrates the ideas mentioned.  For instance, the track named Teletransportation explains how your body can be scanned, destroyed, then conveyed to another place and reassembled. The music thrusts us along with lengthy improvisations on piano, sax then bass, lively lyrics, then a mock-posh voice to explain the concepts, more travelling music, and words about death given in a amusingly cheerful voice. In fact the whole album has many thoughts about being and non-being, with track titles including Animalism; Dream, Death and the Self; Email Persona; No-Self (Onion); Spicy Crab; Me For You and You For Me; The Transcendental Ego; Philosopher Blues.
I hope I haven’t given the impression that the CD is pretentious as this is not the case and this is avoided by the use of humour, especially on Philosopher Blues, which lists various philosophers, such as Plato ‘get outta yer cave’ and Kant ‘when you gonna learn to smile’.
Reviewing this album has probably happened at the wrong time for me, as I’m still joyful from hearing the Zhenya Strigalev band at the Globe last week, a wonderful performance of highly original jazz, which was perhaps more philosophical in its way than Continuum of Selves, as for me ZS questioned the very nature of music without a word being spoken. Nevertheless, Continuum of Selves is good jazz with very thoughtful words.
The CD was released in May 2016, CTM001. See www.jazzphilosophyfusion.com
Ann Alex     

1 comment :

Russell said...

'former vinyl days...' it's never gone away!

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