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Bebop Spoken There

Kurt Elling: ''There's something to learn from every musician you play with''. (DownBeat, December 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

17630 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 16 years ago. 904 of them this year alone and, so far, 49 this month (Dec. 20).

From This Moment On ...

December

Mon 23: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 23: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Wheatsheaf, Benton Sq., Whitley Road, Palmersville NE12 9SU. Tel: 0191 266 8137. 1:00pm. Free. CANCELLED!
Mon 23: Edison Herbert Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 4:00pm. Free.
Mon 23: Jason Isaacs @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 4:00-6:00pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Mon 23: Milne-Glendinning Band @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.

Tue 24: Lindsay Hannon & Mark Williams @ Ernest, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 11:00am-1:00pm. Free.
Tue 24: Paul Skerritt @ Mambo Wine & Dine, South Shields. 1:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.

Wed 25: Wot? No jazz!

Thu 26: The Boneshakers @ Tyne Bar, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. The 17th annual Boneshakers’ Shindig.

Fri 27: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 27: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free. Business as usual!.
Fri 27: Jason Isaacs @ Seaburn STACK, Seaburn. 3:30-5:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Fri 27: Michael Woods @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Country blues guitar & vocals.

Sat 28: Jason Isaacs @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 11:30am. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 28: Fri 20: Castillo Nuevo @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 5:30pm. Free.
Sat 28: Jude Murphy, Rich Herdman & Giles Strong @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sat 28: Ray Stubbs R & B All-Stars @ Billy Bootlegger’s, Stepney Bank, Newcastle. 9:00pm. Free.

Sun 29: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 29: Alexia Gardner Quintet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Reviewers wanted

Whilst BSH attempts to cover as many gigs, festivals and albums as possible, to make the site even more comprehensive we need more 'boots on the ground' to cover the albums seeking review - a large percentage of which never get heard - report on gigs or just to air your views on anything jazz related. Interested? then please get in touch. Contact details are on the blog. Look forward to hearing from you. Lance

Tuesday, September 13, 2016

Lauren Kinsella Ensemble @ Black Swan Arts Centre, Newcastle – September 8

 Lauren Kinsella (voice); Tom Challenger (sax); Dan Nicholls (keyboards, electronics); Conor Chaplin (bass); Simon Roth (drums)
(Review/ Photos by Ken Drew).
A mid-week gig, part of Jazz North east’s ‘Women Make Music’ series.
Following a quiet intro from Challenger on piano, Kinsella begins to sing, reminding us instantly what we like about her voice and the instant stage presence she has. Then the full band join in to establish themselves, giving us time to contemplate just what is ahead.   A short piece, but welcome nonetheless.
Next a voice introduction (vocalese style) accompanied by Challenger’s sax – what a nice pairing that is, with a somewhat Nordic flavour to it with, dare I say it?, a hint of Bjork’s vocal tones, yet blissfully sublime. Then the full quartet join in with a gently lilting rhythm quietly supplied by Chaplin on bass together with Roth on drums, providing a simple yet lively rhythm giving way to a solo section from piano with the whole ensemble then completing the piece.  After just two pieces, we were all comfortable with the sound, and listening with relish for the next interpretation to unfold.

Then more vocalese - or rather scat singing interspersed with a sung rendition of what would otherwise be a spoken text. Kinsella noted that she had written the text for all these pieces, apart from the last in set 1 which were taken from David T(??) diaries.  Next up was a quick lyrical scat-plus-sung text with a rather bouncy rhythm. And to close, a piece with a quiet start building dynamically. A typical Kinsella composition and voicing / delivery with good contributions from the rest of the band.

The interval gave us time to reflect on Kinsella’s vocal ability. Purity, flexibility, accuracy and clarity. Plus pitch control - perfectly landing in the right place with a well-controlled glide-path.

Set 2 started with their take on Paul Motion’s Once Round the Park. Quite an extended piece nicely done in Kinsella’s style.
Then a vocal-plus-sax improv with scat, giving way to a sung text subtly accompanied by ‘noises off’ – Nicholls turning to his Laptop to provide a nicely subtle and gentle background ‘audio wash’ underneath the voice/sax pairing. The subject it seems was that of Kinsella at 8 years old !  The next piece started with another interesting rhythm, with a hint of a Tom Waites style (well, in my mind anyway !).  The sax was soft and lilting, reminiscent of Bobby Wellins’ sound in Tracey’s “Under Milk Wood”.  This then segued through a piano solo with nice use of the keyboard’s voicings, to another lilting vocal from Kinsella mixed with more vocalese/scat.

The final piece started with improv’d sax with piano together with gentle accompaniment from bass & drums, building more and more with stunning  vocals, then a fine sax solo followed by an equally superb piano solo.  An interesting piece with a good feel to it amounting to a 10 min encore of superb musical composition and ability.

And in conclusion - Kinsella noted that most of these pieces were a result of a commission by Marsden Jazz Festival. What a delight for us that it was re-staged for us in Newcastle.  Yet whilst the audience numbers were fewer than expected, the final comment from Lauren was reassuring, even uplifting ‘Newcastle listens to the music, giving a good vibe [to us] on the stage".

1 comment :

JC said...

What a sublime concert this was!
I had read very positive reviews of earlier gigs involving Lauren Kinsella (the emphasis is on the first syllable not the second) in Newcastle so I was keen to hear her and her band, and the fact she is from Dublin added extra interest. However I never expected the gig to be as good as it was.
The pure sound of Kinsella's voice and vocal embellishments, the quality of the band and the soundscapes that they created together were breathtaking.
She has worked in a number of duo formats so the ease with which she slipped into duets with particular instruments within an overall band piece was fascinating.
But it is the poetic quality of the lyrical improvisation that is most enthralling. Vocalising sounds and scatting demand considerable jazz singing abilities but to sing abstract poetic lines that 'fit' without sounding just random or meaningless is a special skill. Lauren Kinsella said a little about her composing inspirations during the gig mentioning the influence of David Henry Thoreau, Patti Smith and Simon Armitage and in other work she has also drawn from other poets like Ted Hughes and W.B. Yeats. However, it is something she said in an interview that is revealing of where her lyrical inspiration comes from: 'My Dad owns a bookshop (and) I worked in the second-hand department...you'd open a box of books and get to look at people's lives. I like improvising with poems because the nature of their structure lends itself to music. I look at some words or passages and it jumps back at me as sound'.
At times the overall effect of the words and music recalled the abstract and mysterious quality of Carla Bley's Escalator Over the Hill so I was intrigued that one piece was a Paul Motian tune that Kinsella had added lyrics to with the repeated incantation: 'Breathe like a tree. Sway sideways in motion'.
A special gig to remember.

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