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Bebop Spoken There

Wendell Brunious: "Because the blues is not 1,4 and 5 or 1,4,5,2,1. You could wake up with a flat tyre or a headache this morning, that's the blues, man" - (DownBeat, Oct. 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

15878 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 885 of them this year alone and, so far, 83 this month (Sept. 30).

From This Moment On ...

October

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

Tue 03: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 03: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. House trio: Michael Young (piano); Paul Grainger (double bass); Sid White (drums). CANCELLED!

Wed 04: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 04: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 04: Paul Skerritt @ Vespa Italian Bar & Steakhouse, Primrose Hill, Jarrow. From 7:00pm. To book a table - 0191 483 3355.
Wed 04: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 05: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 05: Sound the Trumpets @ King's Hall, Newcastle University. 1:15pm. Free.
Thu 05: Hot Club du Nord @ The Lubetkin Theatre, Peterlee. 7:00pm. £10.00. POSTPONED!
Thu 05: Thursday Night Prayer Meeting @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.
Thu 05: Tommy Bentz Trio + Mark Croft Duo + George Shovlin & George Lamb @ The Harbour View, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Harbour View Speakeasy's USA blues double bill + Shovlin & Lamb!
Thu 05: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Ragtime piano. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.
Thu 05: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 06: Alcyona Mick @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Fri 06: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 06: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 06: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 06: WORKSHOP: Philosophy of Arts & Entertainment @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 2:00pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Fri 06: Balo @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 6:20pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Fri 06: Paul Skerritt @ 3Sixty Champagne Lounge, Hadrian’s Tower, Newcastle. From 7:00pm. To book a table - 0191 933 8591.
Fri 06: Lexer/Mayes/Noble + Semay Wu + Miman @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 7:20pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Fri 06: Dulcie May Moreno @ The Vault, Hexham. 7:30pm. £20.00. Book in advance. Moreno with Alan Law, Paul Grainger & John Bradford.
Fri 06: Dean Stockdale Quartet @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm. 'Celebrating Oscar'.
Fri 06: Nu Brass Sounds: Big Brass Bash @ Billy Bootlegger’s, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free.
Fri 06: TBC @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Blind Pig Blues Club. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

Sat 07: WORKSHOP: Philosophy of Arts & Entertainment @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 10:15am. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Sat 07: Hot Club du Nord @ St Augustine's Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm.
Sat 07: Bugge & Niccols + Moore & Fairhall @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Sat 07: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. Tutor: Steve Glendinning - All the Things You Are. £25.00. Enrol at: www.jazz.coop.
Sat 07: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 6:00pm. Free.
Sat 07: Rie Nakajima @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 6:20pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Sat 07: Paul Skerritt @ 3Sixty Champagne Lounge, Hadrian’s Tower, Newcastle. From 7:00pm. To book a table - 0191 933 8591.
Sat 07: Samuel Blaser Trio + Toxvaerd & Zeeberg + Muramatsu & Welch @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 7:20pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Sat 07: Anth Purdy @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Sat 07: Rendezvous Jazz @ Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.

Sun 08: Zoë Gilby Quintet + Ubunye @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Line-up inc. Tony Kofi. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Sun 08: Tommy Bentz Band @ Tyne Bar, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. USA blues band.

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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