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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.

Tuesday, November 08, 2016

CD Reviews: Michael Formanek Ensemble Kolossus - The Distance. Jakob Bro Trio - Streams.

Michael Formanek (bass), Thomas Fujiwara (drums), Mary Halvorson (guitar), Kris Davis (piano), Patricia Brennan (marimba), Mark Helias (conductor).
Brass - David Ballou, Ralph Alessi, Shane Endsley, Kirk Knuffka, Alan Ferber, Jacob Garchik, Ben Gerstein, Jeff Nelson.
Reeds - Loren Stillman, Oscar Noriega, Chris Speed, Brian Settles, Tim Berne.
(Review by Steve T).
Reviewing ECM CDs is a bit like the American election - even this one; or for that matter a British election, though that may be changing. 40% of readers will have both of them already and another 40% wouldn't have either in the house.
I'm one of the undecideds - the Lib Dems, the independents - with a love-hate relationship with the label.

The Distance works as an entire album so singling out specific tracks is irrelevant. It starts slowly and sounds very much classical, but with light drums and compelling bass playing which runs throughout the album, and it was only after the first play I found out the band takes the bass players name.
Gradually it transforms into something more akin to the Miles/Gil Evans collaborations from the late fifties, with which it shares its holistic qualities.
The 'boring' bits are there to make the great bits even greater and you lose so much if you pull out Summertime or It Ain't Necessarily So out of Porgy and Bess.
In fact this album may well have been made for me as the Zappa influence comes through louder and clearer as it progresses, though solely in Strictly Genteel mode.
Ralph Alessi on trumpet, Alan Ferber on trombone and Mary Halvorson on guitar deserve mention for particularly striking solos.

Jakob Bro (guitar), Thomas Morgan (double bass), Joey Baron (drums).
This is the type of stuff critics of the label point at, myself included. A famous musician visiting the North East compared ECM to walking in the mountains above the fjords in Norway and this album is certainly from the very low key end of things. I know many people like this and indeed, this is the very quality that they look for from the label, pointing out that it's always done terribly tastefully.
Track four, Full Moon Europais the only track which produces any real fireworks but, like John Abercrombie’s bass trio stuff on the label, this is in no small part due to some inventive swirling drumming, though the guitar also has a rockier edge.
For the undecided needing a nudge, my vote goes The Distance.
Steve T.

2 comments :

Hugh said...

So, Formanek trumps Bro!

(I'll get my coat)

Steve T said...

BumBum.

Turns out I saw Bro in Cheltenham with Lee Konitz and Dave Douglas a couple of years back. Having seen Konitz eighteen months earlier, he'd really lost the plot and the gig was a mess.
I t was billed as a super-group and the Asian lady on the bass was terrific though she looked terrified (they were about to take it on tour), but Dave Douglas, in mischievous Bob Downey Junior mode, spotted a free run and dazzled.
I remember the guitarist played a telecaster, apparently the preferred solid body guitar for Jazz.

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