Total Pageviews

Bebop Spoken There

Art Blakey: "You [Bobby Watson] don't want to play too long, because you don't know they're clapping because they're glad you finished!" - (JazzTimes, Nov. 2019)..

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

15848 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 855 of them this year alone and, so far, 53 this month (Sept. 18).

From This Moment On ...

September

Sun 24: Musicians Unlimited @ Park Inn, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 24: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.

Mon 25: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Mon 25: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 7:00pm.

Tue 26: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.

Wed 27: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 27: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 27: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 28: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 28: Alice Grace Quartet @ King's Hall, Newcastle University. 1:15pm. Free.
Thu 28: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Gateshead Central Library, Gateshead. 2:30pm. All welcome.
Thu 28: Faye MacCalman + Snape/Sankey @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 28: Zoe Rahman @ Jesmond United Reformed Church, Jesmond, Newcastle. 7:30pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Thu 28: '58 Jazz Collective @ Hops & Cheese, Hartlepool. 7:30pm.
Thu 28: Speakeasy @ Queen's Hall, Hexham. 7:30pm. £15.00. A Southpaw Dance Company presentation. Dance, audio-visuals, Count Basie, Benny Goodman, swing dancers etc.
Thu 28: Mick Cantwell Band @ Harbour View, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Ace blues band.
Thu 28: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 29: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 29: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 29: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.

Sat 30: John Pope Quintet + Late Girl + Shapeshifters @ Bobik's, Jesmond, Newcastle.
Sat 30: Papa G's Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

Saturday, February 18, 2017

CD Review: Beata Pater - Fire Dance

Beata Pater (vocals, producer); Alex Danson (composer); Sam Newsome (sop sax); Anton Schwartz (ten sax); Aaron Lington (bar sax); Scott Collard (keys); Aaron German (bass); Alan Hall (drums); Brian Rice (perc).
(Review by Ann Alex)
I was prepared to be disappointed by this music which was described as wordless vocals, ‘pushing the envelope of vocal artistry’.  There was also a very wordy enclosure describing the music, which is sometimes a bad sign, but the music turned out to be absolutely delightful. Ms Pater and Alex Danson the composer have come up with fully integrated, interesting, tuneful, well thought out music, much of it influenced by eastern folk elements, but still suitable to be called jazz, perhaps world jazz would be an appropriate term. Listeners shouldn’t be put off by the track titles; Curse Of The Locusts; Daylight Saving; Sand Dunes; Harvest Season; Fire Dance; The Princess; Round Dance; Flashback; The Quest; Reaping Spell; Ritual. There is a loose narrative feel to the whole work.
The voice is one of the instruments of the band, often in the lead, and enhanced by multi-tracking, so the vocals are not scat at all, but are a well-integrated part of the whole. There is a rhythmic thrust which is influenced by North African and Eastern European music.  Curse of the Locusts opens with jungle-like drums, then a staccato vocal, a jazz tune moving along well, then the saxes enter, sounding a bit like insects, and the track ends with a kind of resolution with pleasing overdubbed voices. Harvest Season has a peasant dance rhythm, full of joy; The Princess is a drifting, dreamy piece, lots of keys soloing, followed by a very free falling soprano sax. Flashback gives us a drone, eastern sounding vocals, shakers on the percussion, rounded off with jazzy keys. Reaping Spell has constant repetition, like the spell, and Ritual is layered, punchy and vocal driven. The instrumentalists are all well up to the mark.
This is Ms Pater’s fifth album – her previous work has been mostly re-imagined jazz standards, and after hearing this album, I’d guess that the previous CDs are well worth the listening.
Fire Dance is available on Amazon, iTunes and CD Baby from February 28.
Also on B&B Records, Cat no. BB0421  See www.beatapater.com    
Ann Alex

No comments :

Blog Archive