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Bebop Spoken There

Béla Fleck: “ And that's the great thing about live performances, you take people on a journey. It doesn't have to be like something else they've heard. It's not supposed to be". DownBeat, April, 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

Thu 28: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 28: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Gateshead Central Library, Gateshead. 2:30pm.
Thu 28: Richard Herdman Quartet @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 28: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm. Guests: Josh Bentham (alto sax); Alan Marshall (tenor sax); Neil Brodie (trumpet); Adrian Beadnell (bass); Graham Thompson (keys); Steve Hunter (drums).

Fri 29: FILM: Soul @ The Forum Cinema, Hexham. 12:30pm. Jazz-themed film animation.
Fri 29: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 29: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 29: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 29: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 6:00pm. Free. POSTPONED!
Fri 29: Thundercat @ Newcastle City Hall.
Fri 29: John Logan @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sat 30: Papa G’s Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sat 30: Pete Tanton’s Cuba Libre @ Whitley Bay Library, York Road, Whitley Bay. 8:00pm.

Sun 31: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay Metro Station. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 31: Ruth Lambert Trio @ Juke Shed, Union Quay, North Shields NE30 1HJ. 3:00pm. Free. Lambert, Alan Law & Paul Grainger.
Sun 31: Sid Jacobs & Tom Remon @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. USA/London jazz guitar duo.
Sun 31: Bellavana @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

April
Mon 01: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 01: Ray Stubbs R&B All Stars @ Billy Bootlegger’s, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 3:00pm. Free.

Tue 02: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Dean Stockdale, Paul Grainger, Abbie Finn.

Wed 03: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 03: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 03: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Wednesday, March 29, 2017

CD Review: Akua Dixon - Akua's Dance

Akua Dixon (baritone violin, cello, voice); Freddie Bryant (guitar); Kenny Davis (bass); Victor Lewis (drums); Russell Malone (guitar); Ron Carter (bass).
(Review by Steve T)
This must be the lady who played the Newcastle Jazz Caff a while back which I, unfortunately, couldn't make.
No doubt others will be able to point to precedents but I'm unaware of any Jazz with a cello as lead instrument and I was further intrigued to learn, after a couple of plays, that some of it's actually a baritone violin.
Her playing is immense and there's some brilliant solo exchanges, particularly with the guitarists.

Her voice only features on one track, Throw it Away by Abbey Lincoln, and the notes describe her voice as soulful, but it isn't in any conventional way and I found it more suited to show tunes and musicals.
There's a traditional spiritual and a version of Sade's Sweetest Tabu to get you guessing where you've heard it before. Sade's career began as part of the British acid/Jazz/dance scene of the eighties which evolved from northern soul and Jazz-funk, but with almost immediate chart action, abandoned her long before this point. The rest of the album features originals by the lady.
The strongest track for me is the title track with an exotic feel and builds nicely. Also of note is Afrika! Afrika! with a deep, dark and powerful sound coming from the cello, mostly unaccompanied for almost four of its almost seven minutes. A couple of times it sounds like it could go into Paranoid by Black Sabbath.
I imagine this would have been fantastic live and have it on the best authority that it was, so I imagine she'll shift plenty of copies at gigs.
It's been out since February. 

Steve T.

4 comments :

Russell said...

Steve, you're thinking of Ayanna Witter-Johnson, and fabulous she was too! Aqua Dixon is an established NYC name working across the jazz to classical spectrum. If Dixon should ever turn up at the Jazz Cafe make sure you're second in the queue.

Steve T said...

So there are other cellists in Jazz. Thanks for that , I must investigate further.

Lance said...

Like Oscar Pettiford with Duke and Fred Katz with Chico Hamilton and, I bet, even Andy Champion has a cello hidden in the closet!

Steve T said...

Contemplated a Pettiford box set but too much music, too little time. Not a lot of people know this but if you put more than six hundred items (incl books, DVDs)in your Amazon basket, they randomly take stuff out without telling you.
I feel an excuse to explore my latest Duke box coming on though.

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