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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, September 26, 2017

CD Review: Rez Abbasi - Unfiltered Universe

Rez Abbasi (guitar); Rudresh Manhanthappa (alto); Vijay Iyer (piano); Johannes Weidemueller (bass); Dan Weiss (drums); Elizabeth Mikhael (cello).

My apologies for posting the press release as opposed to my own insightful, intelligent observations but, to be honest, after reading it I was totally confused and came to the conclusion that I wasn’t as insightful and intelligent as I thought I was! I listened to it though and despite still being confused I found it a compelling experience. Abbasi is quite a brilliant guitarist; Manhanthappa as I found out from the soon to be released album under his own name – Agrima by Rudresh Manhanthappa’s Indo-Pak Coalition – is no slouch either. That album also featured Weiss. Iyer is now a jazz household name and Johannes Weidemueller is known and acclaimed as both player and educator from Heidelberg to New York City. So whilst the blurb went over my head, the music didn’t. It’s out on Whirlwind on Friday, October 6. 
Lance.

(Press release)
Completing a trilogy of albums whose compositions are infused with the various, colorful strands of traditional music from his Pakistani/Indian homeland, New York guitarist Rez Abbasi’s Unfiltered Universe presents his usual line-up plus guest appearances from renowned classical cellist Elizabeth Mikhael. Previous releases Things to Come and Suno Suno focused, respectively, on Hindustani and Qawwali music, whereas this collection of seven new numbers explores and embraces the more rhythmically exuberant, South Asian elements of Carnatic instrumental music.
 
Originally hailing from Karachi – and creating fresh, contemporary sounds here with players who themselves are all well-versed in north and south Indian music – Abbasi sees his subconscious responses as an equally important source of inspiration alongside the imprint of his treasured, cultural heritage. “I have an intuitive way of approaching composition – an idea of searching but not searching, being conscious but not conscious. So with all of the influences I’ve absorbed (including Indian music, Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, Jim Hall, Keith Jarrett, Led Zeppelin), why would I want a tunnel-vision thing happening when I can have this ‘unfiltered universe’? I’ve had the good fortune to play alongside some great Carnatic musicians – a lot of jazz players don’t get to do that. But instead of interjecting specific Carnatic ideas, I use their energy as a foundation. 

“Earlier albums featured the distinctive sounds of, for example, tabla and sitar – but on this recording, there’s no Indian instrument at all, so it’s an experiment in camouflaging that exoticism. There’s certainly a rhythmic and improvisational empathy between Indian music and jazz; but here, what you’re hearing is what you’re not used to hearing” – something which Abbasi defines more acutely as ‘creative music with a jazz weighting’ rather than the quite different concepts of ‘Indian jazz’ or ‘Indojazz’. 

Abbasi’s complex meters are often based on underlying, architectural structures of expansion and compression which, in propulsive, shifting ‘Thin-king’, give rise to its beautifully searching melody; and enigmatic, tumbling ‘Turn of Events’ finds an exciting, flowing synergy between cello, guitar and sax. Carefully-crafted ‘Propensity’ features a bassline which moves by an eighth note, almost undetected, through multi-time-signatured sections: “There are five-and-a-half beats there, six beats here, like the idea of someone breathing or walking irregularly”. Rock-grooving ‘Disagree to Agree’ is an angular, stoic reflection on prevalent political turmoil; and the contrasting joyousness of ‘Dance Number’ has its roots in Abbasi’s and Mahanthappa’s intense sessions working with a Carnatic dance company, the guitarist’s writing echoing the vitality of their steps and rhythms. 


Rez Abbasi concludes: “With Unfiltered Universe, I’d like to trigger an emotional response which, perhaps, could change something subconsciously. If my music can impact listeners on that level, I feel I’ve succeeded. But my essential musical message is that jazz can also be this – it can be creative without being totally improvised and moving without being stylized. I hope listeners will live this record”.

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