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Bebop Spoken There

Branford Marsalis: "As ignorance often forces us to do, you make a generalisation about a musician based on one specific record or one moment in time." - (Jazzwise June 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

15478 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 499 of them this year alone and, so far, 120 this month (May 27).

From This Moment On ...

May 2023

Wed 31: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 31: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 31: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 7:00pm.
Wed 31: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

June
Thu 01: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 01: Thursday Night Prayer Meeting @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Donations.
Thu 01: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Ragtime piano. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.
Thu 01: Jake Leg Jug Band @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Thu 01: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 02: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 02: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 02: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 02: Joseph Carville Trio @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm.
Fri 02: Claire Martin & Her Trio @ The Witham, Barnard Castle. 7:30pm. £25.00., £20.00. Feat. Jim Mullen, Alex Garnett & Jeremy Brown.
Fri 02: Guy Davis + Michael Littlefield & Scott Taylor @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. Doors 7:30pm. Blues double bill.
Fri 02: Anders Ingram @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Blind Pig Blues Club. Country blues. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

Sat 03: Newcastle Record Fair @ Northumbria University, Newcastle NE8 8SB. 10:00am-3:00pm. Admission: £2.00.
Sat 03: Pedigree Jazz Band @ St Augustine's Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm.
Sat 03: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. Tutor: Sue Ferris. £25.00. Enrol at: www.jazz.coop.
Sat 03: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 6:00pm. Free.
Sat 03: Rendezvous Jazz @ Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.
Sat 03: Papa G's Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

Sun 04: Smokin' Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm.
Sun 04: Central Bar Quintet @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00-4:00pm. £5.00. The Central Bar Quintet plays Sonny Rollins' Saxophone Colossus. Featuring Lewis Watson.
Sun 04: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 3:00pm.
Sun 04: Struggle Buggy + Michael Littlefield @ Tyne Bar, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. Acoustic blues.
Sun 04: Swinging at the Cotton Club: Harry Strutters' Hot Rhythm Orchestra @ The Fire Station, Sunderland. 7:30pm.
Sun 04: Richard Jones Trio @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 05: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

Tue 06: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 06: Jam session @ Black Swan, Newcastle Arts Centre. 7:30pm. House trio: Stu Collingwood (piano); Paul Grainger (double bass); Sid White (drums).

Sunday, October 01, 2017

CD Review: Stan Sulzmann and John Taylor – Double Exposure

Stan Sulzmann – piccolo, flute, alto flute, clarinet, saxophones; John Taylor – piano, synthesiser
(Review by Hugh C)
It was during my conversation with Nikki Iles at the Late Night Jazz gig at Hexham Abbey Festival that my attention was drawn to the existence of this CD.  My interest was sparked and I sought out a copy.  The CD was actually recorded in 1990 at Sentinel Studios in Cornwall and has (for reasons unspecified) just been released this year.
Stan Sulzmann and John Taylor were invited in 1990 to Cornwall by the studio to spend a few days recording and experimenting with new material and sounds.  At that time Sulzmann owned a Roland D50 synthesiser, which he lent to John Taylor. JT proceeded to completely reprogram the synthesiser and personalise it to his own requirements.  The duo were able to experiment using the synthesiser in improvised duets, as well as performing their compositions with John Taylor on piano.  Some of the new pieces were conceived on site.  This CD shows a side of John Taylor which became unfamiliar in his later years, where he concentrated solely on his first love, his Steinway piano.
Pure and Simple is just that – a jazz duet between soprano sax and acoustic piano.  Slow Loris again sees Taylor at the piano, largely solo, but with a short contribution by Sulzmann on tenor sax towards the end.  Stango features piano and tenor and, as you might expect, transports you to Buenos Aires (not far from Cornwall really!).  In Stango we begin to feel the influences of music other than “jazz”.  The next track Free Ballad takes us to a ghostly world of synthesised sounds.  This is the first of three tracks on the CD with joint compositional attribution – perhaps one of those conceived on at the time of recording.  Despite the word Free in the title, it remains definitely melodic, and to my ear definitely Ballad. 
Extracts (also co-composed) jolts this complacency with repetitive stabbing synthesiser and saxophone turning to abstract riffs and effects.  CD Smith (flute and piano) takes us in the direction of European contemporary music and reflects the artists' influences such as Messiaen, Prokofiev and Hindemith.  Country/Raindrops (co-composed) is (what I would call free), with seemingly (to the untutored ear) random sounds from reeds, flute and synthesiser – I do however get the raindrops component. 
Cartoon/Room for Improvement (flutes/synthesiser) is in a similar vein to the previous track initially, but turns into a jaunty ditty with fine flute and piccolo playing by Sulzmann; piano is added later.  Straight Man has a Messiaenic quality, with spectral extended chords on synth and melodic overlay by Sulzmann's clarinet.  'Q' is a quick fire duel between piano and saxophone which settles into more of a duet over time.  Ocean Deep (piano/saxophone) returns to more of a conventional jazz idiom.  Spider features piano and flute and could perhaps be a sensual combination that draws you into its web.  The final track, Heart, takes us back to where we began – piano and saxophone.   The track deliberately leaves us with a question as it slowly fades to nothing at 5.15

This CD (26 years in gestation) was mastered and edited in 2016 and released earlier this year.  It shows a side of both Taylor and Sulzmann which is probably not familiar to the majority of listeners.  In a London Jazz News podcast, Sulzmann suggests reasons as to why John Taylor may have returned to the piano following his adventures into electronics. Sulzmann himself also now concentrates on the saxophone, and has sold his piccolo and clarinet.
Insightful review?  Perhaps, but a lot of the insight comes from the mouth/pen of Mr Sulzmann himself.
Hugh C
Double Exposure is released on Inversion Records (INV002CD) and is available through Interspear Music, Jazz CDs and Amazon.
The London Jazz News podcast of an interview with Stan Sulzmann is available to download here.

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