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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

15867 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 874 of them this year alone and, so far, 72 this month (Sept. 25).

From This Moment On ...

September

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.

OCTOBER

Sun 01: Smokin' Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm.
Sun 01: Dulcie May Moreno sings Portrait of Sheila @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £10.00. Moreno sings Sheila Jordan with Giles Strong, Mick Shoulder & John Bradford.
Sun 01: Middlesbrough Jazz & Blues Orchestra @ Saltburn Community Hall. 2:00pm.
Sun 01: The Easy Rollers @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £13.70., £11.55.
Sun 01: Brand/Roberts/Champion/Sanders @ Blank Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Sun 01: Papa G's Troves @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 02: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Mon 02: FILM: Wattstax; 50th Anniversary @ Forum Cinema, Hexham. 8:00pm.

Tue 03: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 03: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. House trio: Michael Young (piano); Paul Grainger (double bass); Paul Wight (drums).

Wed 04: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 04: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 04: Paul Skerritt @ Vespa Italian Bar & Steakhouse, Primrose Hill, Jarrow. From 7:00pm. To book a table - 0191 483 3355.
Wed 04: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Monday, January 29, 2018

CD Review: Matthew Read Trio - Anecdotes II

Benedict Wood (guitar), Matthew Read (double bass) & Arthur Newell (drums)
(Review by Russell) 
Three recent Guildhall graduates, the Matthew Read Trio is shortly to release a second album, a second volume, titled Anecdotes II. All bar one of the eleven tracks were written by bassist Read with one other contributed by guitarist Benedict Wood. Drummer Arthur Newell doesn’t contribute a
composition to the album but his sensitive playing is first-rate from start to finish.           

A press release states that the trio draws influence from ‘jazz, folk, country, hip-hop, dance music, spirituals and both European and American church music…’ Listening to the album (twice), one or two questions arise: Are these influences evident? Should one read this blurb in advance of sitting down to listen to the recording? Bebop Spoken Here’s CD and gig reviewer Steve H said recently that he listens to a review album three times. Perhaps all BST contributors could/should follow suit. First impressions are important and further listening invariably reveals something missed the first time around. A firm conclusion about Matthew Read’s Anecdotes II is that it is the work of three top class young musicians. Another conclusion is that the album purposely doesn’t set out to blow away the listener by dint of coruscating pyrotechnics. Thoughtful, measured, beautifully recorded (by Owain Fleetwood Jenkins), Anecdotes II is an album of contemporary jazz referencing the small combos noted for their abilities as composers in addition to their intimate and immaculate performances in the studio and on stage. Perhaps In Motian refers to Paul Motian. Benedict Wood’s guitar playing would have been appreciated by the likes of Jim Hall, perhaps Barney Kessel, and then there is a contemporary giant, Pat Metheny. Influences? Perhaps.

The press release imagines Kendrick Lamar (2018 Grammy award-winning ‘Best Rap Album’) and Kurt Rosenwinkel playing together would result in something like the track K. This track, more than any other, has a distinctive hook with its retro ’60s tv series theme tune feel and it is more uptempo than the other ten cuts on the album. In the era of the digital download Read’s Revolutions laments the loss of the physical product – ie the 33 rpm album (and its artwork). The track’s waltz-time feel and subtle swing make this one of two or three standout compositions. Bandleader bassist Read was the 2016 recipient of the prestigious Dankworth Prize for Big Band composition and arranging. Anecdotes II is a testament to Read’s abilities and, what’s more, he doesn’t seek the limelight, the trio form being his primary concern.                              

The Matthew Read Trio will launch the new CD Anecdotes II* on Thursday 15 February at Kansas Smitty’s in London. The trio’s British tour is underway, tonight (29 January) it’s Manchester at the Peer Hat, tomorrow it’s Liverpool (Parr Jazz), continuing throughout February into April. The Jazz Café, Newcastle welcomes the trio on Friday (2 February), 9:00pm. Advance tickets can be obtained by telephoning the venue from noon tomorrow (Tuesday) on 0191 222 9882.
Russell.
* The CD cover doesn’t identify a record label. The catalogue number is BOD002. For further info visit: www.matthewread.co.uk  or see Matthew Read at a gig as he’s sure to have copies with him.

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