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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).

Tuesday, February 20, 2018

CD Review: Andy Sheppard Quartet – Romaria

Andy Sheppard – tenor and soprano saxophones; Eivind Aarset – guitar; Michel Benita – double bass; Sebastian Rochford – drums
(Review by Hugh C) 
There was something of the theatrical about my encounter, at the Alphabetti theatre, with a diminutive, smartly dressed gentleman during the interval of the recent Strictly Smokin'/Paul Booth gig.  “I'm glad I met you, I have something for you”, he said, reaching into one of the voluminous inner pockets of his coat.  Producing a sheaf of review CDs, Lance proceeded to sort through them in the dimly lit auditorium.  “Andy Sheppard?” he said handing me a CD still in its shrink-wrap and then searching for another for me to deliver to a BSH colleague.

On the majority of occasions, a review CD from Lance will come wrapped in one or more A4 sheets of printed press release held in place by an elastic band.  This information is often duplicated on the CD case insert or the record label website.  I find these sources useful in providing a skeleton on which to hang my words.  In this case, there were no attached printed sheets, bare minimum track and personnel details on the insert and limited information on the ECM website (actually there was no mention of this CD when I first looked!). This review is therefore not influenced by any external sources and based purely on my listening and personal prejudices (Lance knows I like Andy Sheppard's output).

The CD was recorded in the spacious acoustic of Auditorio Stelio Molo in Lugano – home of the acclaimed Orchestra Della Svizzera Italiana.  With the exception of the title track, these are all Sheppard's compositions.  This is very much an extension of the explorative process the quartet started with their previous release, Surrounded by Sea - previously reviewed on BSH.  
Track 1, And a Day opens with a few seconds silence followed by a slow rhythmic beat on Rochford's drums, gradually joined by the other musicians.  The gentle pace of Rochford's spacious percussion is maintained throughout, overlain by melodic interplay.  Sheppard's signature tenor sound and motifs are identifiable from the start.  
Thirteen, in complete contrast, commences with rapid-fire cymbals.  Sheppard, on soprano this time, adds a middle-Eastern flavour.  The hurried pace is maintained for thfirst-halflf reducing to a more sedate pace for a while before picking up speed gradually towards the end.  
The title track, Romaria (a small municipality in Brazil) is by Brazilian singer/songwriter Renato Teixeira.  In this track, as in the majority on this album, there is complex interplay between saxophone, guitar and bass – very much a melodic participant throughout the album.  
Pop sees the laid back drumming of Rochford very much to the fore, but by no means to the exclusion of the other members of the quartet.  
They Come From The North features (perhaps not unexpectedly) the Norwegian Aarset's haunting electronically enhanced guitar chords – evoking an empty Arctic scene and the Northern Lights on the horizon. 
With Every Flower That Falls really brings Benita's bass out of the “rhythm section” and right into the melodic fold.  
All Becomes Again commences with a rhythmic bass solo, slowly picked up on the drums later joined by guitar and tenor.  
The CD goes out on a high in Forever with Sheppard's melodic tenor against Aarset's extended guitar chords.
Romaria was released on February 16 and is available on CD or LP.  ECM catalogue number: ECM 2577.
In the UK the Quartet may be seen live at St. George's, Bristol on May 3 and will also be at the 2018 Cheltenham Jazz Festival on May 6.
Hugh.

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