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Bebop Spoken There

Orrin Evans: “Now, getting a teaching spot is the new record deal”. (DownBeat, November, 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

17523 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 16 years ago. 797 of them this year alone and, so far, 35 this month (Nov. 10).

From This Moment On ...

November

Mon 11: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 11: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Wheatsheaf, Benton Sq., Whitley Road, Palmersville NE12 9SU. Tel: 0191 266 8137. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 11: Graham Hardy’s Eclectic Quartet @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00.

Tue 12: Matthew Forster Quartet @ Newcastle House Hotel, Rothbury. 7:30pm.
Tue 12: Phil’s Elastic Band @ The Forum, Darlington. 7:30pm. Free, but ticketed, book online.

Wed 13: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 13: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 13: The Tannery Jam Session @ The Tannery, Gilesgate, Hexham. 7:00-9:00pm. Free. A ‘second Wednesday in the month’ jam session.
Wed 13: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 13: corto.alto @ Hoochie Coochie, Newcastle. 7:45pm (doors 7:00pm). £14.00. + bf.

Thu 14: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 14: Faye MacCalman & John Pope @ King’s Hall, Newcastle University. 1:15pm. Free.
Thu 14: Student Performances @ King’s Hall, Newcastle University. 4:00pm. Inc. Olly Styles (saxophone).
Thu 14: Happy Tuesdays @ Ye Olde Cross, Ryton. 7:30pm. Free.
Thu 14: John Stowell & Tom Remon @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Top class US/UK guitar duo!
Thu 14: King Bees @ The Cumberland Arms, Byker, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Superb Chicago blues band. Note, Struggle Buggy will no longer be appearing.
Thu 14: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesborough. 8:30pm. Free. Guests: Jeremy McMurray (keys); Kevin Eland (trumpet); Mark Toomey (alto sax); Adrian Beadnell (bass).

Fri 15: Nicola Farnon Trio @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 15: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 15: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 15: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 15: Tim Kliphuis Trio @ Morpeth Methodist Church, Morpeth NE61 1HU. 7:30pm. £18.00.; £3.00. student (over 18); Free 18 or under. A Morpeth Music Society event. Kliphuis (violin), Nigel Clark (guitar), Roy Percy (double bass).
Fri 15: Lindsay Hannon’s Blues Trio @ 1719, Hendon, Sunderland. 7:30pm. £12.00. + bf.
Fri 15: Groovetrain @ The Exchange 1856, North Shields. 7:00pm. £22.50. + bf. Groovetrain’s ‘Big Night Out’.

Sat 16: Liane Carroll: Jazz Vocal Weekend Workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 9:00am-5:00pm. £95.00. Day 1/2. SOLD OUT!
Sat 16: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm.
Sat 16: Papa G’s Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sat 16: Brand New Heavies @ Boiler Shop, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). £75.00. + bf; £30.00. + bf.

Sun 17: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 17: Liane Carroll: Jazz Vocal Weekend Workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 9:00am-5:00pm. £95.00. Day 2/2. SOLD OUT!
Sun 17: Eva Fox & the Jazz Guys @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 17: Liane Carroll @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Sun 17: Julian Lage @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm. Lage, solo guitar.

Mon 18: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 18: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Wheatsheaf, Benton Sq., Whitley Road, Palmersville NE12 9SU. Tel: 0191 266 8137. 1:00pm. Free.

Reviewers wanted

Whilst BSH attempts to cover as many gigs, festivals and albums as possible, to make the site even more comprehensive we need more 'boots on the ground' to cover the albums seeking review - a large percentage of which never get heard - report on gigs or just to air your views on anything jazz related. Interested? then please get in touch. Contact details are on the blog. Look forward to hearing from you. Lance

Sunday, March 04, 2018

CD Review: Norma Winstone - Descansado - Songs for Films

Norma Winstone – voice; Klaus Gesing - bass clarinet, soprano saxophone; Glauco Venier – piano; Helge Andreas Norbakken  - percussion;  Mario Brunello - violoncello, violoncello piccolo.
(Review by Debra M).
British singer Norma Winstone has been performing jazz for six decades,  and the outstanding quality of her music has been so sustained that as recently as 2017 she won Jazz FM award for Vocalist of the Year. Her latest work, Descansado  - Songs For Films is the fifth album recorded with pianist Glauco Venier and reedsman Klaus Gesing.  For this project, the trio were augmented by percussionist Helge Andreas Norbakken and Marion Brunello on violoncello.  Gesing and Venier have created new arrangements of music by composers such as Michel Legrand, William Walton, Bernard Herrmann, and Ennio Morricone, from films by directors including Martin Scorsese, Jean-Luc Godard, Wim Wenders, Norman Jewison, and Franco Zeffirelli.

The opening  His Eyes Her Eyes by Michel Legrand is given a restrained, contemplative treatment compared to the lush ‘60s soundtrack in The Thomas Crown Affair, but its intensity is focussed in the soaring soprano sax solo.  More reflections on young love follow in What Is A Youth? from Zeffirelli’s Romeo and Juliet, a dramatic arrangement featuring percussion, violoncello & bass clarinet. However, the mood lightens subsequently with songs such as the Latin-influenced title track Descansado.  
The oldest piece is by British classical composer William Walton - Touch Her Soft Lips And Part, from Olivier’s Henry V (1944).  Walton’s orchestral string arrangement is transformed in an intimate ensemble featuring Winstone’s touching lyrics and a tender violoncello accompaniment.  The traditional English theme continues in Meryton Town Hall, from Joe Wright’s Pride and Prejudice (2005).  Starting with violoncello, the rhythmic, vibrant piece gradually builds with clarinet, percussion and voice intertwining melodic lines.  This is surprisingly effective, and joyous, although one imagines that the Bennetts and their peers may have found  Ye Olde English Scat quite disturbing! 
Much of the music of the album feels spacious and contemplative, reflecting its cinematic context, and Michel Legrand, one of the masters of this genre,  has two compositions included. His second piece, Vivre Sa Vie is presented firstly as an atmospheric and evocative ensemble piece, and then in the last track, as a short reprise of solo piano by Glauco Venier.  An appropriately understated, yet dramatic finale.

Debra M.

1 comment :

Hughes said...

Ah, young love...

I remember eet well!

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