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Bebop Spoken There

Abbie Finn: "Even though there's a lot of great work being done to promote women in jazz, I still come up against some attitudes! I pulled up at a recording session with my drums in the car and the studio owner said, 'I'm sorry, this space is reserved for the drummer!'" - (Jazzwise April 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

15245 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 264 of them this year alone and, so far, 77 this month (March 25).

From This Moment On ...

March

Tue 28: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 28: Sanaz Lavasani Trio + Abbie Finn @ Black Swan, Newcastle Arts Centre. 8:00pm. £12.00 (£10.00. adv).

Wed 29: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 29: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 29: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 7:00pm.
Wed 29: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 30: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Gateshead Central Library. 2:30-4:30pm. £2.00. All welcome.
Thu 30: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. Back to 1:00pm stomp off. Free.
Thu 30: Castillo Nuevo @ Revolución de Cuba, Newcastle. 5:30-8:30pm.
Thu 30: '58 Jazz Collective @ Hops & Cheese, Hartlepool. 7:30pm. Free.
Thu 30: Lindsay Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ Harbour View, Sunderland. 8:00pm.
Thu 30: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 31: Lewis Watson Quartet @ Bishop Auckland Town Hall. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 31: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 31: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 31: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm. CANCELLED! Back next week (April 7).
Fri 31: Castillo Nuevo @ Revolución de Cuba, Newcastle. 5:30-8:30pm.
Fri 31: Jasmine Myra + Waclaw Zimpel @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Fri 31: The Revolutionaires @ The Shack, Boldon Colliery. 7:30pm. £10.00. The Revolutionaires' big band (horn section) line-up.
Fri 31: Andrew McCormack @ Maltings, Berwick. 8:00pm. £20.00.

April
Sat 01: The Big Easy @ St Augustine's Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm.
Sat 01: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. Tutor: Steve Glendinning - In a Minor Key. £25.00. Enrol at: www.jazz.coop.
Sat 01: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington Covered Market, Darlington DL1 5PN. 6:00pm. New venue, live jazz!
Sat 01: Boys of Brass @ Stack, Seaburn. 7:00-9:00pm.
Sat 01: Hot Club du Nord @ Pleased to Meet You, Bridge St., Morpeth. 8:00pm. £79.00. A charity fundraising event.
Sat 01: Rendezvous Jazz @ Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00. RESCHEDULED to next week (Sat 08).

Sun 02: Smokin' Spitfires @ The Cluny. 12:45pm.
Sun 02: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 3:00pm.

Mon 03: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

Wednesday, May 30, 2018

CD Review: Alina Bzhezhinska - Inspiration.

Alina Bzhezhinska (harp); Tony Kofi (tenor/soprano); Larry Bartley (bass); Joel Prime (drums).
(Review by Lance)
There haven't been too many jazz harpists, in fact, I can only think of five: Caspar Reardon who recorded with Jack Teagarden and died in 1941; Bobby Maxwell, who composed Ebbtide, and died in 2012; Corky Hale, whom I heard at the North Sea Jazz Festival 35 years ago and is still active. Alice Coltrane, who died in 2007 and was perhaps better known as a pianist, and, now, Alina Bzhezhinska. Alina, originally from Ukraine/Poland and currently based in London, may have passed under my radar but this hasn't stopped her becoming internationally renowned and being nominated for Best Live Experience of the Year at this year's Jazz FM Awards where she lost out to the Ezra Collective.
In 2017, Alina led an Alice Coltrane celebration at various venues around the UK so it is no surprise that this album is dedicated to the Coltranes with four compositions by Alice, one by John, four of her own and a free improvisation - Following a Lovely Sky Boat.
I'm insufficiently savvy regarding harpology but, to my ears, virtuoso wouldn't be an incorrect noun to apply. With Kofi, I'm on safer ground having heard him several times over the years and knowing that he too has an affinity with the legacy left by either of the Coltranes. It is displayed on both tenor and soprano without the undue excesses JC was sometimes guilty of although I know that my guilty verdict will certainly be a get out of jail free card for others. 
Alina's original, Lemky, inspired by the music of a tribe from the Carpathian Mountains that was forced to leave its home, captures, totally, the sadness and the pathos behind the emotional content.
With Bartley and Prime adding their own individuality this is no ordinary us and them quartet but a musically integrated group of unique voices.
Bzhezhinska neatly sums up her own playing: "With my instrument, I don't try to fit into any kind of styles or trends in jazz. I try to be truthful and remember what Alice Coltrane said - 'In music, I don't think I have real preferences about the form...when you express your heart, it has to come from you' ".
Lance
Alina Bzhezhinska - Inspiration is available June 1 on Ubuntu Music UBU0008.
There is a launch concert at The Vortex on 15 June.
In August the band have a three-day Tour de Yorkshire:
August 17: Basement Jazz Club, York.
August 18: Ilkley Jazz Festival.
August 19: CB Inn, Arkengarthdale, Swaledale (not mentioned on her website).

2 comments :

Dave Brownlow said...

Bird used 2 different harpists in his 'Charlie Parker With Strings' albums and his live performances - i.e. Wallace McManus and Verley Mills.
I don't recall either of them taking an actual solo in these pieces, but Charlie's arrangers certainly used them with large flourishes and to dramatic effect.
Dave Brownlow.

Steve Andrews said...

Adele Girard, married to Joe Marsala, active with hubby on 52nd St. in the 1930's.

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