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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

Tue 26: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.

Wed 27: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 27: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 27: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

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.

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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