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Bebop Spoken There

Spasmo Brown: “Jazz is an ice cream sandwich! It's the Fourth of July! It's a girl with a waterbed!”. (Syncopated Times, July, 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

17328 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 16 years ago. 612 of them this year alone and, so far, 17 this month (Sept. 5).

From This Moment On ...

September

Mon 09: Mark Williams Trio @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 1:00pm. £9.00.
Mon 09: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 10: ???

Wed 11: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 11: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 11: The Tannery Jam Session @ The Tannery, Gilesgate, Hexham. 7:00-9:00pm. Free. A ‘second Wednesday in the month’ jam session.
Wed 11: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 12: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 12: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:30pm. £4.00. ‘A Great Day in Harlem’.
Thu 12: The Cuban Heels @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Pete Tanton & co.
Thu 12: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesborough. 8:30pm. Free. THC with guests Donna Hewitt, Bill Watson, Dave Archbold, Adrian Beadnell, Mark Hawkins.

Fri 13: Jeff Barnhart & Neville Dickie @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Two pianos, two pianists! SOLD OUT!
Fri 13: Noel Dennis Quartet @ The Old Library, Auckland Castle, Bishop Auckland. 1:00pm. £8.00.
Fri 13: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 13: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 13: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 13: Dilutey Juice @ Old Coal Yard, Byker, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £11.00. adv..
Fri 13: Ray Stubbs R & B All-stars @ The Forum, Darlington. 7:30pm. Classic blues.

Sat 14: Jeff Barnhart’s Silent Film Fest @ St Augustine's Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. Darlington New Orleans Jazz Club.
Sat 14: Customs House Big Band w. Ruth Lambert @ St Paul’s Centre, St Paul’s Gardens, Spennymoor DL16 7LR. 7:00pm (6:45pm doors). Tickets £10.00. from the venue or tel: 01388 813404. A ‘BYOB’ event.
Sat 14: Emma Wilson @ Claypath Deli, Durham. 7:00pm. £12.00. Acoustic blues.
Sat 14: Rat Pack - Swingin’ at the Sands @ Billingham Forum. 7:30pm.

Sun 15: Jude Murphy, Steve Chambers & Sid White @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 15: Tweed River Jazz Band @ Barrels Ale House, Berwick-upon-Tweed. 7:00pm. Free.
Sun 15: Panharmonia @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Thursday, May 24, 2018

CD Review: Matt Anderson Quartet - Rambling

Matt Anderson (tenor & alto saxophones); Peter Lee (piano, keyboards); Will Harris (double bass); Jay Davis (drums) + Nick Malcolm (trumpet) tracks 1,2,6,9,10; Owen Dawson (trombone) tracks 1,2,6,9,10; Aubin Vanns (guitar) tracks 1,2,9,10
(Review by Russell). 
Rambling is Matt Anderson’s follow up to his 2015 debut recording Wild Flower. The saxophonist’s quartet – Peter Lee, piano and keyboards, Will Harris, double bass and drummer Jay Davis – with the addition of contributions from trumpeter Nick Malcolm, trombonist Owen Dawson, and guitarist Aubin Banns, further enhances the Yorkshireman’s reputation as an accomplished composer. The ten tracks on this Jellymould release were written by Anderson and the band leader has the grace and humility to state that track number four – Count Up/Tune Down – is based on John Coltrane’s Countdown.

Rambling is framed by a brass band-like beginning and a brass band-like ending, perhaps owing a debt to Anderson’s north of England upbringing. The oft stately form of the colliery band is present in Anderson’s writing; Jig, Jag, Jug the opening track isn’t in a hurry, and much of the remainder is similarly restrained, the final track being a reprise of the first. The saxophonist’s long-time working relationship with Aubin Vanns pays dividends on this recording with the guitarist exercising typical restraint and exhibiting an increasingly rare attribute – taste. Nordic Blues features Vanns; chords, emergent solo, ceding to Anderson and the band’s in-the-pocket groove.

Matt Anderson’s solos often at once reflective, yet fluent – hearing the saxophonist at a gig shows just what he is capable of – can, perhaps, be best illustrated by October Ending. Peter Lee’s piano opening adopts a reflective tone, bassist Will Harris solos concisely, quietly, reflectively, before the band leader assumes command with effortless fluency and clarity of thought. A midway interlude – The Long White Cloud – returns to a brass band theme before Anderson steps on the gas blowing hard, then swinging tenor on Metaphorical Gardening and The Ayes Have It. Guest trumpeter Nick Malcolm shows his hand on Nørrebro, a fine composition, illustrating why Anderson was a worthy recipient of the 2017 Dankworth Prize for Jazz Composition.

Three years ago Matt Anderson released Wild Flower to critical acclaim, 2018’s Rambling is likely to garner similar praise.
Russell.                 
Rambling by the Matt Anderson Quartet is available from May 25 on Jellymould Jazz (cat.no  JM-JJ030).  


The Matt Anderson Quartet’s new album tour began at the Musicport on the Moors Festival.  Dates continue into the autumn. Visit: www.matt-anderson.org.uk 

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