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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

15491 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 512 of them this year alone and, so far, 133 this month (May 31).

From This Moment On ...

June

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.
Sun 04: Jam No. 18 @ Fabio's Bar, Saddler Street, Durham. 8:00pm. Free. All welcome. A Durham University Jazz Society event.

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).

Wed 07: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 07: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 07: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 7:00pm.
Wed 07: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 08: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 08: Easington Colliery Brass Band @ The Lubetkin Theatre, Peterlee. 7:00pm. £10.00.
Thu 08: Faye MacCalman + Blue Dust Archive @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 08: Dilutey Juice + Ceramic @ The Ampitheatre, Sea Road, South Shields. 7:00pm. Free. A South Tyneside Festival event.
Thu 08: Lara Jones w. Vigilance State @ Lubber Fiend, Blandford Square, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 08: Michael Littlefield @ the Harbour View, Roker, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Country blues.
Thu 08: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 09: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 09: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 09: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 09: Castillo Nuevo @ Revolución de Cuba, Newcastle. 5:30-8:30pm.
Fri 09: Emma Rawicz @ Sage Gateshead. 8:00pm.

Tuesday, May 08, 2018

Issie Barratt’s Interchange @ The Parabola Theatre, Cheltenham Jazz Festival, May 6

(Review by Alison Bentley)
A year ago, baritone player, composer and jazz educator Issie Barratt brought together a band of ten women she had always wanted to work with, to play ten pieces composed by women. Although she travels a lot working with European big bands and orchestras, she told us, ‘I’ve never conducted another woman; I’ve never been programmed with another woman, and I’ve never actually played in an ensemble with a woman before… I decided I needed to be a bit more proactive.’
The styles were up to the composers, and accordionist Karen Street’s piece Still Here had a Piazzolla feel with touches of folk (some Balkan rhythms) and brass bands. The ensemble textures were at first soft, like the sun on the grass outside, then more urgent, with a plaintive solo from trumpeter Yazz Ahmed.
Tori Freestone’s Spontaneous Symmetry was inspired by ‘patterns in nature.’ It brought to mind Alexander Calder mobiles, where shapes move to create simple or complex, clashing formations: from township-like triads to dark swirling moods. Arpeggios spilled out into Brigitte Beraha’s pure-toned vocal solo. Freestone’s gorgeous tenor sound smoothed her unusual, almost spiky phrases.
Beraha’s composition Donna’s Secret (the title of their forthcoming album), was dedicated to the novels of Donna Tartt. Beraha’s French phrases were echoed in English by bassist Charlie Pyne. 
Later Pyne sang precipitous intervals in harmony with Beraha - while playing double bass; then she scatted in unison with her bass over Katie Patterson’s skipping rimshots.  Helena Kay’s thoughtful clarinet solo rode the waves of repeated chordal phrases.
Their repertoire includes music by non-members too. Nikki Iles’ Negomi was Kenny Wheeler’s back-to-front name for her daughter Imogen, and the music clearly carried Wheeler’s stamp. 
The arching melodies swept over each other, bari and trombone (Emma Bassett) earthing everything. Freestone’s tenor phrases were like stepping stones across the complex chords.
Issie Barratt’s Kulning ended the all-too-short set with humour and skill. ‘Eventually, you will hear a herd of cows heading our way, so I suggest you run for cover at that point!’ she warned us, as the piece was based on a song used by Swedish women to summon cows. Barratt likes music that ‘tells stories’ and Kulning was almost visual: Beraha’s call over recorded cowbells and birdsong drifted into harmonised horns in 7/8 riffs, and Shirley Smart’s sonorous cello solo. As bari and trombone pushed against flute and clarinet, the cows came home in an atonal rush.
This was a quietly confident band, full of sophisticated music and improvisational skill. There was only time for half their repertoire, and I’m looking forward to hearing the rest.
Alison.

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