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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

15478 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 499 of them this year alone and, so far, 120 this month (May 27).

From This Moment On ...

May 2023

Wed 31: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 31: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 31: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 7:00pm.
Wed 31: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

June
Thu 01: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 01: Thursday Night Prayer Meeting @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Donations.
Thu 01: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Ragtime piano. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.
Thu 01: Jake Leg Jug Band @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Thu 01: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 02: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 02: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 02: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 02: Joseph Carville Trio @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm.
Fri 02: Claire Martin & Her Trio @ The Witham, Barnard Castle. 7:30pm. £25.00., £20.00. Feat. Jim Mullen, Alex Garnett & Jeremy Brown.
Fri 02: Guy Davis + Michael Littlefield & Scott Taylor @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. Doors 7:30pm. Blues double bill.
Fri 02: Anders Ingram @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Blind Pig Blues Club. Country blues. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

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.

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).

Monday, June 18, 2018

CD Review: Alchemy Sound Project - Adventures in Time and Space

Samantha Boshnack (trumpet/flugel); Erica Lindsay (tenor); Salim Washington (tenor/flute/bass clarinet); Michael Spearman (trombone), Sumi Tonooka (piano), David Arend (double bass), Johnathan Blake (drums/perc)
(Review by Dave Brownlow)
Adventures in Time and Space, the second album by the group Alchemy Sound Project, displays its further development since 2016. The five core members, all talented players and composers, have  contributed charts to the project which aims to combine “chamber jazz, symphonic music, modern jazz and big band.” Trombonist Michael Spearman and drummer Johnathan Blake complete the band for this release. There is much to like about this CD – imaginative themes, ‘far-out’ but logical contemporary solos, wide-ranging tonal palettes, a terrific rhythm section built on some ‘foundational’ bass playing from Arend (who plays bass like it should be played – not like a guitar !) and ‘chivvying’ drums from Blake.
Erica Lindsay’s opening contribution, Adventures in Time and Space, sounds how the “Birth of the Cool” band of Davis, Mulligan, Konitz, Gil Evans, Lewis et al might have sounded if it had been able to stay together!  After an “Impressionist” start, solos combine and intertwine seamlessly with written sections.
David Arend’s Ankh follows having a dreamy melody with subtle harmonic shifts leading to vigorous solos pushed on by ever-challenging drums.
Song of the Whistle Wing is trumpeter Boshnack’s written contribution, and inspired by her child-hood memories of growing up in rural New York has a more abstract feel. Again, written parts segue into solos at a lively tempo with surprising moments from tenorist Lindsay. A dramatic move into a second part has a trumpet solo in a Spanish vein leading to an abrupt ending; a very ‘musical’ track which holds one’s attention throughout.
Salim Washington’s Odysseus Leaves Circe comes from his admiration of artist Romare Bearden’s painting of the same name. Beginning with a stately ‘chorale’ also included is a Mingus/Dolphy-like conversation between the bass and the bass-clarinet. We’re left at the conclusion to wonder if Odysseus managed to free himself from Circe and her charms! 
Pianist Sumi Tonooka provides the next composition – Transition Waltz (for Matt) - which opens with a “Debussyian-style intro from the pianist/composer and a melody seemingly from the “Bill Evans Songbook”, a call and response duet between piano and flute and a final refrain. 
Lindsey’s second song Jeff’s Joy concludes the album. Composed in tribute to bandleader Jeff Siegal, it is somewhat ‘Coltrane-esque’ in its rhythmic urgency and an opening tenor solo from Erica fed by “Tyner-style” chords. Again, the bass/drums team works hard to maintain the churning pulse in the familiar ‘John C’ style of performance.
Overall, a praiseworthy effort in combining the individual voices of diverse composers with improvisation, thus crossing the borders between jazz, world music and modern chamber music.
Dave B.
Available now on ARC – 2857    from www.alchemysoundproject.com

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