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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
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.
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.

Tuesday, June 26, 2018

CD Review: Miriam Ast & Victor Gutierrez feat. Stan Sulzmann - Secret Songs

Miriam Ast (vocals); Victor Gutierrez (piano); Stan Sulzmann (tenor sax, tracks3,8,9)
(Review by Ann Alex). 
A delight from the surprising first track, Gutierrez's Don’t Get Too Cocky. Jazzy piano, wordless vocals, sweet voice, I waited for the actual lyrics, which never came. Then I realised that the scat was the cockiness, the singer trying not to be too cocky, or warning someone else not to be so. Very inventive. Track two, very different, Monk’s 'Round Midnight, voice and sparse piano, then the piano flows, and the voice has a pleasant, sad nasal tone. Track 3, composed by Ms Ast, Song For Stan, featured the man himself, reflecting the singer’s tune, before it reverses to the voice commenting on the sax, and a sudden ending. Love Song, written by Ms Ast, was just that, an honest love song, with slow scat.
A further six tracks. Three originals and three standards. The originals: Divergence; Spanish Song and Ode To A Lost Love. The standards: Alone Together; Night And Day and The Song Is You. Divergence, a sad love song with an eastern feel. Night and Day played as a fastish ballad rather than swing. Spanish Song featured skilled fast sax and unexplained percussion, which could have been produced by hitting the side of the piano. For Ode To A Lost Love, the sax had a yearning tone. The Song Is You was beautifully sung in ballad style, with the piano playing freely.

Winner of the Best Vocalist award at the 2017 Bucharest International Jazz competition, Miriam Ast gained an MA from the Royal Academy and is a senior lecturer at Leeds College of Music. The German-born vocalist has performed at Pizza Express Jazz Club and various jazz festivals including London and Cambridge. 
Victor Gutierrez is Spanish and an award-winning pianist, composer, and arranger, and a graduate of Berklee College of Music and the Royal Academy. He has performed at venues and festivals worldwide. 
Stan Sulzmann, a veteran of the British jazz scene, has played with many great bands and musicians such as Gil Evans, Kenny Wheeler, Mike Gibbs - the list is endless..

Available from July 2 on Mons Records. Highly recommended.
Ann Alex 

1 comment :

Russell said...

The Ast/Guitierrez Duo will play a lunchtime concert at Newcastle's Lit and Phil on Friday, September 21.

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