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Bebop Spoken There

Billy Boy Arnold: “As long as you don't think old you're good.” - DownBeat, December, 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!"

Simon Spillett: A lovely review from the dean of jazz bloggers, Lance Liddle...

Postage

16051 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 1058 of them this year alone and, so far, 12 this month (Dec. 6).

From This Moment On ...

December

Thu 07: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free CANCELLED!
Thu 07: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Spanish City, Whitley Bay, Newcastle. 12 noon - 4:00pm. £26.00 (inc 3-course meal in in St Mary's Lighthouse Suite). SOLD OUT!
Thu 07: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Gateshead Central Library, Gateshead. 2:30pm. All welcome.
Thu 07: Thursday Night Prayer Meeting @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.Donations. Feat. Mark Sanders. CANCELLED!
Thu 07: Indigo Jazz Voices @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:45pm. £5.00. Downstairs. CANCELLED!
Thu 07: Tees Hot Club: Just Friends @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. Guest band night w. Richie Emmerson, Ian Bosworth, Dave Archbold, Ron Smith, Mark Hawkins. 9:00pm.

Fri 08: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 08: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 08: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 08: Giles Strong Quartet @ The Old Library, Auckland Castle. 1:00pm. £7.00.
Fri 08: Hayley's Little Big Band @ Woodland Village Hall, Bishop Auckland. 7:00pm. £12.00.
Fri 08: Sleep Suppressor + Redwell @ Head of Steam, Neville St., Newcastle. 8:00pm. £10.00. (£8.00. adv); £5.00. student.
Fri 08: Hot Club du Nord @ St Cuthbert's Church, Shadforth, Co. Durham.
Fri 08: Têtes de Pois + Nauta @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.00., £8.00.

Sat 09: Prudhoe Community Band @ Central Station, Newcastle. 10:00am - 12 noon. Charity fundraiser.
Sat 09: Durham Alumni Big Band @ Number One Bar, Skinnergate, Darlington. 1:00pm.
Sat 09: Castillo Nuevo Trio @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 5:30pm. Free.
Sat 09: Hayley's Little Big Band @ Middleton & Todridge Village Hall, Morpeth. 7:30pm. £12.00., £6.00.
Sat 09: Paul Skerritt @ Slaley Hall, Hexham NE47 0BX. 7:30pm. From £42.00.

Sun 10: Musicians Unlimited’s Xmas Party with Zoë Gilby Quartet @ Park Inn, Hartlepool. MU 1:00-3:00pm; Zoë Gilby Quartet 4:00-6:00pm. Tickets: £7.50.
Sun 10: Alan Law, Paul Grainger & Abbie Finn @ Darlington Market, Market Square, Darlington. 1:00pm. Free. A ‘Christmas Market’ outdoor gig. Wrap up warm!
Sun 10: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00-4:00pm. Free.
Sun 10: Funk Soul Sista @ Stack, Seaburn. 5:00-7:00pm. Free.
Sun 10: Beth Clarke @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 10: Hayley's Little Big Band @ Whittingham Memorial Institute, Alnwick. 7:30pm. £12.00., £10.00.
Sun 10: Tele-Port @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Line-up inc. Zhenya Strigalev.

Mon 11: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 11: Interim Final Recitals @ Newcastle University. Details TBC.

Tue 12: Stu Collingwood Organ Trio @ Forum Music Centre, Darlington. 7:00pm. £10.00.

Wed 13: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 13: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 13: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 13: Bold Big Band @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:30pm.
Wed 13: Giles Strong Quartet @ Alphabetti Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Wednesday, September 05, 2018

CD Review: Johannes Berauer’s Hourglass

Johannes Berauer (composer); Thomas Gould (violin); Mike Walker (guitar); Gwilym Simcock ( piano); Martin Berauer (electric bass); Bernhard Schimpelsberger (drums, percussion).
(Review by Hugh C)
Johannes Berauer is an Austrian composer who incorporates many musical styles in his works, including classical avant-garde, jazz and world music.  For this recording of Hourglass, a quintet has been assembled comprising some of the most accomplished and versatile musicians on the scene.  Hourglass is Berauer’s first composition for jazz combo, as he normally composes in more large-scale forms.  The composition incorporates many influences including “Bach’s counterpoint, Messian’s sense for harmony, Indian rhythm language and M.C. Escher’s paradox views of reality”. 

Why Hourglass?  “The Hourglass represents an island in time…, it allows us to enter into a space of no distraction.  A personal space, a refuge in our otherwise overly hectic times.  This space is the nourishing ground for the creative mind, for the musician and the listener alike”.

In the Beginning kicks off at a brisk tempo with Gould’s soaring violin over a rhythmic percussive background.  Sequential more improvisational solo passages from Simcock’s piano, Berauer’s bass and Walker’s guitar follow as the music takes a more relaxed course.  One is reminded of a fast-flowing mountain stream, falling over a waterfall, before becoming a slower winding river in the flatlands below.  East does what it says on the tin and takes us in an oriental direction, commencing with – Schimpelberger’s konnakol vocal percussion over tabla and subtle manual exploration under the lid of the piano.   A full instrumental follows, with a tonality evocative of the mystic East.  Tryptich is presented (unsurprisingly) in three parts:  Secrets, Dreams and Phoenix.

Keep Up maintains the up-tempo rhythmic flow present through the majority of this composition thus far and follows the pattern of sequential improvisational solo passages interspersed by full ensemble playing set in In the BeginningEndless Time commences with a thoughtful solo passage on piano which sets the overall pace for this altogether more relaxed track.  Time almost seems to stand still during the eight minutes or so of its duration.  Nocturne is similarly laid back, as you would expect from the title.  At nearly eleven minutes this is the longest track on the CD.  The subtle melodic melange of the quintet brings a certain dream-like quality to this piece.  Invention commences with another percussion solo, this time on pitched cowbells, then joined by bass, piano, violin – this is a chorale, distinctly after JS Bach, but in five time.  Spiral winds up the CD with an atmospheric and uplifting piano and violin duet before the sand finally runs through.

This is a must-have CD (but don’t tell the jazz police) - it is simply great music, beautifully composed, but delivered with improvisatory flair by a quintet of top-notch musicians.  Johannes Berauer’s Hourglass is available on the Basho label (Basho Records SRCD 55-2)

The Quintet are currently touring the album -  I was privileged to be at the world premiere (a concept perhaps not celebrated enough in jazz) in Ambleside  - and appear at Kings Place, September 5 and at Stapleford Granary, September 6.  Two further dates in December are also listed at RNCM, Manchester (6th) and Attenborough Centre, Leicester (7th). 
Hugh C
A studio version of Keep Up can be savoured here: 

2 comments :

Lance said...

Hugh, re your comment on jazz world premieres, at the recent Ushaw Jazz Festival there were at least eleven world premieres - maybe more!

Hugh C said...

So I understand. I think it was Paul Edis who noted that (in contrast to the classical world) highlighting a world premiere performance in the jazz world was rare event.

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