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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, November 22, 2018

‘The Jazz Ambassadors’ Original Score - Digital Release

(Press release)
Release date: Sunday 25 November 2018
Rezzonator Music is delighted to announce the original music score to the award-winning “The Jazz Ambassadors” documentary will be available to download on all digital platforms and streaming via Apple Music and Spotify from 25th November 2018.

A THIRTEEN/Antelope South/Normal Life Pictures co-production, in association with BBC, ZDF and Arte, The Jazz Ambassadors tells the extraordinary story of America’s plan to win hearts around the world and counter the Cold War with the USSR in 1956 with the help of America’s most influential jazz artists. Over a period of ten years, performers including Dizzy Gillespie, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman and Dave Brubeck, along with their racially-integrated bands, travelled the globe to perform as cultural ambassadors and became ‘America’s coolest weapon in The Cold War’. 


The documentary also reveals how the U.S. State Department unwittingly gave the burgeoning Civil Rights’ movement a major voice on the world stage just when it needed one most. 

Directed by Peabody Award-winner Hugo Berkeley and produced by Emmy-winner Mick Csáky, the film features striking archival footage, photos and radio clips, with iconic performances throughout. American composer, Michael J McEvoy, rose to the challenge of writing an original score that would capture the atmosphere of the times while creating an underscore that blended seamlessly with the iconic live performances in the film. With nods to jazz innovators Lee Morgan, John Coltrane and Mile Davis, McEvoy’s music is at times meditative and reflective and, at others, segues into hard-driving grooves encompassing bebop and blues. While complementing the narrative, McEvoy’s score also stands alone as a unique and mesmerising soundscape.

The music is performed by a 9-piece ensemble of leading UK jazz performers brought together especially for this recording, featuring virtuoso drummer, Mark Mondesir (John McLaughlin, Courtney Pine) and powerhouse bass player, Karl Rasheed Abel (Jason Rebello, Laura Mvula) who provide a deep pulsing rhythmic foundation. The horn section features the exceptional talents of trumpet players Freddie Gavita, Tom Walsh and Kevin Robinson, Paul Booth, Graeme Blevins and Patrick Clahar on saxophone, and Fayyaz Virji and Dennis Rollins on trombone. Between them, they have worked with artists from Quincy Jones, Al Jarreau, Ray Charles and many other jazz greats. McEvoy completes the line up on piano and brings a wealth of experience as a composer, performer and musical director.

Michael has a string of composing credits in film and TV drama and documentary from the 2018 British feature, Finding Your Feet (Imelda Staunton and Timothy Spall), Richard Linklater’s Me and Orson Welles, Dark Angel (ITV) to acclaimed documentaries Alien Deep (NATGeo) and Einstein’s Big Idea/E=Mc2 (NOVA-PBS/C4). He is also known as a contemporary jazz composer with three previous album releases: most recently ‘The Long Way Home’ (2014) which featured a stellar line up of modern British jazz stars including Nigel Hitchcock, Gerard Presencer, Jason Rebello, Ben Castle and James Maddren.

The score for “The Jazz Ambassadors” was recorded and mixed at Air-Edel Studios by engineer Nick Taylor, with the musicians performing the compositions together while watching the visuals on screen. Director, Hugo Berkeley, was present at the recording sessions explaining the story to the musicians which enabled them to deeply engage with the subject matter. In contrast to the process in many film recordings, McEvoy kept the jazz philosophy throughout by choosing a group of strong individual voices who each brought a heartfelt depth and authenticity to their performances. At the same time, the score was recorded without a click track giving the recordings a unique improvisatory feel.

Composer, Michael J McEvoy said:
“The vibe in the room was really important to me. I wanted all the players there to feel that what we were was doing was special, performing a music score that was supporting an important document of jazz history that would be watched, listened to and enjoyed for many years. I believe the score fully embodies that vibe. It was an immense honour and privilege to work on this project and I’m very proud of it.”

Director, Hugo Berkeley said:

“Mike did a phenomenal job. The soundtrack is meditative, but also very musical. And he worked wonderfully with brass to create a sound that doubles both as ambassadorial and at the same time bluesy and mournful. I’d never realized how close those vibes could be, and I think Mike plays with that duality beautifully in these haunting compositions.” 
----- 
There will be a screening of The Jazz Ambassadors at The Barbican on Sunday 25th November at 4pm followed by a Q&A with composer, Michael J McEvoy, director, Hugo Berkeley and hosted by Sebastian Scotney, Editor, London Jazz News. 

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