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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

17421 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 16 years ago. 695 of them this year alone and, so far, 100 this month (Sept. 30).

From This Moment On ...

October

Tue 08: ???

Wed 09: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free. Wed 09: Jason Isaacs @ St James’ STACK, Newcastle. 5:00-7:00pm. Free.
Wed 09: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 09: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 09: The Tannery Jam Session @ The Tannery, Gilesgate, Hexham. 7:00-9:00pm. Free. A ‘second Wednesday in the month’ jam session.
Wed 09: Shunya, Dudù Kouate & Seb Rochford @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 8:30pm (7:30pm doors). £21.00.

Thu 10: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 10: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. ‘Collaborations - it happened all the time’.
Thu 10: Indigo Jazz Voices w. the Little Big Band @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:45pm. £5.00.
Thu 10: Side Cafe Orkestar @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 10: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesborough. 8:30pm. With guests Donna Hewitt (sax); Bill Watson (trumpet); Graham Thompson (keys); Ron Smith (bass). Free.

Fri 11: Dulcie May Moreno @ The Old Library, Auckland Castle, Bishop Auckland. 1:00pm. £8.00.
Fri 11: The Jazz Quartet + Stratosphonic @ Tynedale Rugby Club, Corbridge. 7:00pm. £15.00. A Rotary Club of Hexham event. The Jazz Quartet (Jude Murphy & co), Stratosphonic (blues/rock).
Fri 11: Joe Steels Trio @ The Pele, Market Place, Corbridge NE45 5AW. 7:30pm. Free.
Fri 11: Crooners @ Tyne Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm.
Fri 11: Mo Scott Band @ Blues Underground, Nelson St., Newcastle. 9:00pm. Free.

Sat 12: Milne-Glendinning Band @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 12: Michael Woods @ Victoria Tunnel, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £12.00. (£10.00. adv.). Country blues guitar & vocals.
Sat 12: Nauta @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £13.28, £11.16, £9.04. A two-track recording launch gig.
Sat 12: Stuart Turner @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Rockabilly, rhythm & blues etc. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sat 12: Lapwing Jazz Trio @ The Ship Inn, Low Newton. 8:00pm. Free. New trio: Paula Whitty, Richard Herdman, Jude Murphy.

Sun 13: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 13: Emma Wilson @ Tyne Bar, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. Blues.
Sun 13: Catfish Keith @ The Cluny. 7:00pm. Country blues.
Sun 13: Cath Stephens & Paul Grainger @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Stephens & Grainger, one third of a triple bill.
Sun 13: Dulcie May Moreno Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 14: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 14: Black is the Color of My Voice @ Hippodrome, Darlington. 7:30pm. Apphia Campbell’s one-woman show inspired by Nina Simone, performed by Nicholle Cherrie.

Tue 15: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Alan Law (piano), Paul Grainger (double bass), Bailey Rudd (drums).

Reviewers wanted

Whilst BSH attempts to cover as many gigs, festivals and albums as possible, to make the site even more comprehensive we need more 'boots on the ground' to cover the albums seeking review - a large percentage of which never get heard - report on gigs or just to air your views on anything jazz related. Interested? then please get in touch. Contact details are on the blog. Look forward to hearing from you. Lance

Tuesday, April 30, 2019

CD Review: Adam Baldych Quartet - Sacrum Profanum

Adam Baldych (violin & renaissance violin; Krzysztof Dys (piano,  prepared upright piano & toy piano); Michal Barański (double bass); Dawid Fortuna (drums, crotales & gran cassa).   
(Review by Chris)

A landmark album from one of jazz’s first rank of new masters - the 33-year-old Polish violin virtuoso’s fifth release as leader on ACT records. His virtuosity has not been in question since he burst on the scene: "Without doubt the greatest living master of violin in jazz. His potential knows no bounds" said the FAZ after the 2011 Jazzfest Berlin. I’d say his potential is realized here with authority, confidence and genius to spare.

Virtuosity is, of course, no guarantor of musicality, and his pyrotechnic style and firebrand attitude draw mixed reactions. Defining his genre is futile, as he freely uses and extends classical and (Polish) folk idioms, while if you were expecting jazz violin à la Stephane Grappelli (or the more contemporary style of Jean-Luc Ponty) think again!  His music is technically astonishing, but also deeply lyrical and rhythmically complex. Classical listeners may find his tone reedy and “skaty”, while many find his work overpowering and over-emotional. I was stopped in my tracks on first hearing the staggeringly beautiful “Letter for E” from The New Tradition (2014).  The first albums indulged Baldych’s passion, with no concessions to the listener. This release is notably more disciplined, with shorter (from 1:14 to 6:28), well-crafted and varied tracks, resulting in a more accessible and effective package, while retaining the power, emotion and jazz chops of previous outings.

This album matches Baldych with well-established, self-confident players from native Poland. Although previous piano partner, the Norwegian Helge Lien, was a complementary and responsive foil, I sense this quartet is a more balanced and powerful vehicle, with all the players allowed space to contribute and shine.   The main departure here, though, is the material, with five originals paired with five “classics”, ranging across nine centuries!  The selection strongly reflects the title, with medieval sacred works to the fore.

The opener is a short version of Tallis’ Spem in alium (1570), more usually performed by eight choirs of five voices. While the polyphonic complexity is inevitably absent, here (and in other tracks) the spacious and lingering feel, and purity of voices of the originals, is retained and amplified, framed with rich contributions from the band, including the sonorous thunder of the gran cassa. The second is Virga ac diadema, by Hildegard of Bingen (c 1200 believe it or not). This brings the piano of Dys to the fore, with a first full-on workout for the whole band.

The third is an original despite the title, Profundis, and takes off in syncopated, loping folk style. Concerto for Viola and Orchestra is then a complete contrast, starting with dark percussion, and more free form throughout.  This is based on the complex and challenging piece by the little known (to me at any rate!) Tartar composer Sofia Gubaidulina, from 1996.

Track 5 is a return to smoother waters, based on Bogurodzica, a Polish hymn from the 13th century, with a catchy and familiar theme, closing with a high energy work out propelled by some excellent drumming.  Next is a suitably languid, elevated version of the well-known Allegri Miserere, with piano and violin both perfectly capturing the rarefied vibe. Repetition fast forwards 600 years, with an up to the minute jazz-rock style of arpeggiated violin underpinned by meaty, shuffling percussion (the family drummer tells me this is because the underlying sub-division is odd, 5/16 ...). The album closes more contemplatively with Jardin, with contrasting pizzicato violin.

While this album is as far from straight ahead jazz as you can imagine, I would strongly recommend it to any music listener, as an excellent and varied introduction to the remarkable music of Adam Baldych.  I can only hope he is on Sage’s shopping list before he gets too big!
Chris Kilsby
Release date: 29/03/2019 ACT 9881-2

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