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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

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.

Thu 14: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 14: Hot Fingers @ The Lubetkin Theatre, Peterlee. 7:00pm. £10.00.
Thu 14: After Hours Student Jazz Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 14: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. . Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 14: Niffi Osiyemi Trio @ Harbour View, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 14: Mo Scott ‘Little Mo’s Festive Appearance’ @ The Schooner, Gateshead. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 14: Tees Hot Club w. Kevin Eland, Josh Bentham, Garry Hadfield, Adrian Beadnell @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Thursday, April 04, 2019

CD Review: Sokratis Sinopoulos -Metamodal

Sokratis Sinopoulos (Lyra); Yann Keerim (Piano); Dimitris Tsekouras (Double Bass); Dimitris Emmanouil (Drums). 
(Review by Chris)

The second of three ECM releases in March from the southern shores of Europe. You have to hand it to him, not only has ECM’s Manfred Eicher scoured Europe from North to South in his quest for the new well/spring of world music, but he is also not scared of unfamiliar jazz instrumentation! The bandoneon of Dominic Miller’s latest release (reviewed here on BSH) is outdone (not least in age) by the Cretan lyra played by contemporary master Sinopoulos, recorded in Athens last July. Too hot to have been Eicher’s summer holiday I imagine.

The lyra, which dates back to Byzantine times, is a tiny (29 cm strings) viol played upright on the lap, with three strings played with a bow, but stopped by sideways pressure from the fingernails rather than pinning against the fingerboard as for a violin. My Greek colleague tells me it is the mainstay of southerly Greek folk music, fuelling dancing for millennia, but here undergoing a rather different treatment in Sinopoulous’ hands. 

He studied with Ross Daly, a Brit who has spent 35 years in Crete reviving and redefining the lyra, before forming this quartet with debut album Eight Winds for ECM in 2014.  To my ears, the plaintive cry of the lyra, in a folk framework with a classic chamber jazz trio, recalls the exceptional Polish jazz violin star, Adam Baldych (who has just released his latest work on rival label ACT), but without Baldych’s range and extravagant flourishes.

This album takes the quartet forward with confidence, aiming to explore and extend modal music. All good jazzers will be familiar with a few modes, but we should remember that the Greeks invented it all a long time ago!  Sinopoulos says he aims here to not move beyond modes but to work through them...synthesising something new on the way through the centrepiece tracks of the album:  Metamodal I, II and III.

The opener, Lament, is aptly named, with the lyra weaving a slow and sad line above piano and bass. Track two, Metamodal I – Liquid, has a similarly paced intro, but the abrupt entry of the percussion lends more tempo and drama, over a faster, nimble bass line.  The third track, Transition, is shorter - a light, catchy number with swooping lead on lyra, leading into the 10 minutes of Metamodal II – Illusions

This again starts slowly, and in exploratory style, with sparse piano interleaved with the plangent lyra, changing halfway through to a faster section with all four players fully interlocking.

Metamodal III – Dimensions opens with ponderous piano chords, joined by first the lyra, then the bass, working through modal sequences, like an elegant practice set of arpeggios and scales.  This eventually relaxes into a looser amble through spacey chords under beautiful lyrical melodies from the lyra.

Walking starts with a lively repeated piano figure, and runs at pace joined by a lyra tune which wouldn’t be out of place in Celtic folk. This gives way to a middle section of slower, more modal musing and closes with a reprise of the earlier, jaunty jig. 

Dawn is another subtle exploration of intricate melodic lines over a delicate, rolling wash of piano and percussion, frequently returning to a lovely motif interspersed with freer passages.

Red Thread has perhaps the most languorous and lovely line of the many on the album, sitting over relaxed piano. Not obvious how this mood relates to the “red thread” Theseus used to escape from the labyrinth on Crete after killing the Minotaur! 

The final track, Mnemosyne, is a short collective improvisation, which Eicher encourages all his artists to attempt, with different degrees of success. The title means "remembrance, memory" but, I have to say, it was rather forgettable!

Overall, an intriguing and sophisticated album of chamber jazz with a distinctive Greek flavour from the modal framework and lyra’s yearning sound. The unusual feel draws attention away from Sinopoulos’ extraordinary gift for melodic invention. I for one will look out for future developments from this unlikely direction. Could be consumed on its own, or in the background on a sunny day, relaxing over an ouzo with ice….
Chris Kilsby
Release date: 15.03.2019 ECM 2631

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