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Bebop Spoken There

Art Blakey: "You [Bobby Watson] don't want to play too long, because you don't know they're clapping because they're glad you finished!" - (JazzTimes, Nov. 2019)..

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

15848 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 855 of them this year alone and, so far, 53 this month (Sept. 18).

From This Moment On ...

September

Mon 25: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Mon 25: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 7:00pm.

Tue 26: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.

Wed 27: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 27: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 27: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 28: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 28: Alice Grace Quartet @ King's Hall, Newcastle University. 1:15pm. Free.
Thu 28: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Gateshead Central Library, Gateshead. 2:30pm. All welcome.
Thu 28: Faye MacCalman + Snape/Sankey @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 28: Zoe Rahman @ Jesmond United Reformed Church, Jesmond, Newcastle. 7:30pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Thu 28: '58 Jazz Collective @ Hops & Cheese, Hartlepool. 7:30pm.
Thu 28: Speakeasy @ Queen's Hall, Hexham. 7:30pm. £15.00. A Southpaw Dance Company presentation. Dance, audio-visuals, Count Basie, Benny Goodman, swing dancers etc.
Thu 28: Mick Cantwell Band @ Harbour View, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Ace blues band.
Thu 28: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 29: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 29: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 29: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.

Sat 30: John Pope Quintet + Late Girl + Shapeshifters @ Bobik's, Jesmond, Newcastle.
Sat 30: Papa G's Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

OCTOBER

Sun 01: Smokin' Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm.
Sun 01: Dulcie May Moreno sings Portrait of Sheila @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £10.00. Moreno sings Sheila Jordan with Giles Strong, Mick Shoulder & John Bradford.
Sun 01: Middlesbrough Jazz & Blues Orchestra @ Saltburn Community Hall. 2:00pm.
Sun 01: The Easy Rollers @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £13.70., £11.55.
Sun 01: Brand/Roberts/Champion/Sanders @ Blank Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Sun 01: Papa G's Troves @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 02: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Mon 02: FILM: Wattstax; 50th Anniversary @ Forum Cinema, Hexham. 8:00pm.

Saturday, April 13, 2019

CD Review: Steve Garrett - Discover and Endure

Steve Garrett (guitar)
(Review by Hugh C)

Steve Garrett was born in London and after a working lifetime as an Earth Scientist travelling across the UK, Antarctica and North America, now calls Scotland home.  His new album of solo electric guitar music, Discover and Endure is “inspired by stories and experience of landscape, exploration and human endurance”.

The first and title track, Discover and Endure, is inspired by the RRS Discovery expedition of 1901-04.  A slow steady beat mirrors the footsteps of the participants trudging on, hauling their sledges; different characters from the expedition feature over the footsteps.  As Charles Turley (1914) wrote of the voyages of Captain Scott “for ninety-three days they had plodded over a vast snow-field and ...striven and endured to the limit of their powers”.  

Summer River is more melodic, with a subtle rhythmicity inspired by the sunlight shimmering over the waters of the River Dee on the edge of Cairngorms National Park.  Lament for the Children is a piping tune from the piobaireachd* tradition, written by Padruig Mor MacCrimmon and dedicated to those who have endured the loss of a child.  There is a distinct drone element throughout, with a slow lament over the top.  Midwinter Gathering reflects the Southern Polar tradition of a celebration mirroring Christmas and Hogmanay in the northern hemisphere.  The tune is a reel with a background loop representing the “lively and slightly chaotic footfall of ceilidh dancers” - no doubt getting progressively more chaotic as the time progresses!

Gustav Holst’s Egdon Heath (at over nine minutes the longest track on the CD) caught Garrett’s attention at an early age in primary school.  In this piece, Garret employs a variety of styles and evokes the Dorset heathland, where he has previously lived and worked.  Lassie Lie Near Me (words by Robert Burns) is a folk song set over a minimalist pattern.  Cliff Top Storm reflects Garrett’s (and no doubt others’) experience of getting caught out when camping in extreme conditions (in this case in Goosenecks State Park in Utah).  The piece is a series of variations on a theme over a desert drum beat.  The explorers end up in Black Sail Hut – perhaps familiar to some as a rather isolated Youth Hostel in Ennerdale in the Lake District. 

The CD reflects the previous musical influences and experience of the performer with elements of jazz, folk, rock, and choral music – all of which feature one way or another in Garrett’s portfolio.  The “jazz” element is perhaps limited (but definitely there) and eclipsed by the “folk” element.  Ultimately though, what is delivered is all music reflecting the flexibility and capability of the guitar as an instrument.  This is a good product and professionally delivered by the artist.  The CD was launched on April 5 at RSS Discovery, Dundee, and is available from Birnam and Amazon; downloads are available from the usual sources and the album can be streamed from Spotify or Apple Music. 

Steve Garrett will be giving lunchtime performances at artSpace@StMarks (Fringe Venue 215) as part of the 2019 Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

More information on the artist here

Hugh C

*What is Piobaireachd?

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