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Bebop Spoken There

James Brandon Lewis: "Sometimes I'm not thinking about anything other than blowing the paint off the walls, and other times I'm narrating a story about my life." - (DownBeat June 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!"

Postage

15516 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 536 of them this year alone and, so far, 25 this month (June 7).

From This Moment On ...

Fri 09: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 09: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 09: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 09: Castillo Nuevo @ Revolución de Cuba, Newcastle. 5:30-8:30pm.
Fri 09: Emma Rawicz @ Sage Gateshead. 8:00pm.

Sat 10: Miners' Picnic @ Woodhorn, Ashington. Music inc. Northern Monkey Brass Band (3:00-3:50pm); New York Brass Band (4:00-4:55pm).
Sat 10: Jeffrey Hewer @ The Vault, Darlington Covered Market, Darlington. 6:00-8:00pm. Free.
Sat 10: Front Porch Three @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. Americana, blues, jazz etc.
Sat 10: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

Sun 11: WORKSHOP: Tim Richards' Jazz Piano Workshop @ JG Windows, Newcastle. Time TBC. Further details tel. 0191 232 1356.
Sun 11: Jeremy McMurray's Pocket Jazz Orchestra @ Ropner Park, Stockton TS18 4EF. 2:00-4:00pm. Free.
Sun 11: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:30pm. Free.
Sun 11: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 3:00pm.
Sun 11: Groovetrain @ Innisfree Sports & Social Club, Longbenton NE12 8TY. Doors 6:30pm. £15.00 (£7.00. under 16).
Sun 11: Jeffrey Hewer Collective @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Sun 11: Jam No. 19 @ Fabio's Bar, Saddler Street, Durham. 8:00pm. Free. All welcome. A Durham University Jazz Society event.

Mon 12: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

Tue 13: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 13: Infusion Trio @ Forum Music Centre, Darlington. 7:30pm.
Tue 13: Alice Grace & Pawel Jedrzejewski @ Black Swan, Newcastle Arts Centre. 8:00pm. £12.00 (£10.00. adv.).

Wed 14: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 14: NUJO Final Jazz Jam @ Bar Loco, Newcastle. 6:30pm. Free. Newcastle University Jazz Orchestra's final jam session of the academic year. All welcome.
Wed 14: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 14: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 7:00pm.
Wed 14: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 15: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 15: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Gateshead Central Library. 2:30-4:30pm. £2.00. All welcome.
Thu 15: Castillo Nuevo @ Revolución de Cuba, Newcastle. 5:30-8:30pm.
Thu 15: Alexander Ord Trio @ Tynedale Beer & Cider Festival, Tynedale Rugby Club, Corbridge. Evening, time TBC.
Thu 15: Têtes de Pois + Nauta @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. Time TBC.
Thu 15: Indigo Jazz Voices @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:45pm. £5.00.

Saturday, May 18, 2019

CD Review: Marton Juhasz - Discovery


Marton Juhasz (composition, drums); Yumi Ito (vocals, text (track 8); Sergio Wagner (trumpet, flugelhorn); Paco Andreo (valve trombone); Enrique Oliver (tenor sax); Syzmon Mika (guitar); Olga Konkova (piano, Fender Rhodes); Danny Ziemann (bass)
(Review by Ann Alex)

This review marks my promotion on BSH, to reviewing a mainly instrumental CD, rather than a singer's CD. Then I read the written information, which tells me that a certain Lance Liddle heard this drummer at a gig, and stated that he had a 'prodigious technique'. I'm not sure if that helps or hinders, but I'll judge for myself anyway, thank you! 

Judge I did, and I loved what I heard. There are 11 tracks of original music, composed by the drummer, played adventurously and well by all, with the drummer fitting in seamlessly with the others, which to my mind shows us a musician who knows that the actual music comes first.


The musical 'feel' is of free jazz which describes the ideas suggested by the titles, making sense but never too much sense. The composer's basic idea is described as searching for a 'personal compositional voice' which tries to make sense 'of the dissonance that is part of human existence.' Don't know about that, I just enjoyed it!

So track1 Sea of Uncertainty is long dissonant chords, vocals of 'doh, doh', a bit frightening really, and very short. Then comes The Curve, drums and trumpet (or flugelhorn?), a wandering tune to a steady beat, then the trumpet playing in what sounds like 'curves'. Little Prayer I especially liked, the prayer had an eastern sound, played on brass and vocals, to tapping percussion.

Levian was all about whale noises, and I'm not sure if they were recordings or produced by instruments. If the latter then it was very clever, but of course whales are clever to make those noises as well.  Industry began with work in what sounded like an African village, clapping and singing, then a strong keys’ tune of heavy work, then 'tool' noises from percussion.

 The musical descriptions followed, Stino (not sure what this means, but it was very singable); Wolves Gather Under a Winter Moon; Spellbound; Camels In The Sky; Strange Glow. This was all rounded off with Run, brushed drums, high pitched keys, a slow repeated riff, ending with the brass playing notes down the scale.

Apparently our drummer began his career by winning the national 1st prize for percussion in Hungary in 2005. He went on to study at Berklee College of Music, and he has been active in Europe, working with musicians such as Alan Benzie. The CD was produced after a year of intensive work when the band was tutored by many top musicians, including Django Bates, Joshua Redman, and Gwilym Simcock.

The CD has been available since March 11, and is self-released. See www.martonjuhasz.com.
Ann Alex.    

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