Total Pageviews

Bebop Spoken There

Delfeayo Marsalis: "Slide Hampton once told me that it's not always the person that is playing the highest or playing the fastest that's making the greatest impact." - (DownBeat March 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

15229 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 248 of them this year alone and, so far, 61 this month (March 20).

From This Moment On ...

March

Mon 20: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Mon 20: Central Bar Quintet plays Wes Montgomery @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 7:30pm. Feat. Joe Steels.

Tue 21: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 21: Jam session @ Black Swan, Newcastle Arts Centre. 7:30pm. House trio: Jacob Egglestone (guitar); Jamie Watkins (bass guitar); Bailey Rudd (drums).

Wed 22: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 22: Darlington Big Band @ Traveller's Rest, Cockerton. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public). Note change of venue - this week only.
Wed 22: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 7:00pm.
Wed 22: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 23: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 4:00-6:00pm. Free.
Thu 23: NUJO Jazz Jam @ Bar Loco, Newcasatle. From 6:30pm 'til late. Free. Newcastle University Jazz Orchestra jam session. All welcome (students & non-students).
Thu 23: Kerrin Tatman + John Garner & John Pope @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 23: Sunna Gunnlaugs & Julia Hülsmann @ Sage Gateshead. 8:00pm. A two-piano gig. A Sage Gateshead-JNE promotion.
Thu 23: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Ragtime piano.
Thu 23: Sleep Suppressor @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £10.00., £8.00. adv. Upstairs.
Thu 23: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 24: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 24: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 24: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 24: FILM: Mo' Better Blues @ Forum Cinema, Hexham. 7:00pm.
Fri 24: Ian Millar & Dominic Spencer @ Scarth Hall, Staindrop, Co. Durham. 8:00pm. £10.00.
Fri 24: Archipelago + Bulbils @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.

Sat 25: Vermont Big Band @ Walker Community Centre, Walker, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Fundraiser for Benfield Juniours Football Club. Hot food available, BYOB.
Sat 25: John Logan & Friends @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Rat Pack, Motown etc. 8:00pm. Free (donations).

Sun 26: Musicians Unlimited @ Park Inn, Hartlepool. 1:00pm.
Sun 26: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 3:00pm.
Sun 26: Outlines @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. JNE promotion (upstairs).

Mon 27: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

Wednesday, May 08, 2019

Cheltenham Jazz Festival: Vula Viel @ Parabola Arts Centre – May 5


Bex Burch (gyil); Ruth Goller (bass guitar); Jim Hart (drums).
(Review by Steve T)

I'd heard that Vula Viel - pronounced Vi-E-l - had shrunk to a trio since I saw them at the Scarborough Jazz Festival a few years back. I wasn't sure how that would work and read somewhere they were diminished a little, but was encouraged when Jazzwise gave their new album 4 stars; just one less than A Kind of Blue.


I couldn't remember the line-up from Scarborough and, when checking the credits on the first album didn't help, I asked the lady herself after the gig. She confirmed they were a quintet featuring bass synth, two drummers and sax. Here they had a fantastic busy drummer and, since the gyil (Ghanaian xylophone) is essentially a percussion instrument - and they displayed what seemed incredibly complicated interplay between the two - I heard no need for another kit man.

However, I definitely think a sax would have filled it out as it occasionally seemed one dimensional, repeated bass features and lots of drumming, if anything, drawing attention to the fact that they were essentially a woman down.

Not that I didn't enjoy it, and the threat of some ethnicity and some sisterhood is always a compelling argument in persuading Mrs T to agree. I'd already suggested she download/stream/ whatever the new album format, but apparently, her phone needed charging so it was a CD to the rescue again. 

Bex is extremely charismatic on stage, loosening up and limbering up ‘til she's bouncing around her instrument like a prize-fighter, her hair bobbing in double time. Most of the set was drawn from the new album, though they did dip into the debut and this would be the one I would recommend first.

At Scarborough, her introductions were interspersed with tales of her time in the African village where she learned to build and play her instrument, but here she seemed reluctant to do so, restricting it to one mention towards the end. I've no doubt her enthusiasm, commitment and passion is undiminished, so she shouldn't shy away from it since the dialogue actually helps bring the music to life.

I look forward very much to their arrival at one of the venues in the North East, but I think she may reconsider filling out the sound with reeds: soprano or flute, maybe with a baritone as well; or something from the guitar family, violin or cello. The possibilities are endless. 
Steve T.


No comments :

Blog Archive