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Bebop Spoken There

Branford Marsalis: "As ignorance often forces us to do, you make a generalisation about a musician based on one specific record or one moment in time." - (Jazzwise 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

15491 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 512 of them this year alone and, so far, 133 this month (May 31).

From This Moment On ...

Wed 07: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 07: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 07: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 7:00pm.
Wed 07: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 08: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free. CANCELLED! BACK ON JUNE 15.
Thu 08: Easington Colliery Brass Band @ The Lubetkin Theatre, Peterlee. 7:00pm. £10.00.
Thu 08: Faye MacCalman + Blue Dust Archive @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 08: Dilutey Juice + Ceramic @ The Ampitheatre, Sea Road, South Shields. 7:00pm. Free. A South Tyneside Festival event.
Thu 08: Lara Jones w. Vigilance State @ Lubber Fiend, Blandford Square, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 08: Michael Littlefield @ the Harbour View, Roker, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Country blues.
Thu 08: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

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: 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.

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.).

Monday, June 03, 2019

CD Review: Tori Freestone Trio - El Mar de Nubes


Tori Freestone (tenor sax/violin/vocals)
Dave Manington (double bass); Tim Giles (drums 
(Review by Chris).

The second of my “Three Tenors” recent releases is the third album from this contemporary, UK trio led by one of our most inventive sax players. The playing is a circumspect contrast to the direct blowing of Partisans (and positively relaxing compared to Kamasi) but no less enjoyable for that!   A closer comparison might be with some of Trish Clowes’ recent playing but while there is abundant imagination and innovation here, Freestone’s all-acoustic trio don’t travel as widely in idiom or dynamics. If you’re looking for hard blowing, driving bop, funk, or even swing, this isn't for you, but this chordless trio delivers truckloads of expressive, fresh and intricate music nonetheless.   

The album opens with El Mar de Nubes (Sea of Clouds - the album inspired by a stay in Tenerife) and  introduces a distinctive, recurring style of sax interplaying with subtle drums and bass, exploring and teasing a repeated motif, stretching emphasis and tempo.  The second track, Hiding Jekyll takes this method further, twisting a phrase in all sorts of interesting directions, with bass and drums seamlessly intertwining and reinforcing. At first hearing, I found the approach a little mechanical, but as so often, it took me a couple of plays to appreciate the clever, nuanced lines. 

There is great diversity throughout the album, with Shenandoah first receiving a breathy and sparse treatment, with a contrasting reprise closing the album seeing Freestone switching to violin and singing a more familiar version.    
  
Hasta la Vista is a showcase for bass and drums (much more here than mere “rhythm section!), starting with Tim Giles’ “time games”, all three players trading licks, then alternating with more relaxed passages, with some free blowing between.  El Camino by contrast is slower, ruminating and wistful, played over loose, bubbling and splashing percussion (no time, no changes – at least not obvious to my ears!).  

A very “non-standard” Beatrice starts slowly with lovely meandering sax gliding effortlessly through the changes, gradually gathers pace as Giles swaps brushes for sticks, dabbles with a swing for a while, and reaches a full-tilt climax.

My favourite track, Los Indianos, puts percussion to the fore, with a memorable staccato sax theme giving space to Giles’ agile and lively (calypso?) lines 
Altogether, some very fine, intelligent and musical playing: worth a short trip to see them on tour June 13 @ - Newcastle Arts Centre Details.
Chris Kilsby 

Available on Whirlwind Recordings. Buy/see

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