Total Pageviews

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.

Monday, July 29, 2019

Sotavento Big Band @ the Globe Jazz Bar - July 28

(Review/PHOTOS by Lance).

Their third UK tour and their second visit to the Jazz Coop's main theatre of operations, the Sotavento Big Band from Argentina once again put on a show.

It's an intriguing concept, jazz played over a mainly, but not always, tango rhythm. It's also a dangerous one - would the jazz audience accept the tango and would the dancers take to the jazz?

The question was answered by the jazz folk in the crowded downstairs bar with muchas solicitudes de encore whereas only one couple danced, admittedly gracefully and with the unconscious  sensual element the tango inevitably evokes - so much so that, had there been a tango tutor to hand, I myself would have been doing a new-fangled tango - however, it does take two...

From a jazz point of view, 7 saxes, 1 trumpet and no trombones doesn't offer the tonal variations of the standard big band line-up even though some of the saxes were taking on the role of trombone and 2nd/3rd trumpet. Nevertheless, once the intonation had been adjusted, it was a good sound.

Leader Firmenich is the outstanding soloist blowing blistering baritone. I'd have liked to have heard him in a small group setting. The other two tenor soloists had their moments, one of whom blew tasty clarinet. Pianist Calderon who, it was pointed out, looked uncannily like Newcastle's recently departed manager Benitez, took the occasional chorus and, likewise, trumpet hombre Vargas and la Senorita Crnko on alto also had moments of glory.

Drummer Crespo drove Caravan like a man possessed but it was bass guitarist Cor who caused the bass guitarist who was sharing our table  to utter "cor!" after his solo on the same number.

On Sotavento's previous visit, Patricia Leguizamon was sensational this time the balance did her no favours and she wasn't heard to best advantage on numbers such as More and Lady is a Tramp.

An enjoyable evening nevertheless.
Lance
PS: As most of the numbers had Spanish titles I made no attempt to make a note of them!
PHOTOS (link)
Gustavo Firmenich (MD, baritone sax); Andrés Veltri, Miguel Bensadón, Horacio Baldassarre, Duilio Giri (tenor saxes); Sergio Cisneros (clarinet, tenor sax); Florencio Crnko (clarinet, alto sax); Emanuel Vargas (trumpet); Enrique Gallo Calderon (piano); Cristian Cor (bass guitar); Fernando Crespo (drums); Patricia Leguizamon (vocals).

No comments :

Blog Archive