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Bebop Spoken There

Steve Fishwick: “I can’t get behind the attitude that new is always somehow better than old” - Jazz Journal, April 15, 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!"

Simon Spillett: A lovely review from the dean of jazz bloggers, Lance Liddle...

Postage

16034 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 1041 of them this year alone and, so far, 73 this month (Nov. 27).

From This Moment On ...

December

Sun 03: Smokin’ Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:30pm. £7.50.
Sun 03: The Central Bar Quartet @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £10.00. The Central Bar Quartet plays Lou Donaldson’s Gravy Train. Featuring Jamie Toms.
Sun 03: Paul Skerritt @ Smith’s Arms, Carlton, Stockton-on-Tees. 7:00pm.
Sun 03: Johnny Hunter Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Sun 03: Jam session @ The Schooner, Gateshead. 8:00pm. Free.

Mon 04: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Mon 04: Northern Monkey Brass Band @ People’s Kitchen, Bath Lane, Newcastle. From 5:30pm. On-street gig supporting the work of the People’s Kitchen charity. Wrap up warm! Donate!
Mon 04: Michael Young Trio w Lindsay Hannon @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 7:00pm. Free.
Mon 04: James Birkett Trio @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £8.00.
Mon 04: Durham University Jazz Orchestra + Durham University Big Band @ Durham Castle DH1 3RW. 8:30pm. £6.00.; £5.00. concs; £4.00. DSM. ‘Jazzy Christmas’.

Tue 05: Customs House Big Band @ All Saints Church, Cleadon. 7:00pm. Concert in the church hall. BYOB.
Tue 05: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Michael Young, Paul Grainger, Sid White. The best free show in town!

Wed 06: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 06: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 8:00pm. Free. Note later start time, concert performance (open to the public).
Wed 06: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 07: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free CANCELLED!
Thu 07: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Spanish City, Whitley Bay, Newcastle. 12 noon - 4:00pm. £26.00 (inc 3-course meal in in St Mary's Lighthouse Suite). SOLD OUT!
Thu 07: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Gateshead Central Library, Gateshead. 2:30pm. All welcome.
Thu 07: Thursday Night Prayer Meeting @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.Donations. Feat. Mark Sanders.
Thu 07: Indigo Jazz Voices @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:45pm. £5.00. Downstairs.
Thu 07: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 08: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 08: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 08: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 08: Hayley's Little Big Band @ Woodland Village Hall, Bishop Auckland. 7:00pm. £12.00.
Fri 08: Sleep Suppressor + Redwell @ Head of Steam, Neville St., Newcastle. 8:00pm. £10.00. (£8.00. adv); £5.00. student.
Fri 08: Hot Club du Nord @ St Cuthbert's Church, Shadforth, Co. Durham.
Fri 08: Têtes de Pois + Nauta @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.00., £8.00.

Sat 09: Castillo Nuevo Trio @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 5:30pm. Free.
Sat 09: Abbie Finn Trio @ Claypath Deli, Durham. 7:00pm.
Sat 09: Hayley's Little Big Band @ Middleton & Todridge Village Hall, Morpeth. 7:30pm. £12.00., £6.00.
Sat 09: Paul Skerritt @ Slaley Hall, Hexham NE47 0BX. 7:30pm. From £42.00.

Tuesday, February 04, 2020

CD Review: Issie Barratt’s Interchange – Donna’s Secret


(Review by Hugh C)

Issie Barratt is well established on the jazz scene as an internationally active composer, arranger, conductor, baritone player, record producer and educator

Interchange (“In-to-change”)   is “an exciting new jazz dectet comprising ten of the nation’s most innovative award-winning composers and improvisers –  Pushing at the boundaries and blurring all the edges!”

Donna’s Secret comprises eight newly commissioned works, each by a different composer, namely: Still Here (Karen Street); Donna’s Secret (Brigitte Beraha); Negomi (Nikki Iles); Samla Korna Med Kulning (Issie Barratt); Palmyra (Shirley Smart); Spontaneous Symmetry (Tori Freestone); Caliban (Cassie Kinoshi); Hope (Carol Jarvis).  

Each is written in response to a situation or life event the individual composer has encountered or experienced and detailed sleeve notes place each track in the context in which it was composed.

Still Here demonstrates tight ensemble playing interspersed by a Ceilidh-style dance rhythm featuring Karen Street’s accordion. Donna’s Secret features both musical (verbal and non-verbal) and spoken vocals, in both French and English, from Brigitte Beraha and Jessica Radcliffe.  Negomi is a reflective piece with Middle Eastern influences, written in response to the plight of refugees in the Calais camps.  Samla Korna Med Kulning commences with birdsong and cowbells and depicts women’s herding calls (Kulning) on the Fennoscandian peninsula.  Palmyra returns us to the Middle East (where the composer lived for several years).  Spontaneous Symmetry examines the patterns of nature and breakages in the usual symmetry, such as Freestone’s mother’s atrial fibrillation.  Caliban is Kinoshi’s response to the character in Shakespeare’s The Tempest.  Hope reflects the composer’s emotional journey through cancer juxtaposing darkness and loneliness with optimism and hope.

As observed in a previous review on Bebop Spoken Here (and quoted in the band’s publicity) this is a band, “full of sophisticated music and improvisational skill”.  The whole CD lasts a total of nearly 78 minutes and each track between 7 and 13 minutes.  Within each track there are contrasting elements reflecting the nature of the subject matter informing the composition.  

The CD bears repeated listening, and each time new nuances are discovered.  This is not one for “musical wallpaper” in the background and demands full attention from the listener.

Donna’s Secret is released by Fuzzy Moon Records (Catalogue FUZ015) and is available now.

Issie Barratt (Baritone Sax); Nikki Iles (Piano); Laura Jurd (Trumpet/Electronics); Jessica Radcliffe (Voice); Helena Kay (Clarinet/Alto Sax); Rosie Turton (Trombone); Shirley Smart (Cello); Karen Street (Accordion); Charlie Pyne (Bass); Katie Patterson (Percussion).
 Hugh

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