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Bebop Spoken There

Billy Boy Arnold: “As long as you don't think old you're good.” - DownBeat, December, 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!"

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

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. CANCELLED!
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.

Sun 10: Musicians Unlimited’s Xmas Party with Zoe Gilby Quartet @ Park Inn, Hartlepool. MU 1:00-3:00pm; Zoë Gilby Quartet 4:00-6:00pm. Tickets: £7.50.
Sun 10: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00-4:00pm. Free.
Sun 10: Funk Soul Sista @ Stack, Seaburn. 5:00-7:00pm. Free.
Sun 10: Beth Clarke @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 10: Hayley's Little Big Band @ Whittingham Memorial Institute, Alnwick. 7:30pm. £12.00., £10.00.
Sun 10: Tele-Port @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Line-up inc. Zhenya Strigalev.

Monday, February 03, 2020

CD Review: Mezcla – Shoot the Moon

Joshua Elcock (trumpet); Michael Butcher (tenor sax); Alan Benzie (keyboard); Ben MacDonald (guitar); David Bowden (bass); Stephen Henderson (drums); Steve Forman (percussion).
(Review by Hugh C).

Mezcla (meaning “mixture” in Spanish) hail from Scotland and are led by bassist David Bowden – BBC Young Scottish Jazz Musician of the Year 2017.  The band are described in the press sheet accompanying this latest CD release as a “jazz/world fusion ensemble”.  Bowden works primarily in the fields of jazz, folk and contemporary improvised music and following his studies at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland has spent time studying abroad in Amsterdam and Ghana, as well as being involved in Scottish music education at all levels.

Shoot the Moon is the culmination of almost three years of gigging, rehearsing and Mezcla growing as a band.  The content is all composed by David Bowden and the CD (released on the progressive Ubuntu label) is his first major body of recorded work.  The title track, Shoot the Moon, commences the auditory experience, featuring Fender Rhodes-style piano from Benzie’s keyboard and antiphonal sparring by Butcher on tenor; an upbeat number which sets the tone for the CD.  Volta keeps the wick turned up with a funky groove set by Henderson and Forman in the engine room.  The melodic instruments stretch out over the top.  Sami’s Tune features MacDonald on guitar, retaining the rhythmic drive of the preceding tracks.  Auckland Hill takes the tempo down.  As in previous tracks, the drums and percussion commence and set the initial tone, the other instruments coming in after a few bars.  This track has a balladic quality, evocative of an open Scottish landscape, perhaps.

A Latin-influenced bass solo from Bowden, soon joined by percussion and drums, sets the scene for Dinosaur Jump – these dinosaurs are really having a party!  Our poikilothermic revellers are nowhere to be seen in Winter Walk.  The pace is slow and gentle with fine tenor saxophone from Butcher underpinned by a sonic tapestry from the other band members.  Akpe has a distinct Township vibe.  Firefly has an air of mystery and expectation, with percussive crackling in the background, one is not quite sure which way it is going to go next. Solo trumpet from Joshua Elcock features here.  The CD is brought to a close with Knockan Crag, which starts as a slow ballad, metamorphosing into an up tempo romp part-way through.

Shoot the Moon, three years in gestation, delivers a bundle of joy and is presented to the world this Friday (Feb. 7). The fun the band are having is palpable throughout and, what’s more, there will be an opportunity to feel it in a live session at Newcastle Jazz Coop’s Globe Jazz Bar on July 16.

Hugh C

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