Total Pageviews

Bebop Spoken There

Spasmo Brown: “Jazz is an ice cream sandwich! It's the Fourth of July! It's a girl with a waterbed!”. (Syncopated Times, July, 2024).

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...

Josh Weir: I love the writing on bebop spoken here... I think the work you are doing is amazing.

Postage

17328 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 16 years ago. 612 of them this year alone and, so far, 17 this month (Sept. 5).

From This Moment On ...

September

Tue 10: ???

Wed 11: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 11: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 11: The Tannery Jam Session @ The Tannery, Gilesgate, Hexham. 7:00-9:00pm. Free. A ‘second Wednesday in the month’ jam session.
Wed 11: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 12: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 12: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:30pm. £4.00. ‘A Great Day in Harlem’.
Thu 12: The Cuban Heels @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Pete Tanton & co.
Thu 12: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesborough. 8:30pm. Free. THC with guests Donna Hewitt, Bill Watson, Dave Archbold, Adrian Beadnell, Mark Hawkins.

Fri 13: Jeff Barnhart & Neville Dickie @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Two pianos, two pianists! SOLD OUT!
Fri 13: Noel Dennis Quartet @ The Old Library, Auckland Castle, Bishop Auckland. 1:00pm. £8.00.
Fri 13: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 13: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 13: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 13: Dilutey Juice @ Old Coal Yard, Byker, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £11.00. adv..
Fri 13: Ray Stubbs R & B All-stars @ The Forum, Darlington. 7:30pm. Classic blues.

Sat 14: Jeff Barnhart’s Silent Film Fest @ St Augustine's Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. Darlington New Orleans Jazz Club.
Sat 14: Customs House Big Band w. Ruth Lambert @ St Paul’s Centre, St Paul’s Gardens, Spennymoor DL16 7LR. 7:00pm (6:45pm doors). Tickets £10.00. from the venue or tel: 01388 813404. A ‘BYOB’ event.
Sat 14: Emma Wilson @ Claypath Deli, Durham. 7:00pm. £12.00. Acoustic blues.
Sat 14: Rat Pack - Swingin’ at the Sands @ Billingham Forum. 7:30pm.

Sun 15: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 15: Jude Murphy, Steve Chambers & Sid White @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 15: Tweed River Jazz Band @ Barrels Ale House, Berwick-upon-Tweed. 7:00pm. Free.
Sun 15: Panharmonia @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 16: Swing Manouche @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 1:00pm. £9.00.
Mon 16: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 16: John Hallam with the James Birkett Trio @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00. A Blaydon Jazz Club 40th anniversary concert!

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

No comments :

Blog Archive