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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

15867 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 874 of them this year alone and, so far, 72 this month (Sept. 25).

From This Moment On ...

September

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.

Tue 03: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 03: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. House trio: Michael Young (piano); Paul Grainger (double bass); Sid White (drums). CANCELLED!

Wed 04: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 04: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 04: Paul Skerritt @ Vespa Italian Bar & Steakhouse, Primrose Hill, Jarrow. From 7:00pm. To book a table - 0191 483 3355.
Wed 04: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 05: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 05: Sound the Trumpets @ King's Hall, Newcastle University. 1:15pm. Free.
Thu 05: Hot Club du Nord @ The Lubetkin Theatre, Peterlee. 7:00pm. £10.00. POSTPONED!
Thu 05: Thursday Night Prayer Meeting @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.
Thu 05: Tommy Bentz Trio + Mark Croft Duo + George Shovlin & George Lamb @ The Harbour View, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Harbour View Speakeasy's USA blues double bill + Shovlin & Lamb!
Thu 05: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Ragtime piano. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.
Thu 05: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 06: Alcyona Mick @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Fri 06: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 06: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 06: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 06: WORKSHOP: Philosophy of Arts & Entertainment @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 2:00pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Fri 06: Balo @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 6:20pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Fri 06: Paul Skerritt @ 3Sixty Champagne Lounge, Hadrian’s Tower, Newcastle. From 7:00pm. To book a table - 0191 933 8591.
Fri 06: Lexer/Mayes/Noble + Semay Wu + Miman @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 7:20pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Fri 06: Dulcie May Moreno @ The Vault, Hexham. 7:30pm. £20.00. Book in advance. Moreno with Alan Law, Paul Grainger & John Bradford.
Fri 06: Dean Stockdale Quartet @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm. 'Celebrating Oscar'.
Fri 06: Nu Brass Sounds: Big Brass Bash @ Billy Bootlegger’s, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free.
Fri 06: TBC @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Blind Pig Blues Club. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

Monday, March 23, 2020

CD Review: Julian Costello - Connections without borders


Julian Costello (saxophones), Maciek Pysz (guitar), Adam Teixeira (drums), Jakub Cywinski, (double bass)
(Review by Chris K)

Simultaneously a joy and a loss - this great band were due to play at the Jazz Coop, Newcastle, and Zeff's in Ambleside in April, where I was looking forward to hearing the 3D realisation of the recorded version.  At least due to Covid-19 I've had more time to listen to this delightful slice of musical magic.  

The multi-national band recorded the album in Norway with the aim of promoting and celebrating multicultural collaborations. Costello's works were new to me and so it's tempting to make comparisons with other sax-led bands in similar spaces, e.g. Oded Tzur's album recently reviewed here on BSH as well as Trish Clowes and Tori Freestone's bands.  


While there are some similarities, Costello has his own distinctive voice on tenor and soprano, with inventive but wholesome compositions with melody in abundance, covering a wide variety of idiom and mood.  A luxuriant and spacious feel pervades, with room not only for the excellent  Maciek Pysz on guitar, but top bass and drums doing more than supporting.   The classically trained Cywinski on bass has the hard act to follow of Yuri Goloubev who starred on the previous album, but he pulls it off with aplomb. Teixeira tastefully alternates between conventional beats and shimmering percussion when needed.  

Pysz is an established star in his own right, and alternates here not only between accompaniment and duelling lead, but also between electric and acoustic as the mood changes, with plenty here for the guitar aficionado.
Everyone Has a Story opens the album strongly in relaxed style, but with enough propulsion to avoid somnolence, followed by the more upbeat Sunflowers, with tones of Sulzmann and Metheny shining through. Connections looks to the east, building on Arabic scales and a motif recalling Yazz Ahmed's Jamil Jamal on La Saboteuse (to have been played by Jambone at last weekend's cancelled Gateshead Jazz...). 
Nord Wind evokes the Norwegian setting, with icy but emotional shimmers immaculately recorded, challenging ECM's ground!  Rainforest sees Costello directly engaging Garbarek territory, as does Splashing in Puddles,  complete with gorgeous cymbal landscapes.
The standout track for me is Bridges where Pysz turns up the volume and sustain to set off into a substantial proggy interlude.  Fear not though, excess is avoided in a supremely well-crafted work out for the whole band.
All in all, masterfully written and played, elegant and expressive.  While we pray for the return of both the band and the album's sentiment of Connections: without borders, I'd wholeheartedly recommend giving this a listen. 
Chris
Buy at 33 Records 33JAZZ283.

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