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Bebop Spoken There

Abbie Finn: "Even though there's a lot of great work being done to promote women in jazz, I still come up against some attitudes! I pulled up at a recording session with my drums in the car and the studio owner said, 'I'm sorry, this space is reserved for the drummer!'" - (Jazzwise April 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!"

Postage

15229 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 248 of them this year alone and, so far, 61 this month (March 20).

From This Moment On ...

March

Fri 24: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 24: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 24: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 24: FILM: Mo' Better Blues @ Forum Cinema, Hexham. 7:00pm.
Fri 24: Ian Millar & Dominic Spencer @ Scarth Hall, Staindrop, Co. Durham. 8:00pm. £10.00.
Fri 24: Archipelago + Bulbils @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.

Sat 25: Vermont Big Band @ Walker Community Centre, Walker, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Fundraiser for Benfield Juniours Football Club. Hot food available, BYOB.
Sat 25: John Logan & Friends @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Rat Pack, Motown etc. 8:00pm. Free (donations).

Sun 26: Musicians Unlimited @ Park Inn, Hartlepool. 1:00pm.
Sun 26: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 3:00pm.
Sun 26: Outlines @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. JNE promotion (upstairs).

Mon 27: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

Tue 28: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 28: Sanaz Lavasani Trio @ Black Swan, Newcastle Arts Centre. 8:00pm. £12.00 (£10.00. adv).

Wed 29: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 29: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 29: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 7:00pm.
Wed 29: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 30: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Gateshead Central Library. 2:30-4:30pm. £2.00. All welcome.
Thu 30: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. Back to 1:00pm stomp off. Free.
Thu 30: '58 Jazz Collective @ Hops & Cheese, Hartlepool. 7:30pm. Free.
Thu 30: Lindsay Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ Harbour View, Sunderland. 8:00pm.
Thu 30: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Sunday, March 15, 2020

Jazz 'n' Blues at the Art Institute of Chicago

(By Russell)

If you get the opportunity to visit Chicago a trip to the Art Institute of Chicago should be top of your bucket list. One of the largest art collections in the US includes some of the most well known art works, stuff you'll have looked at countless times in books and in newspaper and magazine articles, likely as not you'll have a print of one of them on your wall at home.  

On a recent visit to the Michigan Avenue galleries it quickly became apparent that Cézannes, Matisses, Monets, Renoirs and Picassos were everywhere - turn a corner and there was another and another. A true feast for the eyes of the many international visitors thronging the galleries, cafes and bookshops over three expansive floors.  


One of America's, if not the world's, instantly recognisable images - Duncan Grant's American Gothic - drew the crowds, if nothing else, it's a financial boon for the institution (general admission will set you back $25). BBC Radio 3's recent documentary Shades of Black: The Art and Genius of Archibald J Motley Jr whetted the appetite. And there he was, Motley Jr, a key figure in the Harlem Renaissance, represented by two paintings - Nightlife and Blues. Vivid, celebratory, the African-American experience portrayed in a positive light. Nightlife's bar/club scene depicts people of colour enjoying themselves, dancing to the sounds of jazz. Alongside Motley Jr was the work of Arthur Dove. An early American modernist, his abstract paintings include Swing Music (Louis Armstrong) from 1938. 

Emmett McBain's Record Cover Designs (1958-61) took pride of place in a gallery devoted to 'Bauhaus Chicago: Design in the City'. See the image of four highly collectible jazz LPs - that's the cover art of Emmett McBain. Last, but by no means least, in fact, purposely left 'til last, both in this article and on the day spent in the Art Institute of Chicago, the master of jazz noir (perhaps that's a new term, BST should copyright it!) - if you're into Chandler and the hard boiled school of American (gloriously pulp) fiction, RKO gangster movies and all things mean streets America, then you'll get it - Edward Hopper is your man. To stand in front of Hopper's Nighthawks was a once in a life opportunity. If you get the chance, go, simple as that. 
Russell

2 comments :

NeilC said...

Great article Russell thank you for posting . I am a big fan of Edward Hopper I purchased a book of his art which I look at constantly but could I own Nighthawks ! I am not familiar with Archibald Motley Jr but will certainly be looking him up, he really captures the vibrancy of Harlem to such an extent you can almost hear the music when you view the paintings .

Lance said...

Reading Russell's reports is rather like listening to "Letter From America" by Alistair Cooke which was aired on BBC Radio for many years and which often contained jazz items. I wonder what Cooke would have had to say about the current situation?

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