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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

Wed 22: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 22: Darlington Big Band @ Traveller's Rest, Cockerton. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public). Note change of venue - this week only.
Wed 22: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 7:00pm.
Wed 22: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 23: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 4:00-6:00pm. Free.
Thu 23: NUJO Jazz Jam @ Bar Loco, Newcasatle. From 6:30pm 'til late. Free. Newcastle University Jazz Orchestra jam session. All welcome (students & non-students).
Thu 23: Kerrin Tatman + John Garner & John Pope @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 23: Sunna Gunnlaugs & Julia Hülsmann @ Sage Gateshead. 8:00pm. A two-piano gig. A Sage Gateshead-JNE promotion.
Thu 23: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Ragtime piano.
Thu 23: Sleep Suppressor @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £10.00., £8.00. adv. Upstairs.
Thu 23: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

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).

Sunday, May 17, 2020

Elina Duni And Rob Luft @ Jazz Co-op Livestream May 17

Elina Duni (voice); Rob Luft (guitars, electronic effects)

A homely scene greeted us, Elina and Rob on the sofa with a few fairy lights behind, yet this was also an international gig, as shown by the names in the chat box and the greetings that Elina gave later, to people from France,  Albania, Kosovo, the USA. Excellent sound through my headphones and passable even without them.

 About 35 people listed as listening, enough to fill the jazz bar at the Globe – Alas! But this is a different sort of gig, which may continue in some form in the future, who knows?

First up was Ornette Coleman's Lonely Woman which blended later into a folk song from Elina's native Albania, When You Appear at My Doorstep. Flowing guitar comments to the vocal lines with a very Eastern feel and the second song is sung beautifully, in Albanian, slowly reflective, a passionate repetitive chorus, ascending scales and jubilant guitar sounds. This outline doesn't do the performance much justice, but you can listen for yourself on YouTube.

Next came a love song from the mountains of Kosovo, the words were foreign but the sentiment came across. A complex song with many sections yet not difficult listening, repeated passionate phrases, singing the tune with the guitar but a few notes higher, very different from jazz variations, ending with the guitar sounding like a double bass. Flying Kites, an original, composed on the very sofa that we were looking at, (not an observation we could appreciate at an actual gig), drawn from Elina's childhood memories, and the guitar playing fast twisting riffs to imitate the kites.

Then came a typical folk song theme, the girl fancies a man she meets when getting water from the well, before remembering that she must return home to her mother. A fast skilled guitar over a slow song, with brilliant very high guitar notes to end.  

Another original (One Day In?); followed by a Charlie Haden/Abbey Lincoln number with echoing guitar. The duo showed their versatility with an out and out jazz standard,  I'm Glad There Is You. 

A final folk song, a love song about the moon, and the well-deserved encore, which was demanded in the chat box, Serge Gainsbourg's Couleur Cafe, done samba style, with Rob singing in harmony in the chorus, and an abundance of  guitar effects which sounded like quite a few guitars at once.

If you want more of these two musicians, and I bet you do, Rob's album, Life Is The Dancer, was out in April 2020, on Edition Records.  See www.robluft.bandcamp.com

Elina's last album, Partir, April 2018, is on ECM Records. See www.amazon.co.uk/elina-duni.
Ann Alex

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