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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.

Tuesday, August 18, 2020

Album review: Maria Schneider Orchestra - Data Lords

Maria Schneider's new album is a majestic work spanning some ninety five minutes across two discs. The Artists Share funding platform made it possible to record Data Lords over four days in autumn 2019 and produce physical CD copies of the album. 

Schneider's A-list eighteen piece band is more than up to the mark in realising the composer's vision. The main theme is Schneider's concern with 'the great impact the data-hungry digital world has had on our lives'. 

The first disc, The Digital World, centres around Ben Monder's guitar. In addition to the electric guitar Schneider's sleeve notes pointedly refer to Greg Gisbert's 'trumpet with electronics' on CQ CQ, Is Anybody There? and again on the title track with fellow trumpeter Mike Rodriguez the soloist. Monder's playing on this densely textured album invites comparison with Hiram Bullock's contribution to Gil Evans' later work and John McLaughlin with electric-era Miles Davis.

The companion disc, Our Natural World, purposely shows greater restraint in the writing and in the performance of the six tracks. It is the same group of musicians yet Schneider successfully coaxes a collective lyricism from the ensemble. 

Schneider's stated intention is 'to get away from every device bombarding me with endless chatter, endless things - endless demands'. The distinctive sound of Gary Versace's accordion adds a different dimension and Donny McCaslin, known beyond the jazz world as a collaborator on David Bowie's final recording, makes a telling tenor sax contribution on the album's closing track, The Sun Waited for Me

All compositions are by Schneider. Data Lords (Artists Share, cat no. AS0176) is one of the albums of the year and is available exclusively at: www.mariaschneider.com.    
Russell
         
Maria Schneider Orchestra: Maria Schneider (composer, conductor); Steve Wilson (alto sax, soprano sax, clarinet, flute, alto flute); Dave Pietro (alto sax, clarinet, flute, alto flute, piccolo); Rich Perry (tenor sax); Donny McCaslin (tenor sax, flute); Scott Robinson (Bb, bass, contra-bass clarinets, baritone sax, muson); Tony Kadleck, Greg Gisbert, Nadje Noordhuis, Mike Rodriguez (trumpet, flugelhorn); Keith O'Quinn, Ryan Keberle, Marshall Gilkes (trombone); George Flynn (bass trombone); Gary Versace (accordion); Ben Monder (guitar); Frank Kimbrough (piano); Jay Anderson (bass guitar); Johnathan Blake (drums, percussion) 

1 comment :

Dave said...

Maria Schneider’s albums are all consistently good and consistently expensive. By my calculations buying the latest cd would cost about £40 delivered to the UK. On that basis, I won’t be buying it.
Dave

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