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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

17346 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 16 years ago. 630 of them this year alone and, so far, 35 this month (Sept. 11).

From This Moment On ...

September

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!

Tue 17: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Victoria & Albert Inn, Seaton Delaval. 12:30pm. £13.00. Tel: 0191 237 3697. ‘Indian Summer Afternoon Tea’.
Tue 17: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Joe Steels (guitar); Paul Grainger (double bass); Abbie Finn (drums).

Friday, November 20, 2020

Yazz Ahmed: Livestreamed from Kings Place, EFG London Jazz Festival - Nov. 19.

Yazz Ahmed (trumpet/flugelhorn); Ralph Wyld (vibes); Martin France (drums); Dave Manington (bass). 

(Review/screenshots by Amy Sibley-Allen) 

British-Bahraini composer, trumpeter and flugelhorn player Yazz Ahmed’s star is rapidly rising and what a shining light it is. The livestreamed concert from Kings Place is testament to that. Ahmed’s nuanced psychedelic mix of jazz and electronics with Arabian rhythms and influences is captivating.

Since releasing her debut album Finding My Way Home in 2011 Ahmed has honed her craft and collaborated with many musicians including Lee Scratch Perry and Radiohead, amongst others, even undertaking a world tour with These New Puritans. For this concert Ahmed mixes up tracks from her last two album releases La Saboteuse (2018), exploring the inner destroyer, and Polyhymnia (2020), a homage to female courage and determination - for which she has recently won Jazz FM Jazz Album of the Year and additionally took home Jazz Act of the Year.

Whilst often writing for, and performing with, her septet the Hafla band and larger ensembles this concert is stripped back to a just a quartet featuring drummer Martin France, vibraphonist Ralph Wyld and bass player Dave Manington. Set up facing each other on the Kings Place stage it feels intimate with a hazy vibe and kaleidoscopic lighting - fitting of the music. Overall the Kings Place streaming was flawless and the sound mix spot on.  

The opening track Lahan al-Mansour, which is inspired by Arabian film director Haifaa al-Mansour, immediately enthrals with bowed vibraphone followed by a fine interplay with France’s drum grooves with underlying steady bass. Ahmed’s manipulated trumpet effects with Arabic melodies set the tone of the evening.

The reflective La Saboteuse zones in on France’s controlled and delicate drumming and the subtle interplay of the quartet - an Arabic poem weaves through the soundscape, voicing the inner destroyer - which translated reads ‘she says she is my friend’ but ‘is not to be trusted’.

The third track Jamil Jamal has driving rhythms and a vibrant energy throughout before a transfixing and evocative solo bass intro from Manington on 2857, dedicated to Rosa Parks, utilising sound manipulations and loop pedal before vibes and drums join. Ahmed’s mellow flugelhorn playing adds a sublime tone to the track.

A Shoal of Souls is a heartfelt and powerful tune inspired both by the artwork of Sophie Bass and Sufism’s whirling and twirling. Dedicated to all of the lives lost crossing the Mediterranean in search of a better future this sits heavy but is an outstanding track. The final piece of the evening The Lost Pearl is inspired by Bahrain, Ahmed’s first home, and is a rich feast of Middle Eastern melodies and rhythms.

Whilst Ahmed may have been battling her inner saboteur ‘we are very grateful that she has found salvation in sound’ as stated in the concert’s opening intro and I am sure is felt by all those listening. In a fitting end to the evening Ahmed’s father posted the last live stream chat comment, which simply stated how proud he was - and he really has every right to be. 

Amy

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