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Bebop Spoken There

Branford Marsalis: "As ignorance often forces us to do, you make a generalisation about a musician based on one specific record or one moment in time." - (Jazzwise June 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

15491 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 512 of them this year alone and, so far, 133 this month (May 31).

From This Moment On ...

Tue 06: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 06: Jam session @ Black Swan, Newcastle Arts Centre. 7:30pm. House trio: Stu Collingwood (piano); Paul Grainger (double bass); Sid White (drums).

Wed 07: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 07: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 07: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 7:00pm.
Wed 07: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 08: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free. CANCELLED! BACK ON JUNE 15.
Thu 08: Easington Colliery Brass Band @ The Lubetkin Theatre, Peterlee. 7:00pm. £10.00.
Thu 08: Faye MacCalman + Blue Dust Archive @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 08: Dilutey Juice + Ceramic @ The Ampitheatre, Sea Road, South Shields. 7:00pm. Free. A South Tyneside Festival event.
Thu 08: Lara Jones w. Vigilance State @ Lubber Fiend, Blandford Square, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 08: Michael Littlefield @ the Harbour View, Roker, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Country blues.
Thu 08: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 09: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 09: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 09: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 09: Castillo Nuevo @ Revolución de Cuba, Newcastle. 5:30-8:30pm.
Fri 09: Emma Rawicz @ Sage Gateshead. 8:00pm.

Sat 10: Miners' Picnic @ Woodhorn, Ashington. Music inc. Northern Monkey Brass Band (3:00-3:50pm); New York Brass Band (4:00-4:55pm).
Sat 10: Front Porch Three @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. Americana, blues, jazz etc.
Sat 10: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

Sun 11: WORKSHOP: Tim Richards' Jazz Piano Workshop @ JG Windows, Newcastle. Time TBC. Further details tel. 0191 232 1356.
Sun 11: Jeremy McMurray's Pocket Jazz Orchestra @ Ropner Park, Stockton TS18 4EF. 2:00-4:00pm. Free.
Sun 11: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:30pm. Free.
Sun 11: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 3:00pm.
Sun 11: Groovetrain @ Innisfree Sports & Social Club, Longbenton NE12 8TY. Doors 6:30pm. £15.00 (£7.00. under 16).
Sun 11: Jeffrey Hewer Collective @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 12: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

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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