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Bebop Spoken There

Billy Boy Arnold: “As long as you don't think old you're good.” - DownBeat, December, 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!"

Simon Spillett: A lovely review from the dean of jazz bloggers, Lance Liddle...

Postage

16034 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 1041 of them this year alone and, so far, 73 this month (Nov. 27).

From This Moment On ...

December

Tue 05: Customs House Big Band @ All Saints Church, Cleadon. 7:00pm. Concert in the church hall. BYOB.
Tue 05: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Michael Young, Paul Grainger, Sid White. The best free show in town!

Wed 06: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 06: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 8:00pm. Free. Note later start time, concert performance (open to the public).
Wed 06: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 07: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free CANCELLED!
Thu 07: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Spanish City, Whitley Bay, Newcastle. 12 noon - 4:00pm. £26.00 (inc 3-course meal in in St Mary's Lighthouse Suite). SOLD OUT!
Thu 07: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Gateshead Central Library, Gateshead. 2:30pm. All welcome.
Thu 07: Thursday Night Prayer Meeting @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.Donations. Feat. Mark Sanders. CANCELLED!
Thu 07: Indigo Jazz Voices @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:45pm. £5.00. Downstairs.
Thu 07: Tees Hot Club: Just Friends @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. Guest band night w. Richie Emmerson, Ian Bosworth, Dave Archbold, Ron Smith, Mark Hawkins. 9:00pm.

Fri 08: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 08: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 08: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 08: Giles Strong Quartet @ The Old Library, Auckland Castle. 1:00pm. £7.00.
Fri 08: Hayley's Little Big Band @ Woodland Village Hall, Bishop Auckland. 7:00pm. £12.00.
Fri 08: Sleep Suppressor + Redwell @ Head of Steam, Neville St., Newcastle. 8:00pm. £10.00. (£8.00. adv); £5.00. student.
Fri 08: Hot Club du Nord @ St Cuthbert's Church, Shadforth, Co. Durham.
Fri 08: Têtes de Pois + Nauta @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.00., £8.00.

Sat 09: Prudhoe Community Band @ Central Station, Newcastle. 10:00am - 12 noon. Charity fundraiser.
Sat 09: Durham Alumni Big Band @ Number One Bar, Skinnergate, Darlington. 1:00pm.
Sat 09: Castillo Nuevo Trio @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 5:30pm. Free.
Sat 09: Hayley's Little Big Band @ Middleton & Todridge Village Hall, Morpeth. 7:30pm. £12.00., £6.00.
Sat 09: Paul Skerritt @ Slaley Hall, Hexham NE47 0BX. 7:30pm. From £42.00.

Sun 10: Musicians Unlimited’s Xmas Party with Zoe Gilby Quartet @ Park Inn, Hartlepool. MU 1:00-3:00pm; Zoë Gilby Quartet 4:00-6:00pm. Tickets: £7.50.
Sun 10: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00-4:00pm. Free.
Sun 10: Funk Soul Sista @ Stack, Seaburn. 5:00-7:00pm. Free.
Sun 10: Beth Clarke @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 10: Hayley's Little Big Band @ Whittingham Memorial Institute, Alnwick. 7:30pm. £12.00., £10.00.
Sun 10: Tele-Port @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Line-up inc. Zhenya Strigalev.

Mon 11: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 11: Interim Final Recitals @ Newcastle University. Details TBC.

Tue 12: Stu Collingwood Organ Trio @ Forum Music Centre, Darlington. 7:00pm. £10.00.

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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