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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

15245 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 264 of them this year alone and, so far, 77 this month (March 25).

From This Moment On ...

March

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.
Mar 26: Pop Jazz @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. 'Jazzified' tunes by the likes of Sylvester, Bowie, the Monkees etc., feat. Alan Law, David Gray, Richard Herdman & Jude Murphy.
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.

Fri 31: Lewis Watson Quartet @ Bishop Auckland Town Hall. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 31: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 31: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 31: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm. CANCELLED! Back next week (April 7).
Fri 31: Jasmine Myra + Waclaw Zimpel @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Fri 31: The Revolutionaires @ The Shack, Boldon Colliery. 7:30pm. £10.00. The Revolutionaires' big band (horn section) line-up.
Fri 31: Andrew McCormack @ Maltings, Berwick. 8:00pm. £20.00.

April
Sat 01: The Big Easy @ St Augustine's Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm.
Sat 01: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. Tutor: Steve Glendinning - In a Minor Key. £25.00. Enrol at: www.jazz.coop.
Sat 01: Hot Club du Nord @ Pleased to Meet You, Bridge St., Morpeth. 8:00pm. £79.00. A charity fundraising event.
Sat 01: Boys of Brass @ Stack, Seaburn. 7:00-9:00pm.
Sat 01: Rendezvous Jazz @ Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00. RESCHEDULED to next week (Sat 08).

Thursday, January 28, 2021

Album review: Shai Maestro - Human

Shai Maestro (piano), Jorge Roeder (bass), Ofri Nehemya (drums), Philip Dizack (trumpet)

Early in the year perhaps, but a contender for album of 2021 already!   A sumptuous studio recording from the aptly named Shai Maestro, who is now firmly in the top bracket of international composer/pianists.  Maestro famously turned down a scholarship to Berklee in favour of tenure with Avishai Cohen (bass) and is now a star in his own right on the evidence of this remarkable recording from ECM.  

His previous ECM outing The Dream Thief (2018) was rapturously received, and his band here builds on the trio of fellow Israeli Nehemya and Peruvian Roeder with the addition of New York based Dizack on trumpet. Any fears that the interplay and nuance of the trio would be brassed off” are unfoundedDizack is a player of great subtlety and sensitivity, more in the breathy Arve Henriksen than Christian Scott mouldgiving this quartet an extra dimension and more gears than the already versatile trio.  

Maestro’s playing and compositions (all but one of the tracks here)  draw on a potentially bewildering range of influences, switching and blending between middle eastern folk, European “classical”, Latin and touching on avant-garde, though scarcely a blue note or swing rhythm will be heard. Strong rhythmic pulses and lyrical lines pervade most trackswith the trumpet providing further colour and texture. While the band can ride with Avishai Cohen’s glorious swagger, they can also float in understated beauty. Maestro’s distinction is that these sounds and influences are formed uniquely but easily into his own authentic personality 


While all 11 tracks are strong, a few stand out, foremost being the longest (at 8:32) Mystery and Illusions. As the name suggests this is artfully varied, veering between pastoral piano, thunderous drums, and lyrical call and response. Gorgeous falling waves of trumpet break finally into rapturous flight, soaring over a flat-out ensemble groove. The Thief’s Dream  is more uniformly up tempo,  exciting and busy, with driving piano and drums, showcasing Dizack’s vaulting but always sympathetic lines.  


Title track Human smears gospel drenched chords between piano and bass swapping a wholesome theme.   Hank and Charlie (named for Haden and Jones) is a suitably spiritual and spacious homage to the duo’s 1995 Steal Away  Compassion conjures sweet Chopin prelude images, while Prayer is led by drums, and is more ruminative and fragmented 


Altogether a rich and powerful delight, played with remarkable empathy and subtlety by a well-matched band of the top musicians of their generation.  One to play often, and discover more and more and yearn to see such a band live again!  


Chris K 


Release date: 29 Jan 2021   

Recorded at Studios la Buissonne in the South of France in February 2020, and produced by Manfred Eicher. 

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