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Bebop Spoken There

Art Blakey: "You [Bobby Watson] don't want to play too long, because you don't know they're clapping because they're glad you finished!" - (JazzTimes, Nov. 2019)..

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

15848 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 855 of them this year alone and, so far, 53 this month (Sept. 18).

From This Moment On ...

September

Sun 24: Musicians Unlimited @ Park Inn, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 24: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.

Mon 25: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Mon 25: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 7:00pm.

Tue 26: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.

Wed 27: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 27: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 27: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 28: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 28: Alice Grace Quartet @ King's Hall, Newcastle University. 1:15pm. Free.
Thu 28: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Gateshead Central Library, Gateshead. 2:30pm. All welcome.
Thu 28: Faye MacCalman + Snape/Sankey @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 28: Zoe Rahman @ Jesmond United Reformed Church, Jesmond, Newcastle. 7:30pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Thu 28: '58 Jazz Collective @ Hops & Cheese, Hartlepool. 7:30pm.
Thu 28: Speakeasy @ Queen's Hall, Hexham. 7:30pm. £15.00. A Southpaw Dance Company presentation. Dance, audio-visuals, Count Basie, Benny Goodman, swing dancers etc.
Thu 28: Mick Cantwell Band @ Harbour View, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Ace blues band.
Thu 28: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 29: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 29: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 29: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.

Sat 30: John Pope Quintet + Late Girl + Shapeshifters @ Bobik's, Jesmond, Newcastle.
Sat 30: Papa G's Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

Friday, April 30, 2021

Album review: Dave Holland – Another Land

Dave Holland (bass/bass guitar);. Kevin Eubanks (guitar); Obed Calvaire (drums)

If you were to stack all the albums that Dave Holland has appeared on as leader or sideman on top of each other, you’d need to put a flashing light on top as a warning to low flying aircraft. Holland is one of the two most significant British branches on the Miles Davis family tree and is, by any measure, a national treasure. At an age when a national treasure is entitled to the tartan rug, comfy slippers and Ovaltine he continues to develop, to seek, to challenge and adapt and his productivity is as high as it ever was.

He set up the Dare2 label for his work in 2005 but was so impressed with Edition Records when they released Good Hope, Holland’s 2019 album with Zakir Hussain and Chris Potter, that he has released this in a collaboration between the two labels.

Another Land feels like a cousin of Prism, the Holland quartet date from 2013 and, if you liked that album, (and why would you not?) you’ll be pushing your pointy elbows out to get to the front of the queue for this one.

This is Dave Holland’s power trio album. Obed Calvaire is a new name to me but he has played with Wynton Marsalis, Joshua Redman, Lizz Wright, the SF Jazz Collective and a host of others.  Holland has worked with Eubanks before, most notably on Extensions (1990) and Prism, both of which were quartet albums. Any suspicion that this might be thin gruel by comparison are dashed after a couple of bars of the opener, Grave Walker, when the guitar crashes in on top of the dirty drum and bass funk opening. They don’t hit the ground running so much as trampling. This is a grungy wall of sound, a snap and swing where the rolling funk meets a ZZ Top snap and swing, the rhythm section as tight as two in a three legged race.

By contrast the title track is all space, both drums and guitar the background to Holland’s bass solo, providing only occasional fills for much of the tune; a different type of intensity, close focused.

Gentle Warrior’s urban groove lifts the spirits before the rolling, punchy drums of 20 20’s opening explorations develops into an extended rock out that provides propulsive support to Eubanks long notes, Calvaire back seat driving with vigour. Quiet Fire is a Eubanks solo of delicate Metheny-esque lines and is followed by  Mashup gives Eubanks the opportunity to show off all of his chops as the guitar riffs, scrabbles and curves before Calvaire solos, explosively covering the kit to maintain the mood. Comparisons with Cream are not inappropriate.

Passing Time opens with a heavy, dark riff, like it’s going to be a blues-rock from the Savoy Brown stable before it steps down into a Eubanks guitar run and a dancing bass solo. The Village follows a similar model of heavy opening leading into a bass guitar solo from which Eubanks’ guitar lifts off in a series of loud long notes and frantic scrapples and into thunderous drums, with which the guitar keeps pace as the volume rises and then falls into a three way conversation. After all of the blues and boogie, closer Bring It Back Home has a more chilled groove behind Eubanks’ shuffling boogie guitar probings. And that’s your visit to Another Land over.

So what have we learned? Dave Holland still has it by the bucketful, I need more albums that feature Kevin Eubanks and I’ll look out for Obed Calvaire in the supporting cast next time I’m allowed in a record shop by the nice man from the credit card company.

Dave Sayer

Grave Walker, Another Land, Gentle Warrior, 20 20, Quiet Fire, Mashup, Passing Time, The Village, Bring It Back Home

Edition/Dare2Records

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