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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

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).

Wed 18: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 18: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 18: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 18: Hot Club of Heaton @ Elder Beer, Heaton, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘third Wednesday in the month’ session.

Thu 19: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 19: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Ragtime piano. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 19: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesborough. 8:30pm. Free. THC with guests Kevin Eland, Dan Johnson, Jeremy McMurray, Ron Smith.

Friday, November 26, 2021

Zakir Hussain concert brings a fitting and triumphant finale to the 2021 EFG London Jazz Festival @ Royal Festival Hall - Nov. 21

(Photo © Emile Holba)
Zakir Hussain (tabla); Sabir Khan (sarangi); Marcus Gilmore (drums); Abbos Kosimov (percussion).

The first half of his set saw Hussain, the critically-acclaimed Indian tabla master, collaborate with sarangi player Sabir Khan, wowing his audience at the RFH. 

They explored tabla repertoire passed down to Hussain by his father and guru, Ustad Allarakha Qureshi (1919-2000), popularly known as Alla Rakha. Rakha specialised in Hindustani classical music and was the accompanist of choice for sitar guru Ravi Shankar. Rakha greatly helped to popularise the tabla with audiences outside of the Indian sub-continent.

 

Hussain and Khan tackled the four movements of an absorbing raga which encompassed several spirited improvised passages. The four movements comprised Peshkar; an improvisation on established Kaida themes; a combination of ChhandChalan Gut and Parans (the latter two being 300 year-old traditional compositions); and a combination of Rau and Relas.

 

The chemistry and interplay between the musicians was infectious and well received by patrons who cheered at several points during the performance.

 

Sabir’s deft touch on the violin-like sarangi was apparent in his Lehra accompaniment role. This is a traditional role performed by a Sarangi player – producing a looping, repetitive pattern - which facilitated Hussain’s exciting flights of improvisational fancy.

 

(Photo © Emile Holba)
During the second half of the concert, Hussain and Khan were joined by the illustrious jazz drummer Marcus Gilmore and renowned Uzbek doyra (frame drum) and percussionist Abbos Kosimov. The quartet was influenced by Planet Drum, Hussain’s ever-evolving collaboration with the Grateful Dead’s Mickey Hart.

This portion of the performance explored the way in which Hindustani classical music repertoire, the jazz tradition and Uzbek drumming perfectly harmonise and compliment each other.

(Photo © Emile Holba)
It should also be mentioned that Hussain and Gilmore have had a fruitful musical partnership through the Rolex Mentor-Protege Arts Initiative: A philanthropic programme by the Swiss luxury watchmaker that has since 2002 paired legends in the disciplines of music, architecture, dance, film and visual arts, with promising young talent from across the world.

Gilmore’s drum solos were riveting as he worked his drum kit, melodically blending snare phrases, rim shots, bass drum and cymbals flourishes into the mix.

 

Kosimov was just as captivating playing several frame drums at the same time and holding audiences spellbound with other miscellaneous percussion instruments.

 

For their encore piece Sabir Khan played sarangi and rendered a folk song from the state of Rajasthan celebrating the Ghoomer festival.

Zakir Hussain led an extraordinary percussion summit bringing Indian, African and Central Asian percussive traditions together to demonstrate the oneness of humanity through rhythm.

(This review can also be accessed via US blog https://arstash.com/)

John Stevenson.

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