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Bebop Spoken There

Kurt Elling: ''There's something to learn from every musician you play with''. (DownBeat, December 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

17586 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 16 years ago. 860 of them this year alone and, so far, 5 this month (Dec. 2).

From This Moment On ...

December

Tue 10: Customs House Big Band @ All Saints Church Hall, Cleadon. 7:30pm. £6.00. The CHBB’s annual Xmas concert featuring Ruth Lambert. A BYOB gig!

Wed 11: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 11: Cath Stephens’ improvisation workshop @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 4:30-6:00pm. Collaborative group focusing on vocal improvisations.
Wed 11: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 11: The Tannery Jam Session @ The Tannery, Gilesgate, Hexham. 7:00-9:00pm. Free. Second Wednesday in the month.
Wed 11: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 12: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Spanish City, Whitley Bay. 12 noon. £27.00. (inc. three -course meal).
Thu 12: Jason Isaacs @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 5:00-6:45pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Thu 12: Stuart Turner @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 12: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesborough. 8:30pm. Free. Guests: Jeremy McMurray (keys); Mark Toomey (alto sax); Donna Hewitt (tenor sax); Kevin Eland (trumpet); Ron Smith (bass).

Fri 13: Dean Stockdale Trio @ 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: Bellavana @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 3:00-5:00pm. Free.
Fri 13: Joe Steels Trio @ The Pele, Corbridge. 7:00pm. Free.
Fri 13: Customs House Big Band @ Stocksfield Community Association. 7:00pm. Featuring Ruth Lambert.
Fri 13: Paul Edis & Friends: A Jazzy Xmas @ St Cuthbert’s Centre, Crook. 7:30pm. £15.00.
Fri 13: Strictly Smokin’ Big Band @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £19.00. + bf. First night of two.
Fri 13: Ransom Van @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Fri 13: Boys of Brass @ Hoochie Coochie, Newcastle. 9:00pm. £10.00.

Sat 14: Jambone @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 6:15pm. Free but ticketed.
Sat 14: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm.
Sat 14: Red Kites Jazz @ Staiths Café, Autumn Dr., Gateshead. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 14 Lapwing Jazz Trio @ Three Sheets to the Wind, Alnwick. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 14: Strictly Smokin’ Big Band @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £19.00. + bf. Second night of two.
Sat 14: Papa G’s Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 15: Musicians Unlimited @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 12 noon. £8.50. Xmas party feat. Musicians Unlimited + Customs House Big Band. SOLD OUT!
Sun 15: Paul Edis & Friends: A Jazzy Xmas @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 2:00pm.
Sun 15: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 15: Mitch Laddie Band @ Tyne Bar, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. Superb blues power trio.
Sun 15: Leeway @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 15: Tweed River Jazz Band @ Barrels Ale House, Berwick. 7:00pm. Free.
Sun 15: Paul Edis & Friends: A Jazzy Xmas @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm.
Sun 15: Alligator Gumbo @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 16: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 16: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Wheatsheaf, Benton Sq., Whitley Road, Palmersville NE12 9SU. Tel: 0191 266 8137. 12 noon. £9.95. ‘Festive Turkey Dinner’. Book now: 0191 266 8137.
Mon 16: Paul Edis & Friends: A Jazzy Xmas @ The Fire Station, Sunderland. 7:30pm.

Reviewers wanted

Whilst BSH attempts to cover as many gigs, festivals and albums as possible, to make the site even more comprehensive we need more 'boots on the ground' to cover the albums seeking review - a large percentage of which never get heard - report on gigs or just to air your views on anything jazz related. Interested? then please get in touch. Contact details are on the blog. Look forward to hearing from you. Lance

Thursday, May 26, 2022

Album review: Asaf Harris: Walk of the Ducks

Asaf Harris (tenor/soprano sax); Nitzan Bar (guitar); Guy Moskovich (piano); Omri Hadani (double bass); David Sirkis (drums)

The first of two new albums on my to do list from BSH Editor in Chief, both from Israeli artists, offering an opportunity to reflect on the phenomenal jazz talent emerging from Tel Aviv and often achieving breakthrough in NYC and Europe.  The case in point here is the young sax player Asaf Harris making his debut on Ubuntu, with a band full of yet more talented Israeli players previously unknown to me.

Harris joins a several decades long list of compatriots such as Avishai Cohen (x2 – bass and trumpet), pianists Shai Maestro, Yonathan Avishai, Nitai Hershkovits and Anat Fort; Gilad Hekselman (guitar), Omer Avital (bass), drummers Ofri Nehemya, Asaf Sirkis, Ziv Ravitz and Anat Cohen (clarinet).  The Israeli style, if there is such a thing, is a melting pot of music from “Poland to Morocco”, drawing heavily on Arab and Middle Eastern folk idioms, strongly melodious and emotional, often in odd (to Western ears at least) meters.  This flow of talent leads to claims that “Israel is a true jazz superpower, with around 200 – and counting – musicians currently based in New York and dotted around Europe”  (LINK).

Starting with bass player Avishai Cohen’s catchy and wholesome brand of melodic Middle Eastern groove (e.g. 2011 Seven Seas), my own enjoyment of the genre has deepened with the distinctive voices of trumpeter Avishai Cohen (Playing the Room) and the and subtle compositions of Shai Maestro (Human).  

On the evidence of his debut here, Harris is a worthy addition to this remarkable lineage. His music is strongly and distinctively programmed, with memorable phrases, and while the “eastern” folk flavour is mostly absent, instead they deliver confident contemporary “power-jazz” alternating with calmer classical tinged acoustic passages. The band already have a distinctive voice, with game playing, dynamics and stop-starts keeping the listener guessing, as well as some glorious flat out blowing on sax and guitar.

The opening tracks Helen Court 2020 Movement I and II, refer to Harris’ home in Brooklyn. This must have been a hell of a place, as the music evokes drama to my ears completely inconsistent with a “home” – I guess he was inspired by the Covid crisis and street protests. Harris’ smooth, powerful tone opens, builds gradually with angular guitar solo and frenetic drumming to a climax more Brecker than Shorter. The second movement luxuriates with cinematic arpeggiated piano and sultry sax.

The Gate Keeper opens and closes with recordings of a street protest in Israel, reminding us of the other side of life in Israel. This merges with an exhilarating drum solo and on to a jaunty, fast-paced and subtle whole band workout. The excellent Reconnecting coolly states a melodic fragment on breathy sax, and then works it over, swapping lead between over-driven plangent guitar and sax, by turns impassioned and soothing.

The title track was inspired by a family of ducks walking the street in Tel Aviv. While I can imagine the ducks waddling along to the opening angular rhythm, they must have taken off at supersonic speed to invoke the later proggy blistering guitar runs and sax, reminiscent of Soft Machine in their pomp, with Nitzan Bar’s Allan Holdsworth homage to the fore.

Zoom Out is a refreshing contrast, showing these guys can swing, while the very strong Will She Shine? is a more intellectual study, with probing clean guitar stealing the show over some Ben Wendell flavoured tenor.  The closing Five Years Old starts straight out of the Avishai Cohen  play book with piano riff in 5, and packs achingly beautiful guitar, tenor and piano solos into a delightful and accessible 9 mins.

Altogether an exciting,  confident and distinctive album with enough subtlety, passion and groove for all listeners to find something to revel in.  One to enjoy now, as well as to look out for the next episode! Chris K

Release Date: 6 May 2022,  CD & Digital Formats Ubuntu UBU0109

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