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Bebop Spoken There

Branford Marsalis: "As ignorance often forces us to do, you make a generalisation about a musician based on one specific record or one moment in time." - (Jazzwise June 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

15491 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 512 of them this year alone and, so far, 133 this month (May 31).

From This Moment On ...

June

Fri 02: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 02: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 02: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 02: Joseph Carville Trio @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm.
Fri 02: Claire Martin & Her Trio @ The Witham, Barnard Castle. 7:30pm. £25.00., £20.00. Feat. Jim Mullen, Alex Garnett & Jeremy Brown.
Fri 02: Guy Davis + Michael Littlefield & Scott Taylor @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. Doors 7:30pm. Blues double bill.
Fri 02: Anders Ingram @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Blind Pig Blues Club. Country blues. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

Sat 03: Newcastle Record Fair @ Northumbria University, Newcastle NE8 8SB. 10:00am-3:00pm. Admission: £2.00.
Sat 03: Pedigree Jazz Band @ St Augustine's Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm.
Sat 03: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. Tutor: Sue Ferris. £25.00. Enrol at: www.jazz.coop.
Sat 03: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 6:00pm. Free.
Sat 03: Rendezvous Jazz @ Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.
Sat 03: Papa G's Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

Sun 04: Smokin' Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm.
Sun 04: Central Bar Quintet @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00-4:00pm. £5.00. The Central Bar Quintet plays Sonny Rollins' Saxophone Colossus. Featuring Lewis Watson.
Sun 04: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 3:00pm.
Sun 04: Struggle Buggy + Michael Littlefield @ Tyne Bar, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. Acoustic blues.
Sun 04: Swinging at the Cotton Club: Harry Strutters' Hot Rhythm Orchestra @ The Fire Station, Sunderland. 7:30pm.
Sun 04: Richard Jones Trio @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Sun 04: Jam No. 18 @ Fabio's Bar, Saddler Street, Durham. 8:00pm. Free. All welcome. A Durham University Jazz Society event.

Mon 05: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

Tue 06: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 06: Jam session @ Black Swan, Newcastle Arts Centre. 7:30pm. House trio: Stu Collingwood (piano); Paul Grainger (double bass); Sid White (drums).

Wed 07: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 07: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 07: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 7:00pm.
Wed 07: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 08: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 08: Easington Colliery Brass Band @ The Lubetkin Theatre, Peterlee. 7:00pm. £10.00.
Thu 08: Faye MacCalman + Blue Dust Archive @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 08: Dilutey Juice + Ceramic @ The Ampitheatre, Sea Road, South Shields. 7:00pm. Free. A South Tyneside Festival event.
Thu 08: Lara Jones w. Vigilance State @ Lubber Fiend, Blandford Square, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 08: Michael Littlefield @ the Harbour View, Roker, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Country blues.
Thu 08: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Friday, September 23, 2022

Album review: Raph Clarkson's Dissolute Society - This is How we Grow.

I've taken the easy way out and posted the press release. The easy way out? Yes. A cop out? Most certainly not. Truth is, I couldn't improve on the PR. It may be a sales pitch, as all press releases are, but after listening to the album that is released early next month (Oct. 7), it deserves all the kind words in the huckster's spiel. The merging of the children's voices with the seasoned musicians works so beautifully well and the solos are so attuned to the mood. Incidentally, talking of soloists, Laura Jurd, who plays so brilliantly here, can also be heard at Sage Gateshead this coming Wednesday (Sept. 28).

(Press release)

October 2022 will see the release of ‘This Is How We Grow’, the new album from pioneering collective Dissolute Society, led by trombonist, improviser, composer and educator Raph Clarkson.

Dissolute Society explores Raph Clarkson’s interests in contemporary improvisation, European jazz, 20th century classical music, poetry, spoken word, song, and soulful grooves. These varied elements are brought together through a highly personal and expressive narrative, exploring themes of family history, grief, friendship and hope.

 

This Is How We Grow is a genuinely unique body of work that features children’s voices on every track, combined with the distinct compositional styles of Raph Clarkson and his collaborators in Dissolute Society. The result is a refreshingly original album infused with both energy and innocence, bound to fuel the imagination of young children, aspiring musicians and seasoned creatives alike.

 

Having lent his expertise to a the work of many different collaborators including Laura Jurd’s ‘Stepping Back/Jumping In’ album, Chris Dowding and Rob Milne's ‘Holding Hands’ as well as Dan Samsa's ‘Contours’, Raph Clarkson is clearly a musician and creative figure that is very much in demand. On This Is How We Grow, Raph Clarkson teams up with Laura Jurd, Simon Roth and Fini Bearman – the album also features various special guests including Mark Lockheart and John Parricelli. All of these collaborators are well-established musicians in their own right and leading figures on the jazz scene, each adding their own inimitable enhancements to the project.

 

As well as the strong jazz credentials of the aforementioned group, the experimental nature of Dissolute Societies’ music includes numerous sounds and concepts that allow them to widen their scope to explore alternative genres. The prog-rock influenced guitar on the track ‘Please!’ and the classical / choral themes on the song ‘Ada Lovelace’ are just two examples of many different approaches to their art that exist across the album as a whole.

 

As a musical educator, Raph Clarkson is involved in diverse community and learning & participation projects, including extensive work with young people with additional needs and adverse childhood experiences. Speaking about the album Raph says: “My contention is that music making with young people / communities should be taken seriously as ‘mainstage’ artistic work. This is one reason I’ve made this album, to bring together varied parts of my practice and show that young voices are to be taken deeply seriously in terms of what they express and what they teach us.”

 

This Is How We Grow is an undoubtedly inspirational and unique project that will touch the hearts of many.

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