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Bebop Spoken There

Kelly Sill: "Just because everyone is playing through the changes in the same time doesn't mean they're actually playing together" - (JazzTimes March/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

15260 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 279 of them this year alone and, so far, 92 this month (March 29).

From This Moment On ...

April

Sun 02: Smokin' Spitfires @ The Cluny. 12:45pm.
Sun 02: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 3:00pm.

Mon 03: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

Tue 04: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 04: Jam session @ Black Swan, Newcastle Arts Centre. 7:30pm. House trio: Bradley Johnston (guitar); Paul Grainger (double bass); Abbie Finn (drums).

Wed 05: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 05: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 05: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 7:00pm.
Wed 05: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 06: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 06: Thursday Night Prayer Meeting @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Donations. Feat. John Pope, Marie Shreer, John Garner.
Thu 06: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibtion Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Ragtime piano. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.
Thu 06: Darlington Big Band @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm. Note earlier start time.

Fri 07: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 07: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 07: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 07: Gaz Hughes Trio @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm.
Fri 07: Mark Toomey Quartet @ Traveller's Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. £8.00.
Fri 07: Finntet + Zoë Gilby & Andy Champion @ Bobik's, Punch Bowl, Newcastle. 8:00pm. JNE.
Fri 07: TBA @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig. Blind Pig Blues Club.

Sat 08: Me Lost Me + Ceitidh Mac + Heather Ferrier @ Bobik's, Punch Bowl, Newcastle. 7:30pm. JNE.
Sat 08: Joseph Carville Trio @ The Vault, Darlington Covered Market, Darlington DL1 5PN. 6:00pm. New venue, live jazz!
Sat 08: Rendezvous Jazz @ Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00. RESCHEDULED from last week (Sat 01).
Sat 08: Robbie Reay @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Acoustic blues. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.
Sat 08: Anth Purdy @ Mr Tighe's, Bebside, Northumberland. 8:30pm.

Wednesday, March 01, 2023

Album review: Five-Way Split - All the Way

Quentin Collins (trumpet); Vasilis Xenopoulos (tenor, soprano sax); Rob Barron (piano); Mátáyas Hofecker (bass); Matt Home (drums).

Although the album isn't released until March 17, those of you hanging out within the sound of Bow Bells can catch Five-Way Split at the Crypt Jazz Club on Friday (March 3). Even if you live further afield, like maybe the planet Mars, the trip, on the strength of this album, will still be worth it.

It's that good!

How could it not be with such a line-up?

This is hard bop for today. Art Blakey delivered the message, Five-Way Split received it, decoded it and added their own stamp.

On tenor and soprano (although the latter horn isn't mentioned in the notes) Vasi swings as only he can and it's fair to say that north east jazz fans won't argue with that! In Quentin Collins he has the ideal front-line partner. The pair capture the idiom to perfection. That they do this without sounding in anyway dated is a credit to themselves and to the material - 3 by Collins, 2 each by Vasi and Barron and a couple of covers.

One of Vasi's originals, San Sebastian, had a special meaning for me. The city in Spain's Basque country will forever be close to my heart and this composition did nothing other than to enhance those feelings.

A great rhythm section that, and dare I say it?, because of its less in your face approach offered a more subtle alternative to that of the Jazz Messengers. There's room for both and this band, when judgement day comes, will be up there with them. Highly recommended. Lance

Available from March 17 on Ubuntu Music - UBU0129.

Out of Wayne's Bag; Lingua Franca; Mr Birthday Waltz; All the Way; Asymphonatic; Evidently; Theme For Ernie; San Sebastian; Flattening the Curve

1 comment :

Mike Farmer said...

This album looks like one worth getting. You mentioned the track San Sebastian which reminded you of your visit there. I spent some time there with a couple of friends and unfortunately we had just missed the Jazz Festival which we unaware of. After finding a camp site we drove into the town and they still had banners advertising the festival showing saxman Hal Singer as the main attraction. We got caught up in a police road block due to ETA activity but I thought the place was one of the most beautiful towns I have visited in spite of the political situation at the time.

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