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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

Thu 12: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 12: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:30pm. £4.00. ‘A Great Day in Harlem’.
Thu 12: The Cuban Heels @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Pete Tanton & co.
Thu 12: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesborough. 8:30pm. Free. THC with guests Donna Hewitt, Bill Watson, Dave Archbold, Adrian Beadnell, Mark Hawkins.

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.

Sunday, September 17, 2023

Album review: Catrin Finch & Aoife Ni Bhriain – Double You

Catrin Finch (harp); Aoife Ni Bhriain (fiddle, violin, hardanger fiddle)

This album is not jazz but BSH couldn't resist reviewing it anyway. What is genre after all, and this CD has lots of apparent improvisation, repeated riffs, all the same chords as other music. But mostly it's just superb music beautifully performed. If the jazz police jammed a banjo into my back and forced a definition of the music, I'd have to admit it was closer to folk and classical.

Each track on this debut album begins with the letter ‘W’, spoken as 'Double You' and the tracks refer to the parallels that connect these two musicians and their musical affinity. 'W' is the pattern of the waggle dance that bees perform, referred to on track 8.

Most tracks play a delightful repeated riff with variations which then build to a climax and then end calmly and quietly. Instruments often alternate, playing the main riff and a bass line or another variation.

The hardanger fiddle is an entrancing instrument which has extra strings which resound to the main tune being played. I've heard this played live at folk concerts and it really is something great to hear. On some tracks of this album this fiddle gives us an otherworldly ethereal sound.

Wonder is based on a Bach prelude with chords from a Mendelssohn violin concerto; Why is based on traditional tunes from Canada; Wish is a marriage of two harp tunes, the beautiful Give Me Your Hand and The Ash Grove, both tunes familiar to all self-respecting folkies.

Waggle is all about the communication dance that bees do, and the piece is inspired by tango and gypsy jazz as well as improvisation and traditional and classical music.

These two women are both highly accomplished musicians. Ms Finch hails from west Wales and she had passed all the Associated Board Grade examinations for classical harp by age 9 and later took part in the BBC Young Musician of the Year and gained many other distinctions. She was also the first incumbent of the revived position of Royal Harpist.

Ms Ni Bhriain comes from in a suburb of Dublin. Her father played the uilleann pipes and her mother comes from a family of Irish dancers and musicians. She studied music in Leipzig and then managed to play music in both folk and classical styles. She has played violin in leading orchestras whilst also starring in Riverdance. She has since collaborated with electronic music producers and has composed concertos and ballet scores.

This album comes with an informative booklet, partly written in (I think) Welsh and Irish Gaelic and the whole package is a real gem for anyone with wide musical tastes. The CD is available from October 27 as well as in digital and Limited edition 180 gram magenta vinyl LP.

Enquiries to Tamsin Davies tamsin@mwidan.co.uk. See also www.catrinfinch.com. Ann Alex

Whispers; Why; Wonder; Wings; Wandering; Waves; Woven; Waggle; Wish

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