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Bebop Spoken There

Dee Dee Bridgewater: “ Our world is becoming a very ugly place with guns running rampant in this country... and New Orleans is called the murder capital of the world right now ". Jazzwise, May 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

16408 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 16 years ago. 288 of them this year alone and, so far, 85 this month (April 30).

From This Moment On ...

May

Wed 08: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 08: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 08: Conor Emery: Jazz Trombone, Stage 3 Final Recital @ Music Studios, Assembly Lane, Newcastle University. 7:00pm. All welcome, the venue is located in the lane behind Blackwell’s, Percy St., Haymarket.
Wed 08: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 09: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 09: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Gateshead Central Library, Gateshead. 2:30pm.
Thu 09: Lewis Watson Quartet + Langdale Youth Jazz Ensemble @ Laurel’s Theatre, Whitley Bay. 8:00pm. £10.00.
Thu 09: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm. Guests: Josh Bentham (sax); Neil Brodie (trumpet); Dave Archbold (keys); Ron Smith (bass).

Fri 10: Michael Woods @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Free. Country blues guitar & vocals. SOLD OUT!
Fri 10: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 10: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 10: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 10: Citrus @ The Head of Steam, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £11.25.
Fri 10: Zoë Gilby Quartet @ St Cuthbert’s, Crook. 7:30pm. £10.00.

Sat 11: Jeffrey Hewer Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 11: Alligator Gumbo @ The Witham, Barnard Castle. 7:30pm.
Sat 11: Milne-Glendinning Band @ Yarm Parish Church. 7:30pm.
Sat 11: Tom Remon & Laurence Harrison @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 12: GoGo Penguin @ Wylam Brewery, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). All standing gig.
Sun 12: Eva Fox & the Jazz Guys @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Downstairs. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 12: Satin Beige @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £TBC. Upstairs. R&B cello & vocals. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 12: Fergus McCreadie Trio @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm. £19.80.
Sun 12: Schmid/Wheatley/Prévost + Signe Emmeluth @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. JNE.

Mon 13: Emma Fisk & James Birkett @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 1:00pm. £8.00.

Tue 14: ???

Friday, September 15, 2023

Album review: Paul Mottram - Seven Ages of Man

Tim Garland (tenor/soprano sax, bass clarinet); Jason Rebello (piano); Jonny Mansfield (vibes); Misha Mullov-Abaddo (bass); Ralph Salmins (drums) + the London Studio Orchestra - John Mills (leader); Paul Mottram (composer).

Inspired by Jacques' soliloquy  in Shakespeare's As You Like it and, despite my fears, the seven movement suite plus two introductory pieces turns out to be rather beautiful. The tranquillity of the orchestral settings brought the Forest of Arden to life maybe even more so than the words of the immortal bard himself. Strong words I know but, back then, Bill didn't have Tim and Jason to hand.

Both musicians are at the top of their game, providing fire and tenderness as the mood demands. The pastoral beauty of the strings, the arrangements and the compositions along with Mansfield's vibes make this something to treasure. Is it jazz? Is it improvised classical music? Who cares? Was it Louis or Fats who posed the question that if you've got to ask....? 

As You Like it was my first brush with Shakespeare (Flora Robson Theatre, Newcastle), apart from struggling to make sense of Macbeth and Hamlet at school that is. It became an, albeit temporary, passion that, fuelled by Cleo's Shakespeare and all That Jazz and Duke's Such Sweet Thunder, never totally left me.

With this album, it's back again and I'm envisaging Jacques' melancholic lines merged with the music rather in the manner of Ken Rattenbury's Rime of the Ancient Mariner. Rattenbury, incidentally, also composed a suite based around Seven Ages of Man. This was about fifty years ago and although not as an elaborate a setting is worth checking out if you can find it.

This version, out on Ubuntu Records on Oct. 6, is sublime and I like it very much. Lance.

Origins; Gestation; Infant; Schoolboy; Lover; Soldier; Judge; Pantaloon; Old Age.

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