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Bebop Spoken There

Billy Boy Arnold: “As long as you don't think old you're good.” - DownBeat, December, 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!"

Simon Spillett: A lovely review from the dean of jazz bloggers, Lance Liddle...

Postage

16051 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 1058 of them this year alone and, so far, 12 this month (Dec. 6).

From This Moment On ...

December

Sun 10: Musicians Unlimited’s Xmas Party with Zoë Gilby Quartet @ Park Inn, Hartlepool. MU 1:00-3:00pm; Zoë Gilby Quartet 4:00-6:00pm. Tickets: £7.50.
Sun 10: Alan Law, Paul Grainger & Abbie Finn @ Darlington Market, Market Square, Darlington. 1:00pm. Free. A ‘Christmas Market’ outdoor gig. Wrap up warm!
Sun 10: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00-4:00pm. Free.
Sun 10: Funk Soul Sista @ Stack, Seaburn. 5:00-7:00pm. Free.
Sun 10: Beth Clarke @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 10: Hayley's Little Big Band @ Whittingham Memorial Institute, Alnwick. 7:30pm. £12.00., £10.00.
Sun 10: Tele-Port @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Line-up inc. Zhenya Strigalev.

Mon 11: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 11: Interim Final Recitals @ Newcastle University. Details TBC.

Tue 12: Stu Collingwood Organ Trio @ Forum Music Centre, Darlington. 7:00pm. £10.00.

Wed 13: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 13: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 13: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 13: Bold Big Band @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:30pm.
Wed 13: Giles Strong Quartet @ Alphabetti Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 14: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 14: Hot Fingers @ The Lubetkin Theatre, Peterlee. 7:00pm. £10.00.
Thu 14: After Hours Student Jazz Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 14: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. . Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 14: Niffi Osiyemi Trio @ Harbour View, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 14: Mo Scott ‘Little Mo’s Festive Appearance’ @ The Schooner, Gateshead. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 14: Tees Hot Club w. Kevin Eland, Josh Bentham, Garry Hadfield, Adrian Beadnell @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 15: Paul Edis @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 15: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 15: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 15: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 15: Paul Skerritt @ Black Horse Inn, Crook. From 7:00pm.
Fri 15: Paul Edis: A Jazzy Christmas @ St Cuhtbert's Centre, Crook. 7:30pm. £15.00. SOLD OUT! Waiting list open.
Fri 15: Zoë Gilby Trio @ Seventeen Nineteen, Hendon, Sunderland. 7:30pm. £12.00. POSTPONED!
Fri 15: Strictly Smokin' Big Band @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 8:00pm. First night of two. SOLD OUT!
Fri 15: Darlington Big Band @ Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. £10.00. Opus 4 Jazz Club.
Fri 15: Baghdaddies @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £14.00.; £10.00.

Sat 16: Paul Edis: A Jazzy Christmas @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 2:00pm. A Jazzy Christmas + Jambone.
Sat 16: Porritt & Barrett & Friends Xmas Special @ Cullercoats Watch House. 7:00pm. £4.00.
Sat 16: Milne-Glendinning Band @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 16: Red Kites Jazz Band @ The Staithes Café, Gateshead. 7:00pm--9:00pm.
Sat 16: Hayley's Little Big Band @ Ellingham Village Hall, Chathill. 7:30pm. £12.00., £8.00.
Sat 16: Paul Edis: A Jazzy Christmas @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm.
Sat 16: Strictly Smokin' Big Band @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Second night of two.

Sunday, September 24, 2023

Newcastle Festival of Jazz and Improvised Music:The Edith Adamson Carillon – Performance 1 of 3

(© Ken Drew)
Paul Taylor (composer); Jon Bradley (Carillonneur)

A (mostly) photo review of the opening performance of this year's Newcastle Festival of Jazz and Improvised Music in which the debut recital of a specially commissioned piece by Paul Taylor was played by Jonathan Bradley at the 'keyboard' of the carillon within the lofty heights of the Civic Centre's Carillon Tower, high above the city’s Council Chamber. Given that the performance was aimed at the audience in a public space, with the player hidden inside a tower which is topped by a set of carillon bells,  this is a tricky one to depict!

 

This was the second of two commissions which Taylor received to compose music specifically for this year's Festival. The first piece, Interludes, comprises electronically composed interludes designed for broadcast through the venue's PA systems before, in-between and after, each live concert performance. Of note is the fact that whilst it seems to emerge as a fully-formed composition, Interludes is completely unedited and entirely improvised in the moment, which is Taylor's distinctive style, all played within the one-hour framework as required by the festival. 


This unique music has been exclusively produced for NEWJAiM Recordings * and is soon to be released on CD and download.  Taylor's second commission for the festival, Permutations, is an improvisational score to be performed as the Festival's opening performance (and subsequent Festival weekends) by Jonathan Bradley (the city's carillonneur) on the Edith Adamson Carillon at the Newcastle Civic Centre, with the music being heard outdoors and across the city. 

 

Both of Taylor's compositions feature shared bell motifs, harmonising indoor and outdoor performances with a festival soundtrack that evokes the presence and sound of the Carillon throughout all the Festival events. Hearing it played live, for an uninterrupted hour long performance was literally unique, and being able to wander round the public space of the Civic Centre’s gardens whilst listening was certainly novel and interesting. Such a change from the restricted range of the Ding-Dong-Ding-Dong real-time chime from bell towers we are all accustomed to. The carillon has 25 bells, the largest of which weighs 71cwt, 1qr, 13lb (8,000 lb or 3,625 kg) which is tuned to A major. A Google search reveals a myriad of information, and of Carillon organisations around the world!

 

The next two performances, again improvised on Taylor's Permutations score (so each will be a new interpretation) will be 3-4pm on the following two Fridays of September 29 and  October 6. For the first performance I circumnavigated the Civic Centre to soak up the differing atmospheres as I walked around it (thankfully it only rained during the last 5 minutes!). For the next, I've been recommended to listen from within the confines of the quadrangle which is shielded from the varying noises of the city centre. And with the company of 5 swans, frozen in a sculpture of silent flight across its small lake, for company.  Sounds a good move!

 

So I plan to forego the view of River God Tyne on the outside for the Swans in Flight in the inner quadrangle of the gardens.  Whilst the main entrance to the Civic Centre is on the North-West corner I suspect access to the quadrangle space may be via the South-West corner. Either way I'll be asking how to get in! Ken Drew

 

*New Jazz and Improvised Music Link (links to the label's 18 album releases)

 

NFoJaIM info Link (advanced tickets highly recommended for indoor performances)

1 comment :

Russell said...

Ken, no need to ask how to access the quadrangle, it's open 24-7 (adjacent to the entrance to the council chamber).

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