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Bebop Spoken There

Kurt Elling: ''There's something to learn from every musician you play with''. (DownBeat, December 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

17630 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 16 years ago. 904 of them this year alone and, so far, 49 this month (Dec. 20).

From This Moment On ...

December

Sat 21: Lindsay Hannon Quartet @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £15.00. ‘Swinging with Christmas Songs’.
Sat 21: Jason Isaacs @ Seaburn STACK, Seaburn. 3:30-5:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 21: Jackson’s Wharf Xmas Party @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 7:00pm. Free. Featuring the New ’58 Jazz Collective.
Sat 21: Brass Fiesta @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 10:30pm. Free.

Sun 22: Hot Club du Nord @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:00pm. £15.00. + bf. Xmas party. SOLD OUT!
Sun 22: Red Kites Jazz @ Gibside Chapel, nr. Rowlands Gill. 1:00pm. Admission charge applies.
Sun 22: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 22: Ruth Lambert Trio @ The Juke Shed, Union Quay, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 22: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 22: Revolutionaires @ Tyne Bar, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. Superb rhythm & blues outfit.
Sun 22: Laurence Harrison, Paul Grainger & Mark Robertson @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Line-up TBC.
Sun 22: The Globe Xmas Party @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. Live music (musicians TBC).
Sun 22: Ray Stubbs R & B All-Stars @ Zerox, Sandhill, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors).

Mon 23: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 23: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Wheatsheaf, Benton Sq., Whitley Road, Palmersville NE12 9SU. Tel: 0191 266 8137. 1:00pm. Free. CANCELLED!
Mon 23: Edison Herbert Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 4:00pm. Free.
Mon 23: Jason Isaacs @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 4:00-6:00pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Mon 23: Milne-Glendinning Band @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.

Tue 24: Lindsay Hannon & Mark Williams @ Ernest, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 11:00am-1:00pm. Free.
Tue 24: Paul Skerritt @ Mambo Wine & Dine, South Shields. 1:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.

Wed 25: Wot? No jazz!

Thu 26: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free. TBC.
Thu 26: The Boneshakers @ Tyne Bar, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. The 17th annual Boneshakers’ Shindig.

Fri 27: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 27: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free. Business as usual!.
Fri 27: Jason Isaacs @ Seaburn STACK, Seaburn. 3:30-5:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Fri 27: Michael Woods @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Country blues guitar & vocals.

Reviewers wanted

Whilst BSH attempts to cover as many gigs, festivals and albums as possible, to make the site even more comprehensive we need more 'boots on the ground' to cover the albums seeking review - a large percentage of which never get heard - report on gigs or just to air your views on anything jazz related. Interested? then please get in touch. Contact details are on the blog. Look forward to hearing from you. Lance

Monday, November 13, 2023

Beck Hunters with Laura Cole and John Pope – From Wolves To Water

Mick Beck (tenor sax, bassoon, whistles); Laura Cole (piano); Anton Hunter (guitar, effects); Johnny Hunter (drums, percussion); John Pope (double bass).

This is intense and demanding, (and frequently entertaining across its 35½ minutes) stuff. It was recorded at a performance at the Literary & Philosophical Society as part of last year’s Newcastle Festival of Jazz and Improvised Music.

We crash into it with a single heavy chord and the brief thought that they might be playing A Hard Day’s Night flashes across the mind. But no. Beck proceeds to run through the full range of capabilities open to those who play sax and/or bassoon. There are breathy feral growls and disconnected squeaks, drones and wails. Pope prowls behind him on the bass, wolf-like (or is that determinism based on the title?) The backing from piano, guitar and drums is delicate but punctuated with occasional sonic bombs (which sounds like the most surreal of weather forecasts). It is like a meeting of three minds, with Beck at one point, Pope on bass at another and Cole and the Hunters at a third.

Gradually the landscape shifts as Cole’s angular piano notes come to the fore and the others seem to grapple to keep up with her. A rolling melee breaks to leave Beck unaccompanied, chasing shadows and tying knots. It all seems free and unstructured but as the band come back in or drop out it’s clear that there is a guiding mind (Beck?) orchestrating the interplay.

Half way through an atmosphere of resignation and melancholy reigns before whistles conjure up a pastoral setting; a bird swooping across open fields. It’s a tense moment, with only the most fragile of accompaniment. The tenor asks the questions, and, at first, gets no answers but the crescendo builds and Beck solos like a man possessed, Cole’s heavy chording on the piano is the rock at the eye of the storm as others throw furniture downstairs behind her. Entertaining, as promised.

As we move into the last section the bird call has returned; Pope stepping lightly, on the prowl again and we think of Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf. What follows is a brief, accessible section of modern post-bop, but we know it can’t last and it doesn’t it almost sounds like all are racing to get to the end first. Beck, again, solos lustily, short phrases, slurs, sharp stabs are all part of his repertoire. All fades leaving Pope alone to play a death march to the close.

There is some exciting material here and I bet it was enthralling to be in the audience in that moment. From Wolves To Water is out now and is available through the NJaIM Bandcamp pageDave Sayer

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