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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

17421 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 16 years ago. 695 of them this year alone and, so far, 100 this month (Sept. 30).

From This Moment On ...

October

Tue 08: ???

Wed 09: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free. Wed 09: Jason Isaacs @ St James’ STACK, Newcastle. 5:00-7:00pm. Free.
Wed 09: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 09: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 09: The Tannery Jam Session @ The Tannery, Gilesgate, Hexham. 7:00-9:00pm. Free. A ‘second Wednesday in the month’ jam session.
Wed 09: Shunya, Dudù Kouate & Seb Rochford @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 8:30pm (7:30pm doors). £21.00.

Thu 10: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 10: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. ‘Collaborations - it happened all the time’.
Thu 10: Indigo Jazz Voices w. the Little Big Band @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:45pm. £5.00.
Thu 10: Side Cafe Orkestar @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
The 10: Classic Swing @ Carlisle Rugby Club, Warwick Rd., Carlisle. 8:30pm. £9.
Thu 10: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesborough. 8:30pm. With guests Donna Hewitt (sax); Bill Watson (trumpet); Graham Thompson (keys); Ron Smith (bass). Free.

Fri 11: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 11: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 11: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 11: Dulcie May Moreno @ The Old Library, Auckland Castle, Bishop Auckland. 1:00pm. £8.00.
Fri 11: The Jazz Quartet + Stratosphonic @ Tynedale Rugby Club, Corbridge. 7:00pm. £15.00. A Rotary Club of Hexham event. The Jazz Quartet (Jude Murphy & co), Stratosphonic (blues/rock). CANCELLED!
Fri 11: Joe Steels Trio @ The Pele, Market Place, Corbridge NE45 5AW. 7:30pm. Free.
Fri 11: Crooners @ Tyne Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm.
Fri 11: Mo Scott Band @ Blues Underground, Nelson St., Newcastle. 9:00pm. Free.

Sat 12: Milne-Glendinning Band @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 12: Michael Woods @ Victoria Tunnel, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £12.00. (£10.00. adv.). Country blues guitar & vocals.
Sat 12: Nauta @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £13.28, £11.16, £9.04. A two-track recording launch gig.
Sat 12: Stuart Turner @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Rockabilly, rhythm & blues etc. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sat 12: Lapwing Jazz Trio @ The Ship Inn, Low Newton. 8:00pm. Free. New trio: Paula Whitty, Richard Herdman, Jude Murphy.

Sun 13: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 13: Emma Wilson @ Tyne Bar, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. Blues.
Sun 13: Catfish Keith @ The Cluny. 7:00pm. Country blues.
Sun 13: Cath Stephens & Paul Grainger @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Stephens & Grainger, one third of a triple bill.
Sun 13: Dulcie May Moreno Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 14: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 14: Black is the Color of My Voice @ Hippodrome, Darlington. 7:30pm. Apphia Campbell’s one-woman show inspired by Nina Simone, performed by Nicholle Cherrie.

Tue 15: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Alan Law (piano), Paul Grainger (double bass), Bailey Rudd (drums).

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

Thursday, March 14, 2024

Album Review: Jonny Mansfield Quartet! Live at Pizza Express (Resonant Postcards)

Jonny Mansfield (vibraphone); Will Barry (piano); Will Sach (bass); Luke McCarthy (drums).

Jonny Mansfield’s 2023 album, The Air In Front Of You was an enigmatic foray onto the edges of classical and jazz music; a third stream that could have been labelled dinner jazz. I expected more of the same from this album but, having replaced the violin and cello voices that featured on the studio album we have a more conventional jazz sound here. Similarly, although this is, I assume a date from the flog the album tour for The Air…  only Flicker  and The Air itself have made the cut here.

On first impressions everything about this live album, as is usually the case in a live setting, seems to hit a little harder than its studio forebear. There is extra heft here; the piano challenges the vibes more than violin and cello did, so much so that, for example the track Flicker becomes a different animal, more feral. Barry’s solo on Flicker is forceful and assertive and is powerfully matched and supported by bass and drums to the point that the vibes are almost a diversion when they return. Mansfield is in danger of having his album stolen out from under him.

Second track, Rival, opens with a tumble of vibes notes. It’s a delicate wee thing built around Sach’s bass, the dominant voice throughout. The drums roll along in the background with only occasional interjections from vibes and piano before a solo from Mansfield that climbs in waves with Barry pushing him from below. There’s some lovely interplay between all four members of the band and some ‘stop on a dime’ moments that show how tight the group is. Aggressive drumming, duelling with piano, and then vibes, sees us into a subdued closing passage of delicate piano.

The subdued mood is maintained as they flow seamlessly into (Organise) The Air In Front Of You. It begins with a repeated line on the vibes that holds as much threat as promise; minimal piano in the background with a prowling bass to the fore. It builds and breaks into something more pastoral as bass and piano dance around each other. This is spare music, with all the instruments in conversation with each other. It feels like an intrusion on a private moment but the conversation ebbs and flows,, voices are raised, even to the level of argument before a release/resolution with the vibes singing out joyfully over the others. It ends on such a bright positive note that it’s hard not to smile. There is much applause.

Joy Tears opens tentatively with delicate vibes, spare piano and a simple bass line. The piano circles the others in a slow dance. Even as the piece builds it always feels like something is being held back. The closer, REM Song, escapes from that constraint; a lively, probing opening solo by Mansfield leads into a tumbling bass riff and questioning piano. The drums are pushing, but are low in the mix; Barry fills in all the gaps before grabbing the front spot in the race. It’s the liveliest piece on the album with the bass and the drums really providing the drive and the energy.

I don’t think this album is going to grab front pages, but it is a good album and I’ve been happy to come back to it several times. I expected it to be a bit of a chill out album but there is enough intrigue and complexity to elevate it above that.

Quartet! Live at Pizza Express is released on April 12 and is available to pre-order HERE through Bandcamp. Dave Sayer

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