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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

16382 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 16 years ago. 262 of them this year alone and, so far, 59 this month (April 20).

From This Moment On ...

April

Sat 27: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 6:00pm. Free.
Sat 27: Papa G’s Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 28: Musicians Unlimited @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 28: More Jam Festival Special @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. A ’10 Years a Co-op’ festival event.
Sun 28: Swing Dance workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00-4:00pm. Free (registration required). A ’10 Years a Co-op’ festival event.
Sun 28: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay Metro Station. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 28: Ruth Lambert Trio @ Juke Shed, Union Quay, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 28: Scott Bradlee's Postmodern Jukebox: The '10' Tour @ Glasshouse International Centre for Music, Gateshead. 7:30pm. £41.30 t0 £76.50.
Sun 28: Alligator Gumbo @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ’10 Years a Co-op’ festival event.
Sun 28: Jerron Paxton @ The Cluny, Newcastle. Blues, jazz etc.

Mon 29: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 29: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 6:30-8:30pm. Free. ‘Opus de Funk’ (a tribute to Horace Silver).

Tue 30: Celebrate with Newcastle Jazz Co-op. 5:30-7:00pm. Free.
Tue 30: Swing Manouche @ Newcastle House Hotel, Rothbury. 7:30pm. A Coquetdale Jazz event.
Tue 30: Clark Tracey Quintet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ’10 Years a Co-op’ festival event.

May

Wed 01: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 01: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 01: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 02: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 02: The Eight Words - A Jazz Suite @ Newcastle Cathedral, St Nicholas Square, Newcastle NE1 1PF. Tel: 0191 232 1939. 7:30pm. £20.00. (£17.00. student/under 18). Tim Boniface Quartet & Malcolm Guite (poet). Jazz & poetry: The Eight Words (St John Passion).
Thu 02: Funky Drummer @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 02: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Ragtime piano. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 02: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm.

Fri 03: Dean Stockdale Trio @ The Old Library, Auckland Castle. 1:00pm. 8:00pm.
Fri 03: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 03: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 03: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 03: Jake Leg Jug Band @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm.
Fri 03: Front Porch Blues Band @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:30pm.
Fri 03: TBC @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Blind Pig Blues Club.
Fri 03: Boys of Brass @ Hoochie Coochie, Newcastle. 8:30pm. £5.00.

Thursday, March 21, 2024

Something's cookin'


I was recently looking through some old issues of the American jazz magazine JAZZIZ when I came across a series of articles on the theme of jazz and cooking.  The magazine reproduced several recipes from the 1992 book Jazz Cooks: Portraits and Recipes of the Greats, which, according to JAZZIZ, “captures the essence of the food and music that has moved more than 90 renowned artists, from Dave Brubeck and Sun Ra to Wynton Marsalis and Roy Haynes.”


These recipes included pianist Tommy Flanagan’s Shrimp Eclypso, trumpeter and flugelhorn player Art Farmer’s Chilled Cucumber Soup, saxophonist Jane Ira Bloom’s Cut-Time Capellini (similar to spaghetti), drummer Rashid Ali’s Chicken Anise, and Brazilian saxophonist Ivo Perelman’s Amazonian Duck.  However, the recipe that really caught my eye came under the heading “Jim Hall: Nuts About Soup.”  According to the accompanying article (in JAZZIZ, January 2004), the acclaimed guitarist took a course on “How to Boil Water” (!) after moving to New York.  During this course, he discovered a dish which was to become his favourite: Ribollita, a hearty Tuscan soup based on leftover bread.  Hall recalled making it for John Abercrombie and his wife and said: “It was amazing to me to realise that I could just follow a recipe and it would work out all right.  I got over being intimidated by the whole thing.”

 

Interesting words from a master improviser.  But I guess that all the greats, both in jazz and cooking, need to get the basics right first.

 

So, readers, what dishes would you recommend?  And do you like to improvise in the kitchen?  Please get in touch!

 

Jazz Cooks: Portraits and Recipes of the Greats by Bob Young and Al Stankus (published by Stewart, Tabori & Chang. Cover photo © Stewart, Tabori & Chang.) is available from Amazon and elsewhere. Colin Muirhead.

3 comments :

Lance said...

Well I'm not much of a one in the kitchen but I do enjoy the end product of someone else's efforts and never more so than back in the day when jazz and fine dining were a Monday night treat at the Cherry Tree in Jesmond. I never had a bad meal and rarely, if ever, was the music not first class. Too many to list but I particularly recall Pan Fried Hake with Spiced Parsnip Puree. Shallots & Granny Smith apple. All consumed to the voice of Mo Scott and her band - Shangri-la!

Ann Alex said...

Pan Fried Hake sounds delicious

Ann Alex said...

I like to make a pizza using a large Greggs stottie. It is truly jazz-like as the stottie is an improvisation as well as the toppings. And it's locally sourced and an example of co-operation with others because I got the idea from a friend.

I simply slice the stottie through the middle to get a pizza base, fry onions, spread mozzarella cheese and tomato salsa, onions on top, and heat on the oven shelf, gas mark 6 for about 8 minutes or until cooked.
Delicious, cheap, why buy a pizza when you can do it this way. Listen to your favourite CD as you eat!

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