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Bebop Spoken There

Orrin Evans: “Now, getting a teaching spot is the new record deal”. (DownBeat, November, 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

17502 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 16 years ago. 776 of them this year alone and, so far, 14 this month (Nov. 5).

From This Moment On ...

November

Fri 08: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 08: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 08: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 08: Joe Steels Trio @ The Pele, Corbridge. 7:00pm.
Fri 08: TC & the Groove Family + Swannek + Knats @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.

Sat 09: Moscow Drug Club @ Hamsterley Village Hall, Co. Durham DL13 3QF. 7:30pm. £15.00.
Sat 09: Anth Purdy @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. ‘Swing Jazz Guitar’. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 10: The New ’58 Jazz Collective @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free. A ‘second Sunday in the month’ residency.
Sun 10: Panharmonia @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £6.00.
Sun 10: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 10: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 10: Jude Murphy, Steve Chambers & Sid White @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 10: Moscow Drug Club @ Lesbury Village Hall, nr. Alnwick NE66 3PP. 7:30pm. £15.00.
Sun 10: SH#RP Collective @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 11: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 11: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Wheatsheaf, Benton Sq., Whitley Road, Palmersville NE12 9SU. Tel: 0191 266 8137. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 11: Graham Hardy’s Eclectic Quartet @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00.

Tue 12: Matthew Forster Quartet @ Newcastle House Hotel, Rothbury. 7:30pm.
Tue 12: Phil’s Elastic Band @ The Forum, Darlington. 7:30pm. Free, but ticketed, book online.

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: The Tannery Jam Session @ The Tannery, Gilesgate, Hexham. 7:00-9:00pm. Free. A ‘second Wednesday in the month’ jam session.
Wed 13: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 13: corto.alto @ Hoochie Coochie, Newcastle. 7:45pm (doors 7:00pm). £14.00. + bf.

Thu 14: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 14: Faye MacCalman & John Pope @ King’s Hall, Newcastle University. 1:15pm. Free.
Thu 14: Student Performances @ King’s Hall, Newcastle University. 4:00pm. Inc. Olly Styles (saxophone).
Thu 14: Happy Tuesdays @ Ye Olde Cross, Ryton. 7:30pm. Free.
Thu 14: John Stowell & Tom Remon @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Top class US/UK guitar duo!
Thu 14: King Bees @ The Cumberland Arms, Byker, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Superb Chicago blues band. Note, Struggle Buggy will no longer be appearing.
Thu 14: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesborough. 8:30pm. Free. Guests: Jeremy McMurray (keys); Kevin Eland (trumpet); Mark Toomey (alto sax); Adrian Beadnell (bass).

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

Wednesday, October 30, 2024

Album review: John Chin, Jeong Lim Yang, Jongkuk Kim - Journey Han (Jinsy Music)

John Chin (piano, keys, programming); Jeong Lim Yang (bass); Jongkuk Kim (drums)

The Journey of Han is organised into two acts, each exploring the concept of 'Han', a Korean cultural notion encompassing a broad range of emotions including sorrow, resentment, resilience, longing, loss and liberation. All very well to know and helpful for a reviewer trying to get his head around the clattering on that once beautiful tune by Lionel Hampton and Sonny Burke - Midnight Sun.

Wayne Shorter's Lady Day fares much better. This is as beautiful as the person it was dedicated to. It lasts 9.54 mins and it's not a second too long. A feeling bass solo, a reflective piano solo and sympathetic drumming. Towards the end it builds up into a powerful climax as if portraying Billie's sad passing. Midnight Sun is forgotten.

Chin switches to keyboards for his own composition ATL. I don't know what or who the initials stand for, Google offers a wide variety of explanations the relevance of which are not immediately obvious.

The Constant Foreigner is another weirdy with some strange chit-chat going on. I guess this is Chin's programming. Lots of drums. I think it represents the difficulties faced by newcomers seeking acceptance.

Promising World brings Act One to a close with an  unaccompanied bass solo by Yang who composed the piece.

Act Two opens with Chin's Lament For a Past Life. He solos delicately over some metronomic drumming.

The standard Never Let Me Go is lovely tune, often sung but rarely done as an instrumental. The latter approach can sometimes discover hidden depths that a singer has missed (and vice-versa). Chin does it proud finding new and subtle nuances to the tune.

Drummer Kim has his own composition, Loom, all 6:14 mins of it to himself. In other words it's a long drum solo. Tarn is an unaccompanied feature for Chin. He says his piece in two minutes. Personally I'd have preferred it to have been the other was around.

As someone who's still coming to terms with the last 'next thing' I viewed Chin's The Next Thing with some trepidation. However, my reservations were unfounded. Admittedly there is some Cecil Taylor (ish) moments but not enough to lose sleep over in fact, in a contemporary fashion, it's quite swingy. 

The album closes with two classics that are treated with the degree of respect they deserve. Lush Life has soulful piano from Chin, dreamy bass by Yang and a drummer who, on this occasion, knows when less is more. Stardust, superb solo piano. The end of an album that meets the Journey of Han criteria as set out in the first paragraph. When it's good it's very good ... Lance

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