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Bebop Spoken There

Béla Fleck: “ And that's the great thing about live performances, you take people on a journey. It doesn't have to be like something else they've heard. It's not supposed to be". DownBeat, April, 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

16287 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 16 years ago. 169 of them this year alone and, so far, 41 this month (Mar 18).

From This Moment On ...

March

Thu 28: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 28: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Gateshead Central Library, Gateshead. 2:30pm.
Thu 28: Richard Herdman Quartet @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 28: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm. Guests: Josh Bentham (alto sax); Alan Marshall (tenor sax); Neil Brodie (trumpet); Adrian Beadnell (bass); Graham Thompson (keys); Steve Hunter (drums).

Fri 29: FILM: Soul @ The Forum Cinema, Hexham. 12:30pm. Jazz-themed film animation.
Fri 29: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 29: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 29: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 29: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 6:00pm. Free. POSTPONED!
Fri 29: Thundercat @ Newcastle City Hall.
Fri 29: John Logan @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sat 30: Papa G’s Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sat 30: Pete Tanton’s Cuba Libre @ Whitley Bay Library, York Road, Whitley Bay. 8:00pm.

Sun 31: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay Metro Station. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 31: Ruth Lambert Trio @ Juke Shed, Union Quay, North Shields NE30 1HJ. 3:00pm. Free. Lambert, Alan Law & Paul Grainger.
Sun 31: Sid Jacobs & Tom Remon @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. USA/London jazz guitar duo.
Sun 31: Bellavana @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

April
Mon 01: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 02: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Dean Stockdale, Paul Grainger, Abbie Finn.

Wed 03: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 03: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 03: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Wednesday, November 06, 2013

CD Review: Jazz Combustion Uprising - Self Immolation.

Henry Hung (tpt); Grant Levin (pno); Andrew Ryan (dms); David "Elaine" Alt (saxes); Kenny Annis (bs) + Gabe Davis (bs); Alicia Bell (voice); Wendell Hanna (bassoon); Jane Lenoir (fl).
(Review by Lance)
This came in today as a late contender and, whilst it may not grab the top spot, it's going to be up there!
Fiery compositions, Equal parts, Innovation and Dedication with Blistering Solos and a Vintage Rooted Sound. So said the album notes and hey - they were right! My review done by them in a single sentence!
But no, I've got to earn my virtual corn and expound further.

The eleven tracks are split into three groups - Blues, Standards, Modern and alongside each title is the inspiration e.g. Roberta, Roberta (Louis Jordan, Dexter Gordon); Oxtail Soup (Horace Silver, Charles Mingus); Series of Adjustment (Thelonious Monk, Lester Young); Rising (Wayne Shorter, Abbey Lincoln); The Unmemorable Evening (George Russell, Steve Lacy); Bike Lanes, Coming, (Sonny Rollins, McCoy Tyner); Bike Lanes, Going (Pharoah Sanders, Sun Ra, Gil Scott-Heron) etc.
This isn't just jazz of whatever persuasion it's also jazz theatre and performed with the drama, passion, humour and emotion that comes with good theatre and this is good jazz theatre
Alt, not sure why his middle name is "Elaine", blows great tenor and alto and Hung blows like Kenny Durham. This is one of those albums that came out of left field and sent me into orbit - seriously it is that good. There are even moments when they venture "outside" but not many and, by and large, these are contemporary boppers who, on these forays beyond the city walls do so to hog-tie the critters outside and bring them in!
Love it, not least because it reminds me that jazz can look to the future without forgetting its past.
The disc is dedicated to the late Tunisian street grocer Tarek Al-Tayeb Mohamed Bouazizi. "We salute his courageous spirit and the self-activity it has inflamed." 
I don't know anything about Tarek but if he can inspire the music on this disc he must have been one helluva grocer!
Jazz Combustion Uprising - Self Immolation is available on the Flaming Hakama Label .
Lance

3 comments :

James said...

Lance, Tarek Al-Tayeb Mohamed Bouazizi is widely credited with starting the Arab Spring, protesting the Tunisian corruption and draconian laws with an act of self immolation, causing riots leading to regime change that spread across large parts of Asia. I think you might have heard about that?

Lance said...

Thanks James, now I know!

Unknown said...

Thanks for the review!

I'm glad you enjoyed it.

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