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Bebop Spoken There

Simon Spillett: “ Bebop and hard bop came naturally to him [Tubby Hayes]". Morning Star, March 28, 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

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.
Fri 29: True Colours @ Barrels Ale House, Berwick. 9:00pm. Blues, jazz & swing.

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.
Mon 01: Ray Stubbs R&B All Stars @ Billy Bootlegger’s, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 3:00pm. 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.

Thu 04: FILM: Soul @ Forum Cinema, Hexham. 2:00pm. Jazz-themed film animation.
Thu 04: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 04: Funky Drummer @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Thu 04: Eva Fox & the Jazz Guys @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 04: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm.

Wednesday, November 09, 2016

Jazz North East ‘On the Outside’: Hans Peter Hiby Trio @The Bridge Hotel, Newcastle – November 6.

Hans Peter Hiby (tenor, alto & soprano); Mick Bardon (bass); Paul Hession (drums)
(Review/photos courtesy of Ken Drew)
Tremendous!!  This was the last of a four part mini-tour by the group, taking in Scotland and the Midlands and leaving the best till last for their final performance at the Bridge Hotel.   And what a blast – still full of such brutal energy, constantly driving power and a raw attack associated with the likes of Peter Brötzmann whom I’d seen over a decade ago, yet the Hans Peter Hiby performance tonight seemed so much more considered and accessible to me.

Hiby/Hession have played throughout Germany as well as Switzerland, Austria, Belgium and the Netherlands and on occasions augmented the duo with bass players Marcio Mattos, Roberto Bellatalla, Peter Kowald and recently Dieter Manderscheid.   Paul Hession is such a sympathetic partner on drums since Hiby has worked with him on and off since the mid-‘80s, often just as a duo.  For this short UK tour, Leeds-based bass player Michael Bardon completes the trio. He has played throughout the UK and Europe including festivals in Sardinia, Germany, Italy and Poland and his dynamic playing is the perfect fit for this trio.  So the addition of Bardon presented opportunities of greater interaction and dynamic variety across the group, producing a performance that combined high octane power with many moments of thoughtful and carefully crafted subtlety.  

And what a performance.  They hit the ground running.  It was immediately apparent that the key elements would be hugely energetic and thrilling, yet was soon to be intertwined with nicely contrasting melodic sections at a slower, albeit temporary pace.   All pieces in the concert were mined a similar vein, yet each developed and flowed differently – each having its own personality and mood.
It was not just Hiby on the sax simply producing the notes, but his gentle swaying and occasional thrusting of the sax into the air all added to the final delivery of an extraordinarily energetic performance.   It was not just an energetic delivery, but vibrant, screaming, flowing, thrilling, pounding, soaring, swirling, gesturing, grovelling, altogether coaxing the sound out of the sax and into the room.  And what a space this is for such an acoustic performance.  Hiby afterwards, as others have in the past, commented on the joy of playing in this space.

Was the sax driving the others, or maybe it was the drums driving the others ….. or maybe they took turns, who knows ?  The resultant sound of the sax produced by Hiby had a generally soft but very confident and strident delivery, rarely whispering, but more often tonally pure.  But occasionally a harsher Brotzman-like sound pushed it further into a split-tone producing complex harmonics, perfectly supported and followed by the others.

Motian’s facial expression changed very little throughout.  Admittedly,  his eyes closed once in a while to aid concentration, and occasionally looked across at Hiby and Bardon to assess the next area of exploration. But generally all of Motian’s expressions were in his musical output – conservation of energy and all that to power the continuous onslaught from the drum kit.  And Bardon’s contribution was equally full of vigour and drive.

The result?  It was Brotzman-like power jazz, industrial strength improv and a very memorable performance at that.  Aptly given on November 6 – indoor pyrotechnics were the norm.  Tremendous.

Ken.

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