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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.

Saturday, November 11, 2017

Tomasz Stanko Quartet and Partikel, EFG London Jazz Festival, Cadogan Hall, November 10.

(Review by Mike Collins)
It was over an hour before Tomasz Stanko (trumpet) reached for the mic, his introduction of the band barely audible over the cheers and whoops echoing round Cadogan Hall.  There had been musical announcements as Stanko let fly a conversational flurry of chromaticism, or David Virelles (piano) sketched a few dark chords to direct the band towards the next episode.  This was a remarkable, fluid performance, steadily intensifying over the course of the long set of contrasting moods and textures.
Stanko’s modus operandi is atmospheric and episodic acoustic jazz that encompasses hypnotically grooving, loose-limbed pieces built around fragmentary hooks; languid, deceptively simple melodies with expansive and rich harmony; jagged flurries of notes over racing meters. The accompanying trio, completed by Reuben Rogers on bass and Gerald Cleaver on drums explored every nuance and possibility.
They crept in over Rogers’ steady, walking line and accumulated an unstoppable momentum to open the set. A scattering of rhapsodic chords from the piano ushered in a typical wispy, plaintive melody from the trumpet. There was a palpable thickening of the atmosphere as the silence between notes was allowed to swell. Virelles allowed the faintest of repeated notes to chime and the trumpet sighed. Then Cleaver started an urgent shuffling groove, Rogers’ bass locked in, Stanko assayed a few sliding dance steps before spooling out another Stank-ish ditty and standing back having lit the touchpaper.  
Virelles produced the first of several volcanic solos. Crystalline phrases were repeated, repeated again, turned upside down with percussive counterpoint from his left hand before a pummelling battery of rhythms doubled with an eruption from Cleaver who’d been shadowing every move. Even Reuben Rogers was whooping from behind the bass. Stanko’s contributions were invariably brief, as much a conductor and on the spot orchestrator as frontman, his fragile sound sketching out the territory whether with squalls of notes or filigrees of melody. Cleaver was an immense presence whether filling the canvas with skittering shimmers of texture from the cymbals or building the tumult with boiling rhythms.  
The American trio has brought an extra dimension to Stanko’s music, this set was drawn from the most recent release December Avenue  and the roars for more recognised we’d witnessed something special.
Partikel played a short opening set offering a brief gust of a distinctive blend of striking melody, artfully shifting harmony and infectious grooves with often surprising turns. Guitarist Ant Law joined the regular trio of Duncan Eagles (sax); Max Luthert (bass) and Eric Ford (drums).  
Their well-received set will have whetted plenty of appetites.
Mike.

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