Total Pageviews

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.
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.

Sunday, December 07, 2014

CD Review: Jim Rattigan/Thomas Gould/Liam Noble - Triplicity

Jim Rattigan (French Horn); Thomas Gould (violin); Liam Noble (piano).
(Review by Lance).
I took one look at the press release for this disc and relegated it to the pending tray. I mean to say, French horn, violin and piano - what will they be trying to palm off on us next as jazz? Then, in a weak moment, I said to myself, "WTF I'll give it a spin - nothing else in the pending tray appeals and, with Liam Noble on piano, it can't be all bad.
Truth is - it's all very good!

Rattigan, gets a great sound, almost like a valve trombone but cooler, drier. As emotive as all but the most laid back flugel player this to me is a revelation! Why haven't there been more jazz improvising French hornists? Admittedly the nature of a rotary valve instrument precludes, I would guess, the dazzling flights of fantasy favoured by trumpet players. This isn't a drawback or a hindrance - quite the contrary - it enables the player to choose notes and phrases carefully without covering up a paucity of ideas with bravura flashes of technique.
With players like Rattigan around, the French Horn could soon no longer be just a "Miscellaneous Instrument" but one worthy of a category of it's own.
Violin too was once a "Misc. Inst." Grappelli, Luc Ponty and others moved it out of the doldrums and ensured the instrument had its own distinctive identity in jazz circles. Gould carries on the tradition of his musical forebears - and he can swing too - even if his tone could be fuller, the ideas are there. Horn and fiddle combine brilliantly both in the ensembles and in their challenging solos. Complementing and contradicting each other in the finest musical terms.
This is a jazz record but it is also damn close to being a contemporary classical work too - genres? Who needs them?!
I haven't mentioned Liam Noble - my middle name is Remiss! - Without bass and drums, Noble is the link between the genres. The harmonic foundation he lays down beneath the other two ensures the fluidity of the music and, of course, it goes without saying his solos are no less than what we'd expect from one of the UK's top keyboard men!.
Why haven't I been listening to this non-stop since it was released? Change my middle name from Remiss to Procrastinator.
It's quite wonderful..
Lance.

No comments :

Blog Archive