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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.
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.

Monday, November 07, 2016

CD Review: Keith Jarrett – A Multitude of Angels

Keith Jarrett – Piano
(Review by Hugh C).
This neatly packaged 4CD set was recorded at solo concert performances by Keith Jarrett at Modena, Ferrara, Torino and Genova in October 1996.  These represent the last four concerts he played having no breaks in each set.  The four CDs are presented in individual slip cases with the titles and timings printed on the back.  A set of notes written by Jarrett himself are included, together with a full discography.
Jarrett regards his playing at these concerts as a pinnacle of his career.  After these concerts were over he couldn't play again for two years due to (what is now known as) chronic fatigue syndrome.  The title of the set – A Multitude of Angels – is a reference to the people, circumstances, equipment and events that contributed to Jarrett's ability to play through these concerts and record them flawlessly (Jarrett acted as both player and engineer, recording on his personal DAT recorder at the back of the stage) despite his illness.

Jarrett revisited these recordings after 20 years and was taken back to “the memory of who I was in 1966, what my thoughts were about, what galvanised my life into a struggle for exactly the consciousness that we can so easily lose”.  As he listened he felt the angels took their places beside him and urged him gently to go on – A Multitude of Angels is the result.
The four discs are:
MODENA
October 23, 1996
Part I – Part II – Danny Boy
FERRARA
October 25, 1996
Part I – Part II – Encore
TORINO
October 28, 1996
Part I – Part II
GENOVA
October 30, 1996
Part I – Part II - Encore – Over The Rainbow

Each Part represents a continuous set of between 30 and 43 minutes.  This is vintage Jarrett - driving rhythm interspersed by more extended reflective improvisation, both with full vocals (grunts, sighs, exclamations and scat piano) and percussive foot tapping. 
Each disc is exquisitely recorded (full technical details of the strategy and equipment used are in Jarrett's comprehensive sleeve notes) and a beautiful record of the event - not one single audience cough did I hear on any of these CDs, and no clapping over the dying embers of the final piano chord.  This set is likely to appeal to the enthusiast.  I'm not sure your general jazz head would sit through more than 4 hours of solo piano.  This is undoubtedly a classic, but perhaps with a limited market.
Hugh C.

A Multitude of Angels is currently available on ECM, catalogue No. ECM2503

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