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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.

Saturday, April 28, 2018

CD Review: Dave Manington’s Riff Raff - Challenger Deep

Brigitte Beraha (vocals); Tomas Challenger (tenor saxophone); Ivo Neame (Fender Rhodes, mellotron, Hammond organ); Rob Updegraff (guitar); Dave Manington (double bass); Tim Giles (drums, percussion)
(Review by Russell)
Challenger Deep is Dave Manington’s third album as a bandleader and the second from his Riff Raff sextet. The line-up has remained remarkably stable and perhaps this is a key element in the consistently high-quality music heard on this Loop Collective album. All six musicians are busy in other bands, touring and recording yet make time to sustain Riff Raff’s creative momentum.

 Nine tracks across seventy plus generous minutes comprise Brigitte Beraha’s lyrics on four tunes and her horn-like, wordless vocals on several others. Manington infuses his CD liner notes with gentle humour, poking fun at Tom Challenger in thinking the album was named after him! As one should know Challenger Deep is the deepest ocean trench in the world and Manington expresses wonderment as to what exactly is living down there 11km below the surface. The title track makes one think that drummer Tim Giles has been down there such are the convincing knocking sounds the submariner would expect to make or, spookily, hear on the exterior of a submersible.

Beraha’s light, floating vocals complement, respond to and ignite Tom Challenger’s sinewy tenor lines; similarly on Random Acts of Kindness wordless vocals swirl and swoop, capture, then free guitarist Rob Updegraff to create his own stunning, fluent lines until Beraha turns her attention to Challenger’s tenor once more, voices in unison.

From time to time the sextet works up a head of steam. The elegance remains intact but when the gloves are off (the band name – Riff Raff – tells you all you need to know about these ruffians) the change of gear is quite exhilarating; Prime Numbers and Dangerpig are the two tracks on the CD which best illustrate their collective inclination to dive into uncharted depths and survive to tell the tale. The penultimate track – Thagomizer…ask your kids, it’s to do with dinosaurs – involves free, or freeish sections, more so than Manington’s eight other compositions. Willow Tree closes a fine album which reveals hidden depths the more one listens to it.
Russell
Challenger Deep by Dave Manington’s Riff Raff is released on the Loop Collective label (cat no. 1030) on May 11 with an album launch gig at London’s Vortex on May 12.        

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