Total Pageviews

Bebop Spoken There

Ambrose Akinmusire: “ I am certainly always aware of what the masses are doing. And when I see too many people going one way, I'm going another way - even when I don't know what's over that way". DownBeat, March, 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

Tue 19: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Michael Young, Paul Grainger, Tim Johnston.

Wed 20: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 20: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 20: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 21: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 21: Castillo Neuvo Trio + Conor Emery & His ‘Bones Band @ The Grove, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 7:30pm (7:00pm doors). £10.00. (£7.00. student).
Thu 21: Remi Banklyn + Chris Corcoran Trio @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.50. Chicago blues. An International Guitar Foundation promotion.
Thu 21: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Ragtime piano.
Thu 21: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm.

Fri 22: Vasilis Xenopoulos & Paul Edis @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. £8.00. SOLD OUT!
Fri 22: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 22: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 22: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 22: Nauta + Remy CB + Last Orders @ Hoochie Coochie, Newcastle. 8:30pm (7:30pm doors). Free.
Fri 22: Vasilis Xenopoulos-Paul Edis Quartet @ Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. £15.00. Opus 4 Jazz Club.
Fri 22: Redwell @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sat 23: Jambone @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 6:30pm. Free (ticketed). End of term performance in the Northern Rock Foundation Hall.
Sat 23: Milne-Glendinning Band @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 23: Red Kites Jazz @ Rowlands Gill Community Centre NE39 1JB. 7:00pm. Tickets: £12.00. (gibsidecommunityfarm@gmail.com). A ‘Build a Barn’ fundraiser. BYOB, tea/coffee available.
Sat 23: New Century Ragtime Orchestra @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £20.00. + bf (book in person at venue - no booking fee!). Featuring pianist Martin Litton.
Sat 23: Pete Tanton’s Cuba Libre @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 24: Musicians Unlimited @ Park Inn, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 24: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:30pm. Free.
Sun 24: Luis Verde @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm. Verde (alto sax); Joe Steels (guitar); John Pope (double bass); John Hirst (drums). Alto sax brilliance!
Sun 24: Elsie Franklin @ The Globe, Newcastle. 3:00pm. £10.00. Country blues. An International Guitar Foundation promotion.
Sun 24: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay Metro Station. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 24: Las Vegas Live with the Rat Pack @ The Forum, Billingham.
Sun 24: Ian Millar & Dominic Spencer @ Otterburn Memorial Hall. 7:30pm. £12.00.
Sun 24: Lindsay Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Note start time - 7:00pm.
Sun 24: Bold Big Band @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 25: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 25: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 6:30pm. Free.

Friday, October 15, 2010

Aki Takase & Keith Tippett @ Kings Hall, Newcastle

Listen: when things spiral beyond serious, the gloves are off, just as today, laid flat behind them on the floor of the Kings Hall, the great black lids were off the Yin & Yang joined Steinways, scattered inside with the contents of an improvising pianist's man/woman drawer - ping pong balls, blocks of wood, curtain rings, chopsticks and old combs - to bounce, zing, excite and frustrate the normal reactions of these majestic pianos.

Keith and Aki walked on together, took their bows to welcoming applause from the more than ample lunch time audience and then sat at their just-married instruments in contemplative silence, as collective vapours of ideas seemed to condense from the very ether of this beautifully resonant old hall. Emerging from his meditation, Keith stands and applies a piece of softwood to the cross-over treble strings, zzzing! as Aki makes her introductory percussive statement on the keys. I close my eyes in tonal absorption as the improvisations take off in such artful conversation, I have to open them for a periodic reality check to drag my out-of-body down from the ceiling - and of course, to keep an eye on what the two players are up to. Like the crossing wash of two grand boats passing starboard to starboard, the performance is never predictable and yet perfectly anticipated as the waves chop and splash on our aural harbour steps. Keith establishes a punching rhythm in the bass register, damped so that only the sound of the hammer mechanism can be heard, transporting us to an old cotton mill, where the shuttles fly back and forth as Aki applies a chromatic warp and weft punctuated by her colourful crashing chords. This is such an amazing telepathic improvised jazz duet that each player seems quite relaxed to introduce old friends as at a lively party: Keith, you remember George Gershwin and Aki, this is Abdullah Ibrahim - they go back to exciting the lips of their harmonic cocktail glasses. The control is never forced and rises and falls so gracefully from crescendo to diminuendo that you imagine they could be pilots with independent controls of the same aerobatic aircraft - we look skywards but never feel like running for cover! And, just as in the art of conversation, the end game is as important as the dizzy heights of the performance: Keith's fingers dart around inside a tinkling musical box on the inside top treble while Aki turns gently on the keys ; they play their au-revoirs as they had begun, with such respectful finesse we seem to be awakened from a dream, convinced we really can do whatever it was we dreamed we could do! A wonderful performance. George M

4 comments :

Unknown said...

Wow George! What a superb piece of writing.

George Milburn said...

Thanks Blue!

Lance said...

In the words of the immortal Irving Berlin (I Love a Piano) "...a fine way to treat a Steinway..."

Russell said...

Hi Lance

Aki's forearm smash was delivered lovingly.

Russell

Blog Archive