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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.

Thursday, May 01, 2014

Zoe Gilby Interviews Ian Chalk

Zoe Gilby interviewed Ian Chalk of the Firebird Quartet who are this coming Sunday's (May 4 - 8.15pm) Splinter @ The Bridge band. Zoe's questions are in blue.
Tell us a bit about your band. How it formed? band line up and their influences?
The band in its current form was created about 4 months ago.  Previously I had a quartet for 4 years (Ian Chalk Quartet) which, although fun to play in and they guys were great, wasn't really going in the direction I wanted to go.  So the decision was made to create a quartet to perform contemporary jazz with best the musicians I could find to force me to up my game and they've certainly done that! The name of the band was changed to reflect the new start ....'Firebird Quartet' (and to remind people of our Sunday night residency at The Phoenix in York).
The line up is Bass - John Marley, Drums - Tim Carter, Piano - Martin Longhawn and myself on trumpet. Musically, I suspect we're influenced by everything we've ever heard as jazz musicians tend to soak up whatever music is around them but currently we're listening to (and performing the music of) people like Terence Blanchard, Kendrick Scott, Christian Scott, Roy Hargrove, Dean Taba and Wynton Marsalis. In addition, we perform a number of original compositions.  We play music in a range of styles from driving swing to grooves with a hint of hip hop.
Fundamentally, we believe that our music should be enjoyable to listen to.  I know that sounds like it should be an obvious thing to say but it isn't necessarily a view shared by the whole jazz community where, sometimes, the 'art' of the music can leave some of the audience behind.  We're firm believers in creating music with sufficient complexity to appeal to a contemporary jazz audience but will also make you want to tap your foot!
Best gig you've seen?
This is an easy question to answer although not a 'jazz' performance as such (although we could have a long conversation about what 'jazz' really is!).... Stevie Wonder at the Manchester Arena a few years back.  We had really good seats near the front and you could almost feel the amazing energy of the man.  I'm not a religious man (far from it!) but that is the nearest I've come to a spiritual experience. The start of the gig was Stevie being led onto the stage by his daughter while he played Miles's 'All Blues' on harmonica... more than a little thrilling! In our house, my kids have been taught that whenever Stevie's name is mentioned they must place a finger on their forehead and say the word 'genius'!
Favourite album?
Hmmm...tricky one as it tends to change on a daily basis.  Thinking on a 'Desert Island Discs' basis where I only have one album to choose then I think it would have to be 'Hot House Flowers' by Wynton Marsalis.  This was one of the first jazz albums I ever bought (possibly the very first) and I was seduced by the very cool album sleeve of Wynton stood in the middle distance, cool suit, lit in a spotlight, trumpet in hand.  The album is quite melancholic with sweeping orchestral arrangements but with joyous versions of 'When You Wish Upon A Star' and 'I'm Confessin'. It also includes a stunningly gorgeous version of 'Stardust' which is the music I want playing at my funeral (just so you know!).
What has been the highlight of your bands musical career so far?
The highlight is less to do with any one moment on any one gig than with how the quartet has gelled into such a fluid and coherent unit which has already far exceeded my expectations.  This has been helped by our regular Sunday night residency at The Phoenix in York (8pm till 10:30, free entry!) which has allowed us to develop our group sound as well as our material so that we can be relaxed in our work and can focus on the creative side of jazz.
If you could meet, talk with and jam with any musician (alive or deceased) who would it be?
Wow! Where do you start with this one? Duke Ellington? Dizzy? Miles? Stravinsky? Mozart?Bach?? I think the answer would probably be Miles.  I suspect he wouldn't necessarily welcome jamming with me as he could be something of a 'prickly character' but I would learn so much from him, not just about trumpet playing but about how to approach playing music.  Famously, he said "Do note fear wrong notes, there are none" and I'd love to have the same free approach.
Thank you Ian.

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