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, October 01, 2017

CD Review: Stan Sulzmann and John Taylor – Double Exposure

Stan Sulzmann – piccolo, flute, alto flute, clarinet, saxophones; John Taylor – piano, synthesiser
(Review by Hugh C)
It was during my conversation with Nikki Iles at the Late Night Jazz gig at Hexham Abbey Festival that my attention was drawn to the existence of this CD.  My interest was sparked and I sought out a copy.  The CD was actually recorded in 1990 at Sentinel Studios in Cornwall and has (for reasons unspecified) just been released this year.
Stan Sulzmann and John Taylor were invited in 1990 to Cornwall by the studio to spend a few days recording and experimenting with new material and sounds.  At that time Sulzmann owned a Roland D50 synthesiser, which he lent to John Taylor. JT proceeded to completely reprogram the synthesiser and personalise it to his own requirements.  The duo were able to experiment using the synthesiser in improvised duets, as well as performing their compositions with John Taylor on piano.  Some of the new pieces were conceived on site.  This CD shows a side of John Taylor which became unfamiliar in his later years, where he concentrated solely on his first love, his Steinway piano.
Pure and Simple is just that – a jazz duet between soprano sax and acoustic piano.  Slow Loris again sees Taylor at the piano, largely solo, but with a short contribution by Sulzmann on tenor sax towards the end.  Stango features piano and tenor and, as you might expect, transports you to Buenos Aires (not far from Cornwall really!).  In Stango we begin to feel the influences of music other than “jazz”.  The next track Free Ballad takes us to a ghostly world of synthesised sounds.  This is the first of three tracks on the CD with joint compositional attribution – perhaps one of those conceived on at the time of recording.  Despite the word Free in the title, it remains definitely melodic, and to my ear definitely Ballad. 
Extracts (also co-composed) jolts this complacency with repetitive stabbing synthesiser and saxophone turning to abstract riffs and effects.  CD Smith (flute and piano) takes us in the direction of European contemporary music and reflects the artists' influences such as Messiaen, Prokofiev and Hindemith.  Country/Raindrops (co-composed) is (what I would call free), with seemingly (to the untutored ear) random sounds from reeds, flute and synthesiser – I do however get the raindrops component. 
Cartoon/Room for Improvement (flutes/synthesiser) is in a similar vein to the previous track initially, but turns into a jaunty ditty with fine flute and piccolo playing by Sulzmann; piano is added later.  Straight Man has a Messiaenic quality, with spectral extended chords on synth and melodic overlay by Sulzmann's clarinet.  'Q' is a quick fire duel between piano and saxophone which settles into more of a duet over time.  Ocean Deep (piano/saxophone) returns to more of a conventional jazz idiom.  Spider features piano and flute and could perhaps be a sensual combination that draws you into its web.  The final track, Heart, takes us back to where we began – piano and saxophone.   The track deliberately leaves us with a question as it slowly fades to nothing at 5.15

This CD (26 years in gestation) was mastered and edited in 2016 and released earlier this year.  It shows a side of both Taylor and Sulzmann which is probably not familiar to the majority of listeners.  In a London Jazz News podcast, Sulzmann suggests reasons as to why John Taylor may have returned to the piano following his adventures into electronics. Sulzmann himself also now concentrates on the saxophone, and has sold his piccolo and clarinet.
Insightful review?  Perhaps, but a lot of the insight comes from the mouth/pen of Mr Sulzmann himself.
Hugh C
Double Exposure is released on Inversion Records (INV002CD) and is available through Interspear Music, Jazz CDs and Amazon.
The London Jazz News podcast of an interview with Stan Sulzmann is available to download here.

No comments :

Blog Archive