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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.

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, April 23, 2009

Stephenson's Rocket - Mike Carr's Blue Note Band.

Back in 1968 or was it 1969? I heard (on LP) "Hammond Under Pressure". Mike Carr (organ) and Tony Crombie (dms) were the 'pressurisers'; no bass player. This was, quite simply, the best organ disc I'd ever heard. It had always been a source of puzzlement to me why the Jimmy Smiths, the McGriffs and the McDuffs used a bass player rather than the instrument's pedalboard; after all, your average club or church organist manages the pedals with varying degrees of success, why not the so-called 'world's greatest'? After a few plays, it occurred to me that Mike Carr was doing a helluva lot more than his much vaunted contemporaries - and he was putting down better basslines with the pedals than their bassists were doing!
In consequence, I registered my vote for Mike in the annual Down Beat Poll of 1969. Needless to say, Jimmy Smith, who'd been winning organ polls seemingly since Bach retired, won with 2945 votes. I don't know how many Mike scored as they didn't list those names who amassed less than 30. Maybe he only got my vote.
Nevertheless, I remain convinced that Mike was, and indeed still is, the world's finest jazz organist and I was delighted to see my opinions vindicated by Wally Houser in the August 2002 edition of JARS - the Ronnie Scott Club house magazine - and reproduced in the sleeve notes of this CD.
The Blue Note Band brings together the Brothers Fishwick - Steve (tpt) and Matt (dms) - alongside Steve Kaldestad (ten) and of course Mike Carr - not a bass player in sight! Robert Ahwai (gtr) & Simon Morton (perc) are added on some tracks.
However, this is not just about Mike the Organ Giant but Mike the composer and arranger - and vibist/pianist.
The tunes are all in the hard bop style associated with Blue Note Records and several are dedicated to such luminaries as Dizzy, Bird and Milt as well as his former colleague in the Emcee 5 - the late Ronnie Stephenson. With the two Steves attuned to the idiom and driven along by Matt on drums this disc can walk tall alongside anything from Rudy Van Gelder's New Jersey studio - and I am an avid collector of Blue Note's.
I'd like to see the band booked by Jazz North East - did I hear a whisper somewhere that it was in the pipeline?
Lance

1 comment :

emcee said...

Thanks for the Write up you did a great job.

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