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Bebop Spoken There

Simon Spillett: “ Bebop and hard bop came naturally to him [Tubby Hayes]". Morning Star, March 28, 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

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.
Fri 29: True Colours @ Barrels Ale House, Berwick. 9:00pm. Blues, jazz & swing.

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.

Thu 04: FILM: Soul @ Forum Cinema, Hexham. 2:00pm. Jazz-themed film animation.
Thu 04: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 04: Funky Drummer @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Thu 04: Eva Fox & the Jazz Guys @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 04: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm.

Sunday, February 09, 2014

CD Review: Chris Ingham Quartet - Hoagy.

Chris Ingham (pno/vcl); Paul Higgs (tpt); Rev. Andrew Brown (bs); Russ Morgan (dms).
(Review by Lance).
No offence ladies - I loves y'all - but it is such a treat to have a male vocalist invading your, what sometimes seems to be, overpopulated ranks. That Chris Ingham also plays mighty fine piano is another bonus but the icing on the cake is the material - Hoagy Carmichael. 
Unlike the Broadway Grandmasters of popular song - Kern, Berlin, Porter, Rodgers and Gershwin - whose music was ultimately taken from the quasi operatic settings of the composers and enhanced by jazz musicians and popular crooners, Carmichael's classics were aimed at the jazz and popular market from the moment he put pen to manuscript paper. Add Hoagy's laconic vocal presence and his sympathetic piano and you have the composite all-rounder.
Fast forward to 2014 - enter the Chris Ingham Quartet.
Whilst imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery, and there is plenty of sincere flattery here, this is no mere hanging on the shirt-tails of the great man. Ingham has his own personality vocal-wise and his piano playing is marginally more contemporary without losing the flavour of the originals.
Higgs' trumpet playing, whether open or using a variety of mutes, slots nicely into the idiom. Perhaps if Bix had lived longer he may have went in this direction.
On Bixian matters, my favourite track wasn't actually written or even recorded by Hoagy. Dear Bix was composed by Dave Frishberg. Dedicated to the late charismatic genius Bix Beiderbecke it is one of the most emotional pieces I've ever listened to. If we could shift time scales around I think Hoagy would have sung this at Bix's funeral. It almost had me in tears such was the emotive content.
It's not a tune you hear too often - Roly Veitch does a fine version. Next time you're at Blaydon ask him nicely!
The other Carmichael classics on this outstanding CD are - Riverboat Shuffle; Washboard Blues; Old Music Master; Memphis in June; My Resistance is Low; Lazy Bones; Hong Kong Blues; How Little We Know; Old Man Harlem; Baltimore Oriole; Old Buttermilk Sky; Skylark; Huggin' and Chalkin'; Georgia on my Mind and Stardust.
Special mention also of bass and drums who provide the perfect underpinnings. Perhaps Rev. Brown received spiritual guidance or maybe he just practiced in between sermons. Morgan, no relation to the bandleader who recorded So Tired many decades ago, may not have been tired but he is certainly relaxed.
Final accolade. The contrived antiquity of the CD cover is just so appropriate.
The CD: Chris Ingham Quartet - Hoagy is available from March 14, 2014 on Downhome Records.
Lance.

1 comment :

Liz said...

Hoagy, a master of all he performed and wrote. His work was so diverse. When I listen to Memphis in June, I can feel the heat...it's palpable

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