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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.

Wednesday, November 12, 2014

CD Review: Hank Marvin - Django's Castle.

Hank Marvin (gtr); Nunzio Mondia (acc); Gary Taylor (gtr); Pete Jeavons (bs)* .
(Review by Lance).
The pattern for rock/pop artists, as they approach the September of their years, seems to be to record an album of standards. Conversely, those singers who've spent their life interpreting the GASbook, as the years catch up with them, turn to more contemporary material. Each group hoping to attract a new audience - it rarely works.
However, in the case of the legendary Hank Marvin this could be the exception that proves the rule! Guitarist, Marvin is frequently cited as the biggest influence on the early British rockers such as Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton, Brian May, Jeff Beck etc and the sound of The Shadows was unique in the pre Beatles/Stones era. As such, when his relatively recent [2002] passion for the music of Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli emerged I sensed it would be no half-baked imitation but a sincere, and yet original, tribute to the grandmaster of gypsy jazz which I guess it is.
The tunes are all part of the familiar Hot Club repertoire - Swing 42, Minor Swing, Viper's Dream, After You've Gone, Coquette, Honeysuckle Rose etc. - and the treatment is respectful with Mondia's accordion offering a contrast to the thumping guitars of the originals.
Listening again to The Shadows Twenty Greatest Hits album it suddenly occurred to me that, had Django been born 30 years later, he could well have composed Apache, Foot Tapper etc!
Yes an enjoyable album but, with so many Gypsy Jazz ensembles scattered around the world from Tyneside to Tupelo, it may only be Marvin's name that sways the listener to choose it over the rest. Marvin, of course, was born in Newcastle and it is fitting that another band working the same side of the street - Djangologie - are also north east based.
Hank Marvin - Django's Castle is currently available on Mtm Music Pty Ltd.
*Robbie Pisano (bs on 2 tracks) Matt Willis (bs on 1 track.).
Lance.

1 comment :

Hugh said...

Quality will always show through in these circumstances. I have a copy of Wynton Marsalis and Eric Clapton Play the Blues (http://wyntonmarsalis.org/discography/title/wynton-marsalis-and-eric-clapton-play-the-blues). This is a great album with a very classy version of "Layla". There is a YouTube version here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvNIivHdy0Q

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