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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.

Wednesday, August 10, 2016

CD Review: Scott Morgan - Songs of Life

Scott Morgan (vcl); Fred Hersch (pno); Matt Aronoff (bs); Ross Pederson (dms) + Joel Frahm (ten); Janis Siegel (vcl).
(Review by Lance).
In a world, seemingly, populated by Divas it's quite refreshing to have a male entry on the starting line - does that make him a Giva? Not sure as the word probably doesn't exist!
Whatever, of late there hasn't been that many out and out male jazz singers. Lots of Sinatra clones, plenty blues guys, but few who move in the area that was once the property of Tormé, Murphy, Hendricks, Lambert and co.

Scott Morgan isn't quite that man although he makes a damn good fist of it!
It's You Or No One swings nicely with some vocalese (on a Chet Baker solo) reminiscent of Jon Hendricks - maybe James Moody too. Hersch, Morgan's partner on and off stage, plays the kind of swinging piano we associate with him.
Little Prayer, a tune by AIDS victim Dave Catney, segues into Wouldn't it be Loverly whilst Song of Life has some good blowing from Frahm - I wanted more Frahm Joel and got it later.
Hersch's Lazin' Around could have been written by Carmichael or Mercer - that's how good it is!
It's fantastic when you discover a GASbook song you've missed. I Just Found About Love by Jimmy McHugh and Harold Adamson is just such a tune. Chances are I have heard it before but maybe never as good as this - Frahm blows his top on this one too!
There's more: James Taylor provides Secret O'Life and Don't Let me be Lonely Tonight. The Bergmans' kick in with Like a Lover; Duke gives us Just a Lucky So and So and Frahm once more chips in; Kurt Weill is Lost in the Stars; a Morgan/Hersch composition - I'll Follow - has ex Man Tran's Janis Seigel adding her vocal chords - Janis returns on The Beatles I Will
This Heart of Mine - from an old Astaire movie benefits from the swingier tempo.
So, why haven't we heard of Scott Morgan until now?
We don't live in NYC.
It's a fine record of original interpretations of the familiar and an individual take on the unexpected.
Well worth checking out.
Lance.
Available  on Miranda Music  Sept. 12

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