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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.

Tuesday, February 21, 2017

CD Review: Jeff Richman - Sizzle.

(Review by Steve T).
Another fine, basic, fusion album by a guitarist and I've given up second-guessing which of them will sell, largely because I don't get how the whole download culture works.
This is his seventeenth solo album and the follow-up to the critically acclaimed Hotwire from 2015. He's also recorded for TV and film and is in demand as a session musician.
To say his CV is impressive is a bit like saying the Pacific Ocean is wet. He studied privately with Pat Metheny, he's a graduate of Berkley, of a similar vintage to Stern, Frisell and DeMiola, and has played with a veritable who's who, including Ray Barretto, Flora Purim, Airto Moreira, Chico Hamilton, Deodato, Blood Sweat and Tears, Gerry Mulligan, Ronnie Laws, Ernie Watts, Harvey Mason, John Klemmer, Meshell Ndegeocello, Billy Cobham and the Yellowjackets. 
It's funky, a bit rocky at times, the playing is remarkable, particularly from the leader, but also by the guests bringing variety just ahead of it becoming samey. So we get a fine piano solo on Samaya, great flugel on Oracle and excellent tenor on Sweet and Hit Parade, which I doubt it will get anywhere near.
Comparisons with seventies fusion are inevitable and he plays mostly  solid body guitars - a Strat and a Tele - and comparisons could include Steve Khan, Eric Gale, Bill Connors, who preceded Al DeMiola in the Jazz-rock version of Return to Forever, and Carlos Santana, whose influence by and on Jazz has yet to be fully recognised.
There are more fusion credentials in the shape of a bass guitar solo during Jimmy Palm.
Just for You features the leader on a more classic Jazz guitar sound (which the premier player of the era - George Benson - stuck with throughout the seventies), presumably either his Gibson 335 or his Jim Hall, both of which feature during the album.
The period is also evoked by the inclusion of a Fender Rhodes on this track which seems to be emerging as a classic instrument along the lines of the Hammond B3 organ.
The album's been out a while and is recommended to guitar enthusiasts and fusionistas.
Steve T.
Jeff Richman (guitars); George Whitty (keyboards); Jimmy Haslip (bass);Vinnie Colaiuta (drums) + Jeff Beal (trumpet, flugel); Bob Mintzer (tenor sax); Taylor Eigsti (keyboards); Mitchel Forman (Fender Rhodes); Will Lee (bass); Gergo Borlai (drums). 

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