Total Pageviews

Bebop Spoken There

Ambrose Akinmusire: “ I am certainly always aware of what the masses are doing. And when I see too many people going one way, I'm going another way - even when I don't know what's over that way". DownBeat, March, 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

Tue 19: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Michael Young, Paul Grainger, Tim Johnston.

Wed 20: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 20: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 20: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 21: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 21: Castillo Neuvo Trio + Conor Emery & His ‘Bones Band @ The Grove, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 7:30pm (7:00pm doors). £10.00. (£7.00. student).
Thu 21: Remi Banklyn + Chris Corcoran Trio @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.50. Chicago blues. An International Guitar Foundation promotion.
Thu 21: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Ragtime piano.
Thu 21: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm.

Fri 22: Vasilis Xenopoulos & Paul Edis @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. £8.00. SOLD OUT!
Fri 22: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 22: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 22: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 22: Nauta + Remy CB + Last Orders @ Hoochie Coochie, Newcastle. 8:30pm (7:30pm doors). Free.
Fri 22: Vasilis Xenopoulos-Paul Edis Quartet @ Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. £15.00. Opus 4 Jazz Club.
Fri 22: Redwell @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sat 23: Jambone @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 6:30pm. Free (ticketed). End of term performance in the Northern Rock Foundation Hall.
Sat 23: Milne-Glendinning Band @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 23: Red Kites Jazz @ Rowlands Gill Community Centre NE39 1JB. 7:00pm. Tickets: £12.00. (gibsidecommunityfarm@gmail.com). A ‘Build a Barn’ fundraiser. BYOB, tea/coffee available.
Sat 23: New Century Ragtime Orchestra @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £20.00. + bf (book in person at venue - no booking fee!). Featuring pianist Martin Litton.
Sat 23: Pete Tanton’s Cuba Libre @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 24: Musicians Unlimited @ Park Inn, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 24: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:30pm. Free.
Sun 24: Luis Verde @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm. Verde (alto sax); Joe Steels (guitar); John Pope (double bass); John Hirst (drums). Alto sax brilliance!
Sun 24: Elsie Franklin @ The Globe, Newcastle. 3:00pm. £10.00. Country blues. An International Guitar Foundation promotion.
Sun 24: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay Metro Station. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 24: Las Vegas Live with the Rat Pack @ The Forum, Billingham.
Sun 24: Ian Millar & Dominic Spencer @ Otterburn Memorial Hall. 7:30pm. £12.00.
Sun 24: Lindsay Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Note start time - 7:00pm.
Sun 24: Bold Big Band @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 25: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 25: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 6:30pm. Free.

Sunday, July 29, 2018

CD Review: Mark Winkler & Cheryl Bentyne - Eastern Standard Time.

Mark Winkler, Cheryl Bentyne (vocals); Rich Eames (piano); Bob Sheppard (sax); Grant Geissman (guitar); Pat Kelley (guitar on 1 track only); Gabe Davis (bass); Dave Tull (drums); Kevin Winard (percussion); Stephanie Fife (cello).
(Review by Lance).
The blurb says that Mark Winkler and Cheryl Bentyne go together like champagne and caviar. I'm sure they do but, as we impoverished bloggers (we do it for love) don't get many opportunities to sip champers or nibble caviar, I'll just have to take their word for it.
I haven't heard the duo's previous album, West Coast Cool, but I have heard them both individually and, of course, Cheryl's contribution to Man Tran so I knew the pair of them together would be something rather special and I wasn't wrong.
Seven duo tracks and four solos (2 each) make for an outstanding, varied album. Both singers have distinctive voices; Bentyne the cooler, jazzier, Winkler the hotter, more soulful yet together all of those qualities merge into one.
The material is a mix of the familiar, the not so familiar and the, to me, totally unfamiliar.
The familiar:
Devil May Care has the duo in Afro-Cuban mood with an arrangement by Eames whom I think did most, if not all, of the charts.
The Best is Yet to Come - The last song Sinatra performed in public and which, I'm told, is on his tombstone. Bentyne and Winkler keep the Cy Coleman song alive.
Spring Can Really Hang You up the Most is one of the absolute gems. Bentyne on the high wire with Pat Kelley her safety net. It's Kelley's only appearance and the guitarist provides the support such a song requires - Ella and Joe Pass live!
Things Are Swingin' - They were for Peggy Lee who composed the song and made the definitive version until now? Maybe. Our swingin' duo do it no harm.
The not so familiar:
Rhode Island is Famous for You. This may truly belong in the previous category as it's a song I know well from the Blossom Dearie version. It's a list song that dates back to a 1948 show by Arthur Schwartz and Howard Dietz but apart from Blossom's recording, this solo vehicle by Winkler is the only other version I've heard hence its inclusion in this category.
The Gentleman is a Dope: A fairly obscure Rogers and Hart number about marital infidelity as seen by the mistress (or is it just wishful thinking?) Bentyne's second solo outing. The gentleman certainly is a dope if he can resist Cheryl's appealing vocal. Bob Sheppard is no dope on tenor.
Walk on the Wild Side can hardly be classed as 'not so familiar', Lou Reed having a massive hit in the '70s. However, it's relatively rare in jazz circles although some jazz folk might see it as being very relevant back in the day. Winkler's version covers all the bases in both genres.
Ballad of the Sad Young Men/The Lies of Handsome Men: A medley that seems to naturally gel. Fife's cello adds to the melancholy feel.
The totally unfamiliar (and none the worse for that!)
Like Jazz: Cool lyric by Winkler to music by Larry Steelman. Both singers show off their jazz chops but it is Bob Sheppard who tips the scale.
I Could Get Used to This: Winkler put words to Wes Montgomery's Bumpin' for this solo track.
You Smell so Good: First recorded by Jackie Cain and Roy Kral, it's a strange title but a cracking song and Mark and Cheryl don't drop the baton.
One of the classier discs you willl hear this year.
Lance.
Available August 13 on Café Pacific Records CPCD 4065.

1 comment :

Anonymous said...

Wonderful review and thanks for giving the personnel, I had to look far and wide until I finally found the players listed on your blog. Thanks again. I'm buying the record!

Blog Archive