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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.

Thursday, August 16, 2018

More on Aretha (1942 - 2018)

(By Steve T)
It's common knowledge that Aretha sang gospel prior to becoming the Queen of Soul, but the Jazz is less known, though what I've heard sounds fine.
It may come as a surprise to some that I haven't heard everything she's ever done, but I haven't and have no intention of doing so. Much is made of her gospel roots, but that was already present, in the music of Ray Charles, James Brown, Solomon Burke and especially Sam Cooke.

Nevertheless, it's impossible to overstate her significance in soul music, and particularly amongst the ladies. For many years it was difficult for female soul singers to become established without the Aretha grain. Roberta Flack initially became a singer-songwriter in the vein of Joni Mitchell because she didn't fit the Aretha model. You either did Aretha or Diana Ross.

As I scour the news channels, I cringe at some of the clips of her faltering voice; a voice on the edge, on a tightrope, the site of the finest art. Hardened Soul Fans will tell you that, while Aretha's voice often fell on the wrong side of good taste, particularly after her sixties/early seventies heyday, Linda Jones never missed.
There are countless soul singers with incredible voices: Mavis Staples, Gladys Knight, Barbara Acklin, Maxine Brown, Betty Wright, Barbara Lynn, Betty Swan, Barbara Lewis, Millie Jackson, Margie Joseph, Denise Lasalle, Shirley Brown, Chaka Khan, Minnie Ripperton, Jean Carn, Phyllis Hyman, Angela Bofill, Anita Baker, Regina Belle, Angie Stone. Whether it matters that none of these would have happened - at least in the same way - without Aretha, is for you to decide.
   
At a time when - despite what the myths tell you - the album was dead in the wood, Aretha defied everyone, releasing not just one, but two classic albums - Never Loved a Man and Lady Soul. Only Curtis Mayfield had produced quality Soul Albums at that time, by his group the Impressions, but he, like Marvin Gaye, are soul artists who stand outside time. (Curtis would go on to write and produce Aretha.)

She never again hit the dizzy heights but the best ever version of Oh no not my Baby bolstered the Spirit in the Dark album a couple of years later. Also check out It Only Happens, the finest ever version of a modern soul biggie. Her voice went through changes in the seventies and eighties and as she hit the cabaret trail and started mixing with Annie Lennox and George Michael, soul fans either pulled out their hair or just lost interest.

I was knocking around with soul DJs at the time of the release of Who's Zooming Who and they had to buy everything just in case, otherwise I wouldn't have heard Integrity, a final gem of a record. The DJ in question spotted its potential but didn't have the necessary tackle to play it, leaving others to turn it into a staple of the modern scene. Terry Jones, of Hoochie fame, was one of the DJs who did play it.

When I met the future number one wife, she had come at the album from a different perspective, but still spotted it as the strongest cut on the album. 
Finally, one treasure you shouldn't miss is Aretha, Sing One for Me by legendary songwriter George Jackson.
Steve T

3 comments :

Steve T said...

I shouldn't have missed Doris Duke and Sandra Feva; two former backing singers in a similar vein. Also can't believe I didn't include Irma Thomas and Betty Lavette. And while we're about it, there's Debbie Taylor, Zulema, Ann Sexton, Patti Austin, Eloise Laws and no doubt loads of others who'll come to me in the coming days.

Steve T said...

CAN'T believe I'd forgotten Laura Lee, Candi Statton, Dorothy Moore and Mary J Bligh, even on my second stab. Then there's Brenda Russell, Linda Clifford, Sandra Wright, Betty Everett, Gloria Scott, Rozetta Johnson, Betty Harris, Deniece Williams, Jill Scott, Teena Marie and presumably loads more.
You can take from this that Aretha was hugely influential on a lot of people. Also that there are loads of great female Soul Singers, in a genre - like jazz, blues and reggae - significantly dominated by men, many of whom are - dare I say - as good as Aretha.

Steve T said...

Turns out the trumpet solo on Integrity (from Who's Zooming Who) was none other than one D. Gillespie. Further evidence of the former intertextuality between Soul and Jazz we're in danger of losing.

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