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Bebop Spoken There

Kelly Sill: "Just because everyone is playing through the changes in the same time doesn't mean they're actually playing together" - (JazzTimes March/April 2023).

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!"

Postage

15260 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 279 of them this year alone and, so far, 92 this month (March 29).

From This Moment On ...

April
Sat 01: The Big Easy @ St Augustine's Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm.
Sat 01: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. Tutor: Steve Glendinning - In a Minor Key. £25.00. Enrol at: www.jazz.coop.
Sat 01: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington Covered Market, Darlington DL1 5PN. 6:00pm. New venue, live jazz!
Sat 01: Jambone @ Sage Gateshead. 7:00pm. Free (book online). A YMP! event in the Northern Rock Foundation Hall.
Sat 01: Jude Murphy & Dan Stanley @ Prohibtion Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.
Sat 01: Boys of Brass @ Stack, Seaburn. 7:00-9:00pm.
Sat 01: Hot Club du Nord @ Pleased to Meet You, Bridge St., Morpeth. 8:00pm. £79.00. A charity fundraising event.
Sat 01: Rendezvous Jazz @ Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00. RESCHEDULED to next week (Sat 08).

Sun 02: Smokin' Spitfires @ The Cluny. 12:45pm.
Sun 02: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 3:00pm.

Mon 03: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

Tue 04: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 04: Jam session @ Black Swan, Newcastle Arts Centre. 7:30pm. House trio: Bradley Johnston (guitar); Paul Grainger (double bass); Abbie Finn (drums).

Wed 05: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 05: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 05: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 7:00pm.
Wed 05: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 06: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 06: Thursday Night Prayer Meeting @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Donations. Feat. John Pope, Marie Shreer, John Garner.
Thu 06: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibtion Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Ragtime piano. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.
Thu 06: Darlington Big Band @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm. Note earlier start time.

Fri 07: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 07: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 07: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 07: Gaz Hughes Trio @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm.
Fri 07: Mark Toomey Quartet @ Traveller's Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. £8.00.
Fri 07: Finntet + Zoë Gilby & Andy Champion @ Bobik's, Punch Bowl, Newcastle. 8:00pm. JNE.
Fri 07: TBA @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig. Blind Pig Blues Club.

Thursday, October 25, 2012

CD REVIEW: All Upon A Lovely Summer’s Day: Burton Bradstock


Burton Bradstock aka Jimmy Cannon (vocals, arranger); Dorian Ford (piano); Iain Ballamy (saxophone); Julian Ferraretto (violin); Pete Berryman (guitar and co-arranger); Riaan Vosloo (bass); Tim Giles (drums); also various musicians playing strings
(Review by Ann Alex). 
This is an unusual CD of traditional folk songs played and sung in a jazz-like manner by very talented musicians who have excellent credentials and much experience.  My reaction, as a jazz-loving folkie, was mixed. 
I doubt if this would appeal to lovers of very traditional folk song, but jazz fans may like it better, as there is plenty of jazz involved.  As for folk, there are some very successful tracks, but some tracks veer too far towards classical music because the strings are overused, thus missing the gutsiness of real folk music.  The vocalist sings in a pleasantly slightly husky voice, which would have suited more gutsy, adventurous arrangements, moving away from the tune, maybe even with a bit of scat.  I think Iain Ballamy should have been used more – after all this instrument (saxophone) is starting to appear in folk clubs.
I did like The Foggy, Foggy Dew, one of the less complex arrangements, with a ragtime piano accompaniment and brushed drums percussion – very effective.  Then there was John Barleycorn (all about growing barley and making beer, but from the barleycorn’s point of view), a no-holds-barred modern jazz arrangement with a distinctly drunken sound.  All Things Are Quite Silent is a song about the press gang, and the tragic theme deserved more than just luscious playing by the strings.  Early One Morning was a missed opportunity, which needed a more lively singing style.
As I said, this is a group of skilled musicians, who should maybe try more folk song arrangements, with some instrumental only tracks, and a selection of songs such as Border Ballads, which can be done well as Blues.  I know this works, because some musicians from the Newcastle Folk Degree did this in a Sage concert last year. 
The CD -  All Upon A Lovely Summer’s Day: Burton Bradstock - is released on October 29th on the F-IRE label, catalogue number F-IRECD 58.  There is a CD launch at the Pizza Express Jazz Club, Soho on 30th October.
Ann Alex (Russell is nowhere in my name!)

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