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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

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.

Sat 08: Me Lost Me + Ceitidh Mac + Heather Ferrier @ Bobik's, Punch Bowl, Newcastle. 7:30pm. JNE.
Sat 08: Joseph Carville Trio @ The Vault, Darlington Covered Market, Darlington DL1 5PN. 6:00pm. New venue, live jazz!
Sat 08: Rendezvous Jazz @ Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00. RESCHEDULED from last week (Sat 01).
Sat 08: Robbie Reay @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Acoustic blues. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.
Sat 08: Anth Purdy @ Mr Tighe's, Bebside, Northumberland. 8:30pm.

Thursday, March 14, 2013

CD Review: Scottish National Jazz Orchestra - In The Spirit of Duke.

Tommy Smith (ten/md); Ru Pattison (alt/sop/clt); Martin Kershaw (alt/clt); Konrad Wiszniewski (alt/ten/clt); Bill Fleming (alt/bar/bs. clt/clt); Ryan Quigley, Cameron Jay, Tom McNiven, James Marr (tpt); Chris Grieve, Phil O'Malley (tmb); Michael Owers (bs. tmb); Brian Kellock (pno); Calum Gourley (bs); Alyn Cosker (dms).
There will be few better records than this released this year - or any other year! SNJO, led by Tommy Smith and recorded live on their 2012 Scottish tour, pay homage to Duke and, in doing so, somehow manage to put their own stamp on it. The material ranges from the 1920's Creole Love Call, featuring a clarinet trio, Tom McNiven growling like Bubber on Black and Tan Fantasy to more contemporary material such as selections from the, at the time, controversial Peer Gynt Suite. In the Hall of the Mountain King, Anitra's Dance and Morning Mood are the works chosen and I'm sure Greig would appreciate these versions as well as the originals.
Le Sucrier Velous, Sunset and the Mocking Bird and The Single Petal of a Rose are from The Queen's Suite. The latter being a gorgeous duet between pianist Brian Kellock and tenorist/leader Tommy Smith.
The Queen's Suite was written after Duke met Queen Elizabeth II at a Leeds Festival in 1958. Only a single pressing was made and Duke sent it to HRH. Tommy Smith's theory is that Ellington fell madly in love with the then 32 year old Queen. It was never released commercially during Ellington's lifetime.
In between the early and later stuff there is, naturally, lots from the late 30's and the 1940's Famous Orchestra. Ryan Quigley is at his most feline on Rockin' In Rhythm, Jack The Bear, Ko-Ko, Prelude to a Kiss, Daybreak Express, Concerto for Cootie, Harlem Airshaft and Sepia Serenade. Throughout, Kellock carries off the Ducal roll with distinction - never more so than in Kinda Dukish - but the wailing choruses a la Gonsalves by Tommy Smith on Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue coupled with Quigley's explorations into the stratosphere make for a fitting finale to a great disc.
If ever they do another Scottish tour, I'll don kilt and tam o'shanter, eat haggis, drink Johnnie Walker and Tak the High Road... Or maybe I'll just board the East Coast Train to Edinburgh (Do East Coast do an A Train I wonder?)
Why should I buy this when I've got the originals you may ask? Good question. 
1) Well, it's anything from 40 - 90 years >< and recording techniques have improved amazingly.
2) The Ellington Band were never the most precise of outfits (albeit that was part of their charm for some - less so for others).
3) SNJO do such a brilliant job of adding their own nuances, both ensemble-wise and solo-wise, that one complements the other.
Lance.
Scottish National Jazz Orchestra - In The Spirit of Duke. Released on Spartacus STS 017 on March 13. Order here.


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