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Bebop Spoken There

Art Blakey: "You [Bobby Watson] don't want to play too long, because you don't know they're clapping because they're glad you finished!" - (JazzTimes, Nov. 2019)..

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

15848 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 855 of them this year alone and, so far, 53 this month (Sept. 18).

From This Moment On ...

September

Thu 21: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 21: La Malbec Orchestra @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Thu 21: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Ragtime piano. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.
Thu 21: Linsday Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ Harbour View, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 21: Ray Stubbs R & B All Stars @ The Schooner, Gateshead. 8:30pm. Free.
Thu 21: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 22: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 22: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 22: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 22: Brief Encounter @ Bardon Mill Village Hall, Northumberland. 7:00pm. Tickets: £10.00. adv from 07885 303166; £12.00. on the door. Chris & Veronica Perrin improvising to a screening of the 1929 'Jazz Age' silent film Piccadilly (Dir. Ewald André Dupont).
Fri 22: Paul Edis & Graeme Wilson + Three Tsuru Origami @ Jesmond United Reformed Church, Newcastle. 7:30pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Fri 22: Crooners @ Tyne Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm.
Fri 22: Abbie Finn's Finntet @ Traveller's Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. Opus 4 Jazz Club.

Sat 23: Tyne Valley Big Band @ Tanfield Railway, Gateshead. 2:00-4:00pm. Free. A '1940s Weekend' event.
Sat 23: Jason Isaacs @ Stack, Seaburn. 3:30-5:30pm. Free.
Sat 23: Andrew Porritt & Keith Barrett @ Cullercoats Watch House, Front St., Cullercoats NE30 4QB. 7:00pm.
Sat 23: Michael Woods @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig. Country blues.

Sun 24: Musicians Unlimited @ Park Inn, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 24: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.

Mon 25: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Mon 25: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 7:00pm.

Tue 26: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.

Wed 27: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 27: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 27: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

CD Review: FRED FRIED and CORE - Core Bacharach

Fred Fried (acoustic guitar), Michael Lavoie (double bass) & Miki Matsuki (drums)
(Review by Russell).
Guitarist Fred Fried resides in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Gigging musician, teacher, Fried is a busy man with a substantial back catalogue documenting his craft. At school he played clarinet. It wasn't until he went to college that he first picked up a guitar and made the journey from playing six strings to seven to his present nylon eight string model made for him by luthier Steve Connor.
Core Bacharach is his tenth release as a leader. Bacharach. Yes, Burt Bacharach. Fried rightly states Bacharach’s tunes ‘are, by any definition, standards and as such hold up to varying interpretations.’ The tunes are so familiar that on first hearing them as instrumentals it proves difficult to free the mind (if indeed one should attempt to do so) of the originals and their sing-a-long lyrics. Fried cites Kenny Burrell and Wes Montgomery as early influences but it was, perhaps, a six month stint studying with George Van Eps that shaped his ‘conception’.
Van Eps’ pupil got to thinking ‘pianistically’ and with the addition of a low ‘A’ string below the low ‘E’ and a high ‘A’ string above the high ‘E’ expanding the range, he interchanges chords and single line improvisations with masterful sleight of hand. Bacharach’s melodies are made for the improviser. In the company of bassist Michael Lavoie and drummer Miki Matsuki  Fried respects the composer’s work but isn’t afraid to lose himself in his improvisations, secure in the knowledge that bass and drums – the trio is a previously recorded, working unit – will offer sympathetic contributions throughout. I Say a Little Prayer opens the eleven track CD with Fried’s guitar recalling the elegance of Charlie Byrd, bassist Lavoie exhibits a tasteful light touch on the first of several solos and Matsuki’s unobtrusive use of mallets is exemplary.
The Look of Love and Walk on By are given a stately treatment.  An additional chord sequence of Fried’s added to Wives and Lovers showcases the trio’s collective swing feel (tight, fizzing work from Matsuki) and on What’s New Pussycat? Lavoie’s funk vibe launches Fried on a soaring solo flight and the man from Cape Cod disappears into the distance over the Atlantic (the studio engineer’s fade out!).
Lavoie’s warm, resonant sound and Matsuki’s lush brush work on A House is Not a Home complement the leader’s introspective invention but it isn't long before the swing feel returns on Bacharach’s joyful message This Guy’s in Love With You. The set closes with a solo piece from Fried.
On first listening to the CD the thought occurred – is there an unaccompanied track by the leader? Alfie is the track. Excellent guitar playing from Fried. Excellent playing from all three musicians. A fine new CD (Fried’s back catalogue should be worth checking out), Core Bacharach by Fred Fried and CORE is available on Ballet Tree Jazz Productions. Visit www.fredfried.com
Russell.

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