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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.

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

CD Review: Rachael Cohen Quartet - Half Time.

Rachael Cohen (alt); Phil Robson (gtr); Calum Gourlay (bs); James Bashford (dms).
(Review by Lance)
Anybody out there remember lyrical? It's what the old jazz alto greats had in abundance. Pepper, Desmond, Carter, Hodges, Parker they all had it. Then, along came Eric Dolphy and Ornette and lyricism suddenly became an endangered species threatened with extinction.
Well I've got news for you, with this CD lyrical is back big time!
Those who heard Cohen at her Splinter gig at the Bridge Hotel last month won't be surprised - it was a great gig and this disc is a worthy reminder of the occasion. On that particular evening, the CD was promoted but, owing to a break-in and the theft of the master from a New York studio, she didn't have any discs for sale!

America sneezes the rest of the world catches a cold?

Fortunately, all has been resolved, the remix and remastering is complete and the album is now available from a website near you - I don't know if they caught the punks but if they did, let's hope it "made some cop's day".

Back to the music. Well worth the wait. Cohen, I repeat, has given lyricism a new life although not without adding some contemporary touches (track 9 - Free Speech - gives lyricism a brief respite). The compositions are all her own save for Just For You - a piece by Ornette Coleman. Have the cops asked Ornette where he was on the night of the robbery?

As she did at the Bridge, Cohen reveals a pure alto tone and a technique suited to a calculated 1500 metres rather than the 100 metre dash favoured by some of her contemporaries. The original compositions are just that - not, (unless they're more cleverly disguised than usual!), re-workings of How High The Moon or a 12 bar in Bb - but true originals.

Alongside, Phil Robson is supportive and has his own bag of solo lyricism to throw into the pot and it is as essential to the mix as the tonic is to the gin. Gourlay, Glasgow born, London bas(s)ed plays with the passion one (ie me) gets from a single malt whilst Birmingham based Bashford (not sure what they drink in Birmingham - "anything" I'm told) displays the technique and sympathetic support that impressed the audience at the Bridge.

Another CD of the Year contender. I give up - the standard this year is just so high!
Rachael Cohen Quartet - Half Time is officially released on  November 18 on Whirlwind Recordings WR4644.
Lance.

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