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Bebop Spoken There

Abbie Finn: "Even though there's a lot of great work being done to promote women in jazz, I still come up against some attitudes! I pulled up at a recording session with my drums in the car and the studio owner said, 'I'm sorry, this space is reserved for the drummer!'" - (Jazzwise 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

15229 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 248 of them this year alone and, so far, 61 this month (March 20).

From This Moment On ...

March

Wed 22: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 22: Darlington Big Band @ Traveller's Rest, Cockerton. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public). Note change of venue - CANCELLED CEILING COLLAPSED!
Wed 22: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 7:00pm.
Wed 22: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 23: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 4:00-6:00pm. Free.
Thu 23: NUJO Jazz Jam @ Bar Loco, Newcasatle. From 6:30pm 'til late. Free. Newcastle University Jazz Orchestra jam session. All welcome (students & non-students).
Thu 23: Kerrin Tatman + John Garner & John Pope @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 23: Sunna Gunnlaugs & Julia Hülsmann @ Sage Gateshead. 8:00pm. A two-piano gig. A Sage Gateshead-JNE promotion.
Thu 23: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Ragtime piano.
Thu 23: Sleep Suppressor @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £10.00., £8.00. adv. Upstairs.
Thu 23: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 24: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 24: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 24: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 24: FILM: Mo' Better Blues @ Forum Cinema, Hexham. 7:00pm.
Fri 24: Ian Millar & Dominic Spencer @ Scarth Hall, Staindrop, Co. Durham. 8:00pm. £10.00.
Fri 24: Archipelago + Bulbils @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.

Sat 25: Vermont Big Band @ Walker Community Centre, Walker, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Fundraiser for Benfield Juniours Football Club. Hot food available, BYOB.
Sat 25: John Logan & Friends @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Rat Pack, Motown etc. 8:00pm. Free (donations).

Sun 26: Musicians Unlimited @ Park Inn, Hartlepool. 1:00pm.
Sun 26: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 3:00pm.
Sun 26: Outlines @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. JNE promotion (upstairs).

Mon 27: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

Tue 28: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 28: Sanaz Lavasani Trio @ Black Swan, Newcastle Arts Centre. 8:00pm. £12.00 (£10.00. adv).

Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Vinyl Review: Nucleus with Leon Thomas – Live 1970

Leon Thomas (vocals), Ian Carr (trumpet & flugelhorn), Karl Jenkins (oboe & piano), Brian Smith (soprano & tenor saxophones, flute), Chris Spedding (guitar), Jeff Clyne (bass) & John Marshall (drums.)
(Review by Russell).
June 20 1970. The Montreux Jazz Festival. Forty fours years later we have the official release of Nucleus recorded live at one of Europe’s premier summer jazz festivals with American vocalist Leon Thomas. Gearbox Records’ lovingly packaged vinyl recording comes as a gatefold double album with a free download code enclosed for the avid fan.
Ian Carr’s Nucleus represented the UK at the festival and their collaboration with Leon Thomas was nurtured days earlier during a two week residency at Ronnie Scott’s. This album documents one aspect of a turbulent period in cultural/political history. Coltrane was dead, Miles set about capturing the zeitgeist, Leon Thomas sought an alternative to Vietnam and the British jazz-rockers were keen to be in on it all. The days of the Emcee 5 and Don Rendell seemed long ago as Ian Carr ventured into new territory with Nucleus. Miles Davis’ electric period – In a Silent Way, Bitches Brew, On the Corner – signalled a parting of the ways for many of his most ardent fans from the 50s and 60s. One fan, Ian Carr, went with him on the journey.
Much of the material on Live 1970 is reworked from Leon Thomas’ earlier recordings as a leader and with Pharoah Sanders. Thomas’ vocal style is an amalgam of American scat and Alpine yodelling (apposite given the location!). The band sound is that of a Coltrane vibe (Ascension, A Love Supreme) shifting gear to encompass the angry protestations of a burgeoning global movement to a committed take on the blues. The first of four sides is a one-track affair (all 18 minutes, 54 seconds); The Creator Has a Master Plan is Thomas’ jointly composed piece with Sanders (John McLaughlin and Carlos Santana were to mine a similar seam with Love, Devotion, Surrender).The British sextet on the recording are up to the mark as they lay down the groove; bassist Jeff Clyne and drummer  John Marshall perform admirably throughout although at times the sound quality doesn’t do Clyne any favours. Karl Jenkins’ oboe features on Echoes (the first of two tracks on side two) and a contrasting contribution is heard from Carr’s flugelhorn. In stark contrast Thomas’ Damn ‘Nam (Ain’t Going to Vietnam) is one angry piece of music. Thomas’ vocal defies the US foreign policy of the times; if Cassius Clay could go to prison, so would he. His stance is reaffirmed by a raging Chris Spedding. Thomas’ One hears the vocalist scatting full-on (a no-holds-barred performance, perhaps an acquired taste, the Montreux crowd adoring of it) and Brian Smith’s soprano work catches the ear. Chains of Love (a hit in the fifties for Big Joe Turner) is the atypical cut; excellent, no nonsense blues singing with a fine r ‘n’ b backing band!
Side four is taken up with The Journey (12 minutes, 5 seconds). This is a reprise of Leon Thomas’ spiritual compositions of the time. Live 1970 is essential listening for those who heard Nucleus first time round and indeed for the student of the genre.
Russell.
Nucleus with Leon Thomas – Live 1970 (Gearbox Records GB1529) is available now. 

1 comment :

Harry Monty said...

Hi Lance,

This record does take me back. I saw Nucleus perform both separately and then with Leon Thomas at Montreux in 1970 and it certainly was terrific being there in person. Nucleus won the top award at the Montreux Jazz Festival that year which I believe was a trip to the Newport Jazz Festival.

Best regards

Harry Monty

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