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Bebop Spoken There

Béla Fleck: “ And that's the great thing about live performances, you take people on a journey. It doesn't have to be like something else they've heard. It's not supposed to be". DownBeat, April, 2024.

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!"

Simon Spillett: A lovely review from the dean of jazz bloggers, Lance Liddle...

Josh Weir: I love the writing on bebop spoken here... I think the work you are doing is amazing.

Postage

16287 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 16 years ago. 169 of them this year alone and, so far, 41 this month (Mar 18).

From This Moment On ...

March

Thu 28: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 28: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Gateshead Central Library, Gateshead. 2:30pm.
Thu 28: Richard Herdman Quartet @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 28: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm. Guests: Josh Bentham (alto sax); Alan Marshall (tenor sax); Neil Brodie (trumpet); Adrian Beadnell (bass); Graham Thompson (keys); Steve Hunter (drums).

Fri 29: FILM: Soul @ The Forum Cinema, Hexham. 12:30pm. Jazz-themed film animation.
Fri 29: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 29: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 29: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 29: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 6:00pm. Free. POSTPONED!
Fri 29: Thundercat @ Newcastle City Hall.
Fri 29: John Logan @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sat 30: Papa G’s Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sat 30: Pete Tanton’s Cuba Libre @ Whitley Bay Library, York Road, Whitley Bay. 8:00pm.

Sun 31: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay Metro Station. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 31: Ruth Lambert Trio @ Juke Shed, Union Quay, North Shields NE30 1HJ. 3:00pm. Free. Lambert, Alan Law & Paul Grainger.
Sun 31: Sid Jacobs & Tom Remon @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. USA/London jazz guitar duo.
Sun 31: Bellavana @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

April
Mon 01: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 01: Ray Stubbs R&B All Stars @ Billy Bootlegger’s, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 3:00pm. Free.

Tue 02: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Dean Stockdale, Paul Grainger, Abbie Finn.

Wed 03: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 03: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 03: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

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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