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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

15867 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 874 of them this year alone and, so far, 72 this month (Sept. 25).

From This Moment On ...

September

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.

Thu 28: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 28: Alice Grace Quartet @ King's Hall, Newcastle University. 1:15pm. Free.
Thu 28: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Gateshead Central Library, Gateshead. 2:30pm. All welcome.
Thu 28: Faye MacCalman + Snape/Sankey @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 28: Zoe Rahman @ Jesmond United Reformed Church, Jesmond, Newcastle. 7:30pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Thu 28: '58 Jazz Collective @ Hops & Cheese, Hartlepool. 7:30pm.
Thu 28: Speakeasy @ Queen's Hall, Hexham. 7:30pm. £15.00. A Southpaw Dance Company presentation. Dance, audio-visuals, Count Basie, Benny Goodman, swing dancers etc.
Thu 28: Mick Cantwell Band @ Harbour View, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Ace blues band.
Thu 28: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 29: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 29: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 29: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.

Sat 30: John Pope Quintet + Late Girl + Shapeshifters @ Bobik's, Jesmond, Newcastle.
Sat 30: Papa G's Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

OCTOBER

Sun 01: Smokin' Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm.
Sun 01: Dulcie May Moreno sings Portrait of Sheila @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £10.00. Moreno sings Sheila Jordan with Giles Strong, Mick Shoulder & John Bradford.
Sun 01: Middlesbrough Jazz & Blues Orchestra @ Saltburn Community Hall. 2:00pm.
Sun 01: The Easy Rollers @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £13.70., £11.55.
Sun 01: Brand/Roberts/Champion/Sanders @ Blank Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Sun 01: Papa G's Troves @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 02: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Mon 02: FILM: Wattstax; 50th Anniversary @ Forum Cinema, Hexham. 8:00pm.

Tue 03: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 03: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. House trio: Michael Young (piano); Paul Grainger (double bass); Paul Wight (drums).

Tuesday, March 03, 2015

CD Review: Phil Donkin – The Gate

Phil Donkin (double bass), Ben Wendel (tenor saxophone), Glenn Zaleski (piano) & Jochen Rückert (drums)
(Review by Russell)
From Sunderland to London to New York and on to Germany – bassist and composer Phil Donkin has travelled the jazz world. The Gate is Donkin’s debut release as a leader. Recorded in Brooklyn, NYC during August 2013, it is only now, some eighteen months on that the CD sees the light of day.
The Gate comprises ten tracks composed by Donkin and two arrangements (Thelonious Monk’s Introspection and Dimitri Shostakovich’s Prelude no 23 in F major). The title track is a subdued, reflective piece featuring the composer’s commanding introduction and the measured response of Ben Wendel’s tenor and Glenn Zaleski’s piano. In contrast, Macon Groove and Introspection positively fly. Drummer Jochen Rückert navigates the bop language with élan and on Birthday Samba demonstrates he can handle anything the composer-bandleader throws at him as Zaleski lays down a dazzlingly fluid solo.
Butterfingers is in safe hands with this quartet; Donkin’s walking bass line encourages Wendel to strike out and when the tenor has had its say there is Donkin (he hadn’t gone anywhere) alongside the most impressive Rückert. Submerged doesn’t let up, Zaleski’s solo finding common ground with Wendel’s tenor on a late Trane vibe. Unusually the track ends on a fade-out. Perhaps the quartet played on and on, such was the groove!
One for Johnny; the title suggests a bop-era number (horn players trading etc). It is an example of twenty first century swinging, modern jazz. Yesterday at My House is the killer cut. A furious, unrelenting pace – all four musicians burn it up. At three minutes and thirty five seconds think Little Giant or Tubbs working with the best. Hear it!  
The Gate is released on Michael Janisch’s Whirlwind Recordings’ label WR4668 on March 9th. Phil Donkin tours the UK during March starting tonight (Tuesday 3rd) at the Sound Cellar in Poole, Dorset. The official album launch gig is at the Pizza Express in Soho, London on March 10th. The Gate is a serious contender for the best album release of 2015. Recommended.
Russell
Note: Jochen Ruckert is unavailable for the UK tour. Fortunately James Maddren appears at Poole and Dempsey’s, Cardiff (March 4th) and Colin Stranahan fulfills all other dates.      

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