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Bebop Spoken There

Billy Boy Arnold: “As long as you don't think old you're good.” - DownBeat, December, 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!"

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

Postage

16051 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 1058 of them this year alone and, so far, 12 this month (Dec. 6).

From This Moment On ...

December

Mon 11: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 11: Interim Final Recitals @ Newcastle University. Details TBC.

Tue 12: Stu Collingwood Organ Trio @ Forum Music Centre, Darlington. 7:00pm. £10.00.

Wed 13: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 13: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 13: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 13: Bold Big Band @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:30pm.
Wed 13: Giles Strong Quartet @ Alphabetti Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 14: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 14: Hot Fingers @ The Lubetkin Theatre, Peterlee. 7:00pm. £10.00.
Thu 14: After Hours Student Jazz Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 14: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. . Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 14: Niffi Osiyemi Trio @ Harbour View, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 14: Mo Scott ‘Little Mo’s Festive Appearance’ @ The Schooner, Gateshead. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 14: Tees Hot Club w. Kevin Eland, Josh Bentham, Garry Hadfield, Adrian Beadnell @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 15: Paul Edis @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 15: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 15: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 15: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 15: Paul Skerritt @ Black Horse Inn, Crook. From 7:00pm.
Fri 15: Paul Edis: A Jazzy Christmas @ St Cuhtbert's Centre, Crook. 7:30pm. £15.00. SOLD OUT! Waiting list open.
Fri 15: Zoë Gilby Trio @ Seventeen Nineteen, Hendon, Sunderland. 7:30pm. £12.00. POSTPONED!
Fri 15: Strictly Smokin' Big Band @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 8:00pm. First night of two. SOLD OUT!
Fri 15: Darlington Big Band @ Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. £10.00. Opus 4 Jazz Club.
Fri 15: Baghdaddies @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £14.00.; £10.00.

Sat 16: Paul Edis: A Jazzy Christmas @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 2:00pm. A Jazzy Christmas + Jambone.
Sat 16: Porritt & Barrett & Friends Xmas Special @ Cullercoats Watch House. 7:00pm. £4.00.
Sat 16: Milne-Glendinning Band @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 16: Red Kites Jazz Band @ The Staithes Café, Gateshead. 7:00pm--9:00pm.
Sat 16: Hayley's Little Big Band @ Ellingham Village Hall, Chathill. 7:30pm. £12.00., £8.00.
Sat 16: Paul Edis: A Jazzy Christmas @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm.
Sat 16: Strictly Smokin' Big Band @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Second night of two.

Sun 17: Red Kites Jazz Band @ Gibside Chapel, nr. Rowlands Gill. 1:00-2:30pm.
Sun 17: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm.
Sun 17: Revolutionaires @ Tyne Bar, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. Rock ‘n’ roll excellence!
Sun 17: Tweed River Jazz Band @ Barrels Alehouse, Berwick. 7:00pm. Free.
Sun 17: The Globe Xmas Party @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. Multi-bill inc. David Gray’s Flextet + jam session.
Sun 17: Paul Edis: A Jazzy Christmas @ Queen's Hall, Hexham. 7:30pm. £17.00., £15.00.
Sun 17: Hayley's Little Big Band @ Amble Parish Hall. 7:30pm. £12.00., £6.00.
Sun 17: Snake Davis Trio @ St John’s Hall, Snods Edge, Shotley Bridge DH8 9TJ. 7:30pm. £15.00. from 07766 037893.

Wednesday, March 25, 2015

CD Review: The Ted Howe Jazz Orchestra – Pinnacle

(Review by Hugh)
Ted Howe is a Los Angeles based pianist, composer, arranger, producer and teacher.  Pinnacle is his seventh CD as leader.  The central core of the CD is Howe's Suite #1 for Jazz Orchestra.  Howe wrote the suite as his first piece of extended composition for this kind of ensemble.  The suite was premiered in 2011 at the Conant Arts Centre in Oglethorpe University in Atlanta, Georgia (Tate lived in Atlanta for many years).  The suite is presented in three movements of equal duration over a total of 18 minutes as tracks 3, 4 and 5.

Track 1, Presto for Two Trombones and Track 2, Impromptu for Trumpet nicely set the scene.  The orchestra has a lush sound and the first track features fine solos by Andy Martin and Francisco Torres.  John Patitucci also features on bass solo.  The trumpet solos on the second track are provided by Lester Walker in this sweet melodic number.
Suite #1 for Jazz Orchestra draws on the horizontal, linear approach commonly used in classical music.  Howe states that his compositions  “are not just about the music; they're also about the instruments, the varied combinations of sound they make, and how great musicians can rise to just about any challenge and take the music to new and exciting places”.
The suite has the big-band feel, with a laid-back West Coast groove, which is simultaneously pleasant on the ear and not too taxing on the brain.  It evokes for me what I used to think of in my childhood as “going over Golden Gate Bridge music” (remember Ironside?).  The suite as a whole has a definite filmic quality – listening to the suite one can imagine a series of scenes evoked by the music at that particular moment. 
The suite is followed by Adagio for Piano, featuring Ted Howe.  This retains the laid back groove with nice pianism by Howe, but no fireworks.  Jazz Etude for Three Clarinets features solos by Sam Skelton on E flat clarinet and John Patitucci on acoustic bass.

The CD as a whole then, does not challenge, but if you like this kind of thing (which I do) is a fine example of the oeuvre.  Pinnacle was released on March 3 on the Hot Shoe Worldwide label, catalogue number HSW 102.  It is available from hotshoerecords.com or cdbaby, but as far as I can see is not yet listed on either amazon.co.uk or amazon.com at the time of writing.
Hugh.
Ted Howe (piano); Geoff Hayden  (piano, Rhodes); John Patitucci (acoustic and electric bass); Marlon Patton (drums); Jose “Bam Bam” Ramirez (percussion); Don Baraszu (acoustic and electric guitar); Sam Skelton (flute, clarinets, soprano and alto sax); Don Erdman (clarinet, tenor sax); Seth Kuehn (baritone sax, bass clarinet); Mike Barry, Melvin Jones and Lester Walker (trumpet, flugelhorn); Wes Funderburk, Tom Gibson, Andy Martin and Francisco Torres (trombone).

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