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Bebop Spoken There

Kelly Sill: "Just because everyone is playing through the changes in the same time doesn't mean they're actually playing together" - (JazzTimes March/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

15260 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 279 of them this year alone and, so far, 92 this month (March 29).

From This Moment On ...

April

Sun 02: Smokin' Spitfires @ The Cluny. 12:45pm.
Sun 02: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 3:00pm.

Mon 03: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

Tue 04: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 04: Jam session @ Black Swan, Newcastle Arts Centre. 7:30pm. House trio: Bradley Johnston (guitar); Paul Grainger (double bass); Abbie Finn (drums).

Wed 05: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 05: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 05: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 7:00pm.
Wed 05: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 06: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 06: Thursday Night Prayer Meeting @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Donations. Feat. John Pope, Marie Shreer, John Garner.
Thu 06: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibtion Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Ragtime piano. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.
Thu 06: Darlington Big Band @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm. Note earlier start time.

Fri 07: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 07: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 07: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 07: Gaz Hughes Trio @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm.
Fri 07: Mark Toomey Quartet @ Traveller's Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. £8.00.
Fri 07: Finntet + Zoë Gilby & Andy Champion @ Bobik's, Punch Bowl, Newcastle. 8:00pm. JNE.
Fri 07: TBA @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig. Blind Pig Blues Club.

Sat 08: Me Lost Me + Ceitidh Mac + Heather Ferrier @ Bobik's, Punch Bowl, Newcastle. 7:30pm. JNE.
Sat 08: Joseph Carville Trio @ The Vault, Darlington Covered Market, Darlington DL1 5PN. 6:00pm. New venue, live jazz!
Sat 08: Rendezvous Jazz @ Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00. RESCHEDULED from last week (Sat 01).
Sat 08: Robbie Reay @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Acoustic blues. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.
Sat 08: Anth Purdy @ Mr Tighe's, Bebside, Northumberland. 8:30pm.

Wednesday, August 19, 2015

CD Review: Mark Christian Miller - Crazy Moon

Mark Christian Miller (vcl); Josh Nelson (pno); Dave Robaire (bs); Sammy Miller (dms); Larry Koonse (gtr); Ron Stout (tpt); Bob Sheppard (bs clt); Billy Hulting (pno).
(Review by Lance).
In an age when so many of the review CDs I receive are alien to my conception of jazz and Rolling Stone magazine acknowledges Bob Dylan as the greatest songwriter of all time, this digital download [hard copy did gang aft a-gley] is better than an income tax rebate.
Irving Berlin didn't make Rolling Stone's top 100 but he got in here with a swinging version of Cheek to Cheek. Sam Cooke crept into the top 100 at number 86 and came in at [track number] 11 here - a superb version of Almost in Your Arms.
Miller is a new name to me but he's been round the block a few times in the course of which he's developed an appealing style. Think Mel Tormé or Dave Frishberg and you get an idea of where he's at. An association with the late Page Cavanaugh pointed him in the right direction - Miller started out with a Gilbert & Sullivan company (those two guys didn't make the top 100 either although Dolly Parton and Madonna did. Just goes to show that it ain't what you got - or maybe it is!) The association with Cavanaugh was such that when the pianist died Miller was asked to perform at a tribute concert.  
An album that mixes the familiar with the not so well known [to me]. The latter category includes: Tomorrow is my Turn; Second Chance; Twilight World from Swing Out Sister and Henry Lee Summer's beautifully titled, Once April Fooled me.
The more familiar items include Artie Shaw's Moonray; Oh You Crazy Moon and Strange, an early hit of Nat King Cole.
The vocals are great but, with Nelson's piano, Stout's trumpet and the other guys in the mix, this is one album for just about every occasion - foreground, background, living room, bedroom or any room you care to mention - love it!
Lance.

1 comment :

Mark Christian Miller (on F/b) said...

Lance, your review made me laugh out loud. So much fun. Thanks a billion!

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