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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

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).

Wed 29: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 29: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 29: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 7:00pm.
Wed 29: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 30: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Gateshead Central Library. 2:30-4:30pm. £2.00. All welcome.
Thu 30: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. Back to 1:00pm stomp off. Free.
Thu 30: '58 Jazz Collective @ Hops & Cheese, Hartlepool. 7:30pm. Free.
Thu 30: Lindsay Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ Harbour View, Sunderland. 8:00pm.
Thu 30: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Thursday, September 17, 2015

CD Review: Jeff Benedict Big Band - Holmes.

Jeff Benedict (sop/alt) Adrian Williams (alt); Jeff Ellwood, Ken Foerch (ten); Charlie Richard (bar); Steve Hawk. Jeff Jarvis, Tom Tallman, Frank Rico (tpt); Paul McKee, Jacques Voyemant ; Otto Granillo, Gerry Amoury (tmb); Dave Askren (gtr); Matt Harris (pno); Tim Emmons (bs); Paul Romaine (dms).
(Review by Lance).
I've procrastinated doing this review for too long! It hit the streets in July but - big confession coming up - it's easier to post a trio review with only 3 names to type in as opposed to the 17 here!
However, I've bitten the bullet and typed - and listened! Boy have I listened! This is one cracking CD totally representative of the current big band scene both in the UK and the USA.
I get the message from this (and locally) that big band jazz is alive and well. A mix of originals by Benedict and trombonist McKee interspersed with compositions by Sting, Duke, Metheny, Zawinal, Coltrane and Michael Brecker.
The roots aren't in Kenton or Herman (maybe a little of the latter in Benedict's alto feature on Easy Living) rather, it's Jones-Lewis/Clarke-Boland that springs to mind with, as is unavoidable in just about any quality big band, a hint of contemporary Basie.
The joy of big band jazz for me is not just the exciting soloists (of which there are plenty here) but that of hearing 5 saxes phrasing as one. They may be blowing Selmer. Yamaha, Conn, Buescher or whatever horns. The mouthpieces may be one of the many gobstoppers crafted  by Link, Guardala, Dukoff, Lawton or what came with the instrument and, using a variety of reeds from the usual suspects, still manage to get that blend of 5 people speaking with unforked tongues. Brassmen too somehow seem to be able to blend as one - at least they do here !
That the bands of Ellington, Gillespie and early Basie rarely achieved this perfection was both their strengths and their weaknesses. The power of their soloists and arrangers more than made up for any loose ensemble work.
Here we get the best of both worlds! I'm not going to suggest that these guys are better than their illustrious predecessors - far from it but, and it's a big but (no lewd comments please!) they have absorbed, learned and developed their own style whilst, incorporating contemporary influences along the way - even Gonsalves never played a tenor solo like Ellwood does on Caravan!
Benedict takes the alto solos, Ellwood and Foerch the tenor spots, McKee puts in some expressive slidework on most whilst Voyemant solos on Brecker's Delta City Blues, Jarvis on Coltrane's Naima and Tallman on Benedict's Holmes are the featured trumpet soloists and Harris, Ascram and Romaine are also in there pitching,
There won't be many better big band records this year - next year either!
Lance
Available Tapestry Records.

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