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Bebop Spoken There

Charles McPherson: “Jazz is best heard in intimate places”. (DownBeat, July, 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

16611 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 16 years ago. 1504 of them this year alone and, so far, 50 this month (July 23).

From This Moment On ...

July

Sat 27: BBC Proms: BBC Introducing stage @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 12 noon. Free. Line-up inc. Nu Groove (2:00pm); Abbie Finn Trio (2:50pm); Dilutey Juice (3:50pm); SwanNek (5:00pm); Rivkala (6:00pm).
Sat 27: Nomade Swing Trio @ Billy Bootlegger’s, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sat 27: Mississippi Dreamboats @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Sat 27: Milne-Glendinning Band @ Cafédral, Owengate, Durham. 9:00pm. £9.00. & £6.00. A Durham Fringe Festival event.
Sat 27: Theon Cross + Knats @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 10:00pm. £22.00. BBC Proms: BBC Introducing Stage (Sage Two). A late night gig.

Sun 28: Musicians Unlimited @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 28: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm.
Sun 28: Miss Jean & the Ragtime Rewind Swing Band @ Fonteyn Ballroom, Dunelm House (Durham Students’ Union), Durham. 2:00pm. £9.00. & £6.00. A Durham Fringe Festival event.
Sun 28: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 28: Ruth Lambert Trio @ The Juke Shed, Union Quay, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 28: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 28: Nomade Swing Trio @ Red Lion, Alnmouth. 4:00pm. Free.
Sun 28: Jazz Jam Sandwich! @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 28: Jeffrey Hewer Collective @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Sun 28: Milne Glendinning Band @ Cafédral, Owengate, Durham. 9:00pm. £9.00. & £6.00. A Durham Fringe Festival event.

Mon 29: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 30: ???

Wed 31: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 31: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 31: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

August

Thu 01: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:30pm. £4.00.
Thu 01: Funky Drummer @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Thu 01: Elsadie & the Bobcats @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Fri 02: Mainly Two @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Free (donations). SOLD OUT! Fri 02: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 02: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 02: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 02: Pete Tanton’s Chet Set @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm. POSTPONED!

Tuesday, September 22, 2015

CD Review: Kai Hoffman - Luckiest Girl Alive

Kai Hoffman (vcl); Dan Faulkner (ten/bar); Liam Dunachie (pno); Simon Picton (gtr); Dave O'Brien (bs); Mez Clough (dms) + Nina Ferro (backing vcls on 3 tks.)
(Review by Lance).
I guess that when I started this blog back in 2008 I would probably never have visualised reviewing a rendition of Lucky Lips! However, this isn't Cliff Richards - no sirree! London based American Kai Hoffman eschews the bland approach of Sir Clifford and treats it in the manner it's creators [Leiber & Stoller] and Ruth Brown intended. ie a doo-wop/rock and roll/rhythm and blues approach. Ms Hoffman is a blonde, retro dressed. female Louis Jordan, totally au fait with the '50s - the era that the songs, including her own present day compositions, derive from.
If your formative years were touched by Wynona Carr, Annisteen Allen, Lillian Briggs, Wanda Jackson, Louis Jordan or even Bill Haley you'll dig these versions.
Hoffman brings them to life, capturing the era and making them as valid in 2015 as they were in 1950.
As regards jazz, just listen to the tenor of Faulkner - he never blew like this in whichever one of the Glenn Miller bands he plays with! Bassist O'Brien, lynchpin of the Basin Street Brawlers, didn't have far to walk and Simon Picton is one of those guitarists drenched in the blues. Pianist Dunachie is another who plays like he was born in a barroom on the corner of 12th Street and Vine whilst Mez Clough may one day back beat the world. Just for good measure, Nina Ferro - a star in her own right - helps out with the backing vocals.
Yes Kai's got herself kwight a Kombo!
Oh! and, if you happen to pass by Vivien of Holloway's emporium at number 291 on the road of the same name, you girls too can dress as stunningly as Kai does! 
Tracks: Lucky Lips; Jump Jack Jump**; It's Raining Outside**; The Night is Never Long Enough; Luckiest Girl Alive*; TV is the Thing This Year; Star of Fortune; Late Night Joints*; I Want You to be my Baby***; Seat of your Pants*; Lies Lies Lies; Hot Rockin' Diva*; Deep Sea Ball; Drown in my Own Tears.
The launch party is at Ronnie's on Oct. 1. I was at Kai's last one and it was quite a brawl. Sadly I can't make this one but I'll be there in spirit (or wine) and playing the album.
Available itunes or from www.kaihoffman.co.uk
* Hoffman originals.
** Wynona Carr comps.
*** Jon Hendricks.
Lance.
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