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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, September 30, 2015

CD Review: Scott Hamilton & Jeff Hamilton Trio - Live in Bern

Scott Hamilton (ten); Tamir Hendelman (pno); Christof Luty (bs); Jeff Hamilton (dms).
(Review by Lance).
What a delightful disc! In an age where every young musician is a 'composer' striving to stretch the boundaries of our music this comes as a relief to know that there are guys still minding the store.
The unrelated Hamiltons mind the store as good as anyone. They know what they're selling and Scott Hamilton is one of the very best in the quality control dept. of a store that holds musical riches beyond the dreams of avarice (misquote from The Maltese Falcon!).
The natural successor to past greats such as, say, Ike Quebec, Zoot Sims or Don Byas he brings the songs' qualities to the fore - qualities that some of the composers themselves probably didn't realise their 'babies' possessed! Magical tenor playing that, despite the age of the material, sounds as fresh today as if I was hearing it for the first time.
Recorded live in Bern, Switzerland, by Capri, the two Hamilton's swing like as though it was going out of fashion! Believe you me, going by this record, it's very much back in fashion! Hamilton [Jeff] is described as a 'drummer's drummer'. Yeah, maybe, but I think Scott would describe him as a 'drummer for all sessions'. He keeps Scott on the ball throughout - not one fumble. Then there's Hendelman - as good a piano man as you'd want on any gig. His comping is on the money every bar of the way and his solos would make the album worthwhile even if Scott hadn't been there! But he was and this makes it just so perfect. 
Sorry Christof, I always leave bassists to the last but, let's face it, if you weren't there this would drop down from a 5 star record to a 2½ star one. Your work on Key Largo personified the mood of this atmospheric Benny Carter piece. 
September in the Rain: All Through the Night; Watch What Happens; Soul Eyes (Mal Waldron); This Can't be Love; There'll be Some Changes Made; Sybille's Day (J. Hamilton); Key Largo; Woody 'n You (Dizzy); The Champ (Dizzy)*; Ballad for the Very Sad and Tired Lotus Eaters (Strayhorn); You and the Night and the Music; Centrepiece (Harry Edison).
A disc that reminds me that all is well!
Released byy Capri Records on October 20.
Lance
*Great to hear The Champ again. Back in the 1950's, if you were at a trad gig you demanded The Saints. If it was a modern gig you hollered for The Champ! Here, it is accredited to someone called Alan Hawkshaw - ignore it, Hawkshaw's Champ was in one of the lighter divisions and a totally different tune! Dizzy's was Marciano/Louis/Ali/Dempsey combined and these four guys [Hamiltons et co] are up there punching well above their weight (if that is possible!)

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