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Bebop Spoken There

Béla Fleck: “ And that's the great thing about live performances, you take people on a journey. It doesn't have to be like something else they've heard. It's not supposed to be". DownBeat, April, 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

16287 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 16 years ago. 169 of them this year alone and, so far, 41 this month (Mar 18).

From This Moment On ...

March

Thu 28: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 28: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Gateshead Central Library, Gateshead. 2:30pm.
Thu 28: Richard Herdman Quartet @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 28: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm. Guests: Josh Bentham (alto sax); Alan Marshall (tenor sax); Neil Brodie (trumpet); Adrian Beadnell (bass); Graham Thompson (keys); Steve Hunter (drums).

Fri 29: FILM: Soul @ The Forum Cinema, Hexham. 12:30pm. Jazz-themed film animation.
Fri 29: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 29: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 29: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 29: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 6:00pm. Free. POSTPONED!
Fri 29: Thundercat @ Newcastle City Hall.
Fri 29: John Logan @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sat 30: Papa G’s Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sat 30: Pete Tanton’s Cuba Libre @ Whitley Bay Library, York Road, Whitley Bay. 8:00pm.

Sun 31: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay Metro Station. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 31: Ruth Lambert Trio @ Juke Shed, Union Quay, North Shields NE30 1HJ. 3:00pm. Free. Lambert, Alan Law & Paul Grainger.
Sun 31: Sid Jacobs & Tom Remon @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. USA/London jazz guitar duo.
Sun 31: Bellavana @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

April
Mon 01: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 01: Ray Stubbs R&B All Stars @ Billy Bootlegger’s, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 3:00pm. Free.

Tue 02: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Dean Stockdale, Paul Grainger, Abbie Finn.

Wed 03: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 03: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 03: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thursday, March 03, 2016

CD Review: Jeff Williams – Outlier

Jeff Williams (drums, percussion & Fender Rhodes), Josh Arcoleo (tenor saxophone), Phil Robson (guitar), Kit Downes (piano & Fender Rhodes) & Sam Lasserson (double & electric basses)
(Review by Russell)
Outlier is Jeff Williams’ third release as leader on the Whirlwind Recordings label. All of the compositions are by the bandleader.  Williams is the one fifth American in this Anglo -American quintet. The four sidemen are in demand individuals leading bands or working in others’ outfits and stacking up recording credits along the way. This 2015 recording on Michael Janisch’s Whirlwind Recordings label is released next week with a clutch of gigs beginning on Sunday (March 6) at the Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester.
Outlier, the eponymous opening track, simmers and swirls with Phil Robson’s guitar solo giving way to Kit Downes’ Fender Rhodes as Josh Arcoleo’s taut, writhing tenor rides on top of Williams’ constantly shifting cymbal work. Robson returns, Downes’ chords direct the ensemble with bassist Sam Lasserson right there.
Jeff Williams reveals The Interloper ‘Reminds me of Thelonious Monk.’ It is a danceable Pork Pie of a tune, without a doubt. The drummer’s forward motion, the pianist’s angular, swinging logic, Monk Lives!
Williams refers to rhythmic patterns, visual images and dream world inspirations. Dream Visitor, the composer suggests, owes something to electric Miles; Fender Rhodes feature, Lasserson plays electric bass but the tune takes on its own distinctive character. Williams makes candid personal statements in the CDs liner notes: Meeting a Stranger followed by New and Old are markedly different to the earlier pieces. Ballad-like, the former heard on the album Jazzblues, reworked on Outlier because, as the composer writes: they interpret it so beautifully, the latter number refers to his father’s illness and their relationship - new and old, child and father, the role of the carer, their changing roles. 
Hermeto expresses Williams’ love of the music of Hermeto Pascoal. The drummer heard, then met the Brazilian in the 1980s (Pascoal toured Britain at around this time including a concert at Durham University). This tune is not an attempt to imitate his music; it’s more of a love letter. Great playing form the quintet on this one.
The set closer – Oddity – unleashes the bandleader. Seemed time for solo drums Williams writes, just for textural variation. Williams has assembled a talented band of musicians. It is to his credit that he has embraced their abilities making for an excellent recording.
Russell.                                                           
Jeff Williams’ Outlier is on Whirlwind Recordings WR 4684 with a release date of Friday, March 11.       

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