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Bebop Spoken There

Branford Marsalis: "As ignorance often forces us to do, you make a generalisation about a musician based on one specific record or one moment in time." - (Jazzwise June 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

15478 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 499 of them this year alone and, so far, 120 this month (May 27).

From This Moment On ...

May 2023

Wed 31: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 31: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 31: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 7:00pm.
Wed 31: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

June
Thu 01: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 01: Thursday Night Prayer Meeting @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Donations.
Thu 01: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Ragtime piano. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.
Thu 01: Jake Leg Jug Band @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Thu 01: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 02: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 02: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 02: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 02: Joseph Carville Trio @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm.
Fri 02: Claire Martin & Her Trio @ The Witham, Barnard Castle. 7:30pm. £25.00., £20.00. Feat. Jim Mullen, Alex Garnett & Jeremy Brown.
Fri 02: Guy Davis + Michael Littlefield & Scott Taylor @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. Doors 7:30pm. Blues double bill.
Fri 02: Anders Ingram @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Blind Pig Blues Club. Country blues. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

Sat 03: Newcastle Record Fair @ Northumbria University, Newcastle NE8 8SB. 10:00am-3:00pm. Admission: £2.00.
Sat 03: Pedigree Jazz Band @ St Augustine's Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm.
Sat 03: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. Tutor: Sue Ferris. £25.00. Enrol at: www.jazz.coop.
Sat 03: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 6:00pm. Free.
Sat 03: Rendezvous Jazz @ Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.
Sat 03: Papa G's Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

Sun 04: Smokin' Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm.
Sun 04: Central Bar Quintet @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00-4:00pm. £5.00. The Central Bar Quintet plays Sonny Rollins' Saxophone Colossus. Featuring Lewis Watson.
Sun 04: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 3:00pm.
Sun 04: Struggle Buggy + Michael Littlefield @ Tyne Bar, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. Acoustic blues.
Sun 04: Swinging at the Cotton Club: Harry Strutters' Hot Rhythm Orchestra @ The Fire Station, Sunderland. 7:30pm.
Sun 04: Richard Jones Trio @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 05: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

Tue 06: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 06: Jam session @ Black Swan, Newcastle Arts Centre. 7:30pm. House trio: Stu Collingwood (piano); Paul Grainger (double bass); Sid White (drums).

Wednesday, May 18, 2016

CD Review:Fabrizio Sotti Trio - Forty

Fabrizio Sotti - Guitar. Peter Slavov - Bass. Francisco Mela - Drums.
(Review by Steve T)
Sotti has previously mixed genres working with a variety of artists including Ice T, Cassandra Wilson, Shaggy, Zucchero, Tupac, Whitney Houston, Randy Brecker, John Patitucci and Al Foster. For a little local colour he played with David Knopfler of Dire Straits.
The title of the new album from New Yorker, by way of Italy, indicates his age and a new beginning with a change of direction to a basic Jazz guitar, electric bass and drums trio featuring nine originals and a cover of the Antonio Carlos Jobin favourite How Insensitive.
It's a short album for these days, only just passing the forty minute mark by seconds - maybe another reason for the title - which is not necessarily a bad thing.
‘You’ll hear Wes, Jim Hall and Mike Stern ' he tells us and you wouldn't argue - I asked for a guitarist’s perspective and these were the three names that came back to me. 'But now it's me, my personality, my feelings, my way of playing.'    
This he identifies as clear phrasing and not overplaying, though there's plenty of the latter; not that I personally mind; guitarists nowadays love to criticise excessive technique as a bad thing and then try to play as fast as they can. 
For variety you'll get a minor blues in 3/4 on opener Redemption, more blues on Is that what you think?, lone nylon string guitar on Beginning Now, calypso on Thalia ( his daughters name ), a guitar/ bass duo on So Far So Close and, apparently, a reference to Bach on The Bridge.
The title track is the most interesting, alternating between funk rubato and straight ahead swinging giving a joyous playful quality.
Despite his prior claim, there's plenty of impressive finger work, and all three musicians acquit themselves well, and the album is fine but overall the feel is fairly low-key and probably only of real interest to guitarists and guitar trio enthusiasts - the aforementioned guitarist liked it rather more than I did - but they won't hear anything they haven't heard before, and much better.
As Lance said on a previous review, it's hard to imagine how this can compete for your hard earned cash with your wants list of classics by Mingus, Miles and Trane, or Christian, Wes and Metheny. And while the media and industry would have us believe that CDs, like the death of Bobby Ewing, were just a dream, with the choice between reassuringly expensive chunks of memorabilia you'll never play and downloading an album only to choose the selection which grabbed you on first play and compiling it on to some gadget with your other favourite songs, it's a sobering thought for any prospective Jazz musician who can count their audiences in dozens if they're lucky.
Steve T.
Release Date June 10 on Sotti Entertainment.

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