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Bebop Spoken There

Spasmo Brown: “Jazz is an ice cream sandwich! It's the Fourth of July! It's a girl with a waterbed!”. (Syncopated Times, 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

17372 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 16 years ago. 656 of them this year alone and, so far, 61 this month (Sept. 17).

From This Moment On ...

September

Fri 20: Lindsay Hannon’s Tom Waits for No Man @ Gala Theatre, Durham. 1:00pm. £8.00. SOLD OUT!
Fri 20: Rob Hall & Chick Lyall @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Free (donations). SOLD OUT!
Fri 20: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 20: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 20: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 20: Leeway @ 1719, Hendon, Sunderland. 7:30pm. The Old Black Cat Jazz Club. CANCELLED!
Fri 20: Gaz Hughes Trio @ Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. Opus 4 Jazz Club.

Sat 21: Jason Isaacs @ Seaburn STACK, Seaburn. 1:00-2:45pm. Free.
Sat 21: Vieux Carré Hot Four @ The Beehive, Hartley Lane, Earsdon Whitley Bay NE25 0SZ. 4:30pm-6:30pm.
Sat 21: Baghdaddies @ Two by Two, Albion Row, Byker, Newcastle NE6 1RQ. 6:00pm.
Sat 21: Milne-Glendinning Band @ The Northumberland Club, Jesmond, Newcastle. 7:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Sat 21: Jude Murphy & Alan Law @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 22: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 22: Jason Isaacs @ St James’ STACK, Newcastle. 2:30-4:30pm. Free.
Sun 22: Dulcie May Moreno Quartet @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm.
Sun 22: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 22: Richard Herdman @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 22: Remy CB Band @ Blues Underground, Nelson St., Newcastle. 8:30pm. Free. Remi, 2024 Newcastle Uni graduate, superb soul/blues voice!

Mon 23: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 23: Paul Booth with the Paul Edis Trio @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00. A Blaydon Jazz Club 40th anniversary concert! SOLD OUT!

Tue 24: Dulcie May Moreno Quartet @ Newcastle House Hotel, Rothbury. 7:30pm. £12.00. (£10.00. adv. from Tully’s of Rothbury). Coquetdale Jazz.
Tue 24: Sarah Gillespie @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £16.50. Duo performance with Chris Montague.

Wed 25: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 25: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 25: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 25: Moonlight Serenade Orchestra UK: Glenn Miller & Big Band Spectacular @ Middlesbrough Theatre. 7:30pm.

Thu 26: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 26: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. ‘Contemporary Jazz & the Piano’.
Thu 26: The New 58 Jazz Collective @ Hops & Cheese, Hartlepool. 7:30pm. Free.
Thu 26: Jo Harrop & Friends @ Hexham Abbey. 8:00pm. ‘An Evening with Jo Harrop & Friends’. A Hexham Abbey Festival of Music & Arts event. £20.00., £5.00. child/student.
Thu 26: Neil Yates & Tom Remon @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 26: Loco House Band @ Bar Loco, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 26: Tees Hot Club @ Dorma’s Club, Middlesborough. 8:30pm. Free. Mark Toomey, Neil Brodie, Graham Thompson, Adrian Beadnell.

Tuesday, June 21, 2016

CD Review: James Morton - The Kid

James Morton (alt); + Fred Wesley (tmb); Pee Wee Ellis (ten); Andy Shepherd (sax); the Easy Access Horns; Alex Johansen (vcl) Simon Picton (gtr) & Others.
(Review by Steve T).
British saxophonist James Morton was influenced by James Brown, Hip Hop and Jazz it says here; but all you really need to know is he was bitten by the Godfather. At a time when most of his peers in the British funk field were bitten by people who were bitten by James, or by people who were bitten by people who were bitten by Brown, it's quite refreshing to go back to the source.

To say he wears this influence on his sleeve is something of an understatement, but he's backed it up by enlisting heavyweight assistance from alumni of his idol. Saxophonist Pee Wee Ellis was an important component  of the James Brown sound at its most vital time and did some gigging and tutoring in our region a few years ago, including guesting with another JB legend - Maceo Parker - at the Gala in Durham.
Trombonist Fred Wesley took over leadership of the JBs when George Clinton stole Bootsy and co. for his own fledgling funk empire and Fred and Maceo would soon follow. The last time I went to Hoochie Coochie was to see Fred and the new JBs when it was full of funkateers, trombone players and presumably Lance, who likes a bit of hoochie in his coochie. Some of the former moaned that it got too Jazzy in the middle but all of these musicians aspire to play Jazz. Fred was thrilled when he was able to record 'to someone' with 'proper Jazz musicians' but humbled that he may not be good enough. I love trombones and I love Fred Wesley.
As if Morton didn't have enough strength in the horns department, there's his mentor Andy Sheppard for good measure, as forceful and instantly recognisable as ever.
Just in case anybody didn't spot the JB connection, track two Stand Up sounds suspiciously close to James' own I got the feeling, so much so that I had to check whether it was a cover. At times later in JBs' life, his fortunes became perilous and he was strapped for cash, but I'm sure he wouldn't have succumbed to the unfortunate current trend of suing for writer credits going on in the media and law courts at the moment, not least because the song was never the thing for him. Imagine the chaos if the estates of great folk, Jazz, Blues, Soul and Reggae artists started suing each other. I believe Uptown Funk currently has about eleven writer credits (and rising) and Brown should certainly be one of them.   
Following that, Eyelets sounds like a James Brown reworking of Curtis Mayfield's Impressions anthem People get Ready and the next track introduces his very own Lynn Collins, a singer who made her name as part of the JB empire. And so it goes on but not always so blatantly. There's also some fancy, funky guitar work from Simon Picton which pricked up a pair of ears in the back of the car. 
In his heyday JB brought out records almost every week and the saturation of availability due to arch-baddies Amazon, CDs and downloads means you can access it all. But beware, it wasn't all great.
This may all sound critical but it's a fine album and if you don't already have enough James Brown type stuff - and you can't have too much James - this would be a good place to start, or should I say continue?
Steve T.
Release Date July 8 on Matusik Records.

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