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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.

Sunday, June 12, 2016

CD Review: Michika Fukumori - Quality Time

Michika Fukumori (pno); Aidan O’Donnell (bs); Billy Drummond (dms)
(Review by Lance).
A quite delightful CD by a cosmopolitan trio. Fukumori left Japan to study jazz piano in New York, O’Donnell arrived in New York from Glasgow via Birmingham Conservatoire where he obtained a BMus (Hons) in 2002, while Virginian born Drummond’s CV includes stints with Sonny Rollins, Horace Silver and JJ Johnson.
This is no crash, bang, wallop affair but a relaxing exploration of eight standards and four original compositions. Upon first hearing the name that crossed my mind was Bill Evans, Fukumori has a similar introspective approach. Reflective, probing, discovering unexplored depths to otherwise familiar tunes that had me hanging on to her every note. Repeated listening didn't dispel my initial reaction but it did tell me that she was also very much her own woman. 
As a composer, her music is as intriguing as the titles. The Story I Want to Tell You – a waltz reflecting deep feelings for her homeland; Luz – means light and was written as a prayer for Japan after the Tohoku Earthquake; Cat Walk – a slinky blues dedicated to her feline friends; Quality Time – a medium swinger in 6/8 and an apt title for the album.
Looking Back is a piece by her mentor and tutor Steve Kuhn who also produced the album. Kuhn has done a great job in both roles.
The remaining tracks are: Make Someone Happy; Jobim’s Someone to Light up my Life; Solitude (this not only has the pianist at her most tender but shows O’Donnell to be totally simpatico as, indeed, he is throughout - the Birmingham Conservatoire did a grand job!); Velas; a couple by Bernstein – Lucky to be Me and Somewhere finishing off with That’s All.
Drummond is discreet and effective as befits the nature of the album.
Quality Time? You betcha!
Lance.
Available Summit Records.

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