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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).

Thursday, July 07, 2016

CD Review: Alex Webb & The Copasetics - Call Me Lucky

(Review by Ann Alex)
I expected this CD to be wonderful and I wasn’t disappointed. It could well be my CD of the year. If , in the unlikely scenario that you are unfamiliar with the work of Alex Webb, then it’s my duty to enlighten you! He’s done music journalism, played in pop and jazz groups, and created (and performed in) stage productions such as Cafe Society Swing which, in recent years has not only taken London and New York by storm but also this year’s GIJF. Circumstances decreed that I missed this latter show but our worthy editor rated it as one of the Festival’s highlights (see review).
Call Me Lucky consists of his well-crafted original songs with a jazz sensibility, songs which have up to now only been performed live. So Webb gathered first class vocalists around him and committed the songs to CD.  
Vimala Rowe, featured in the show at Gateshead, does a fast, snappy, It’s Your Move, the band contributing lively 4’s and she also gives us a soulful ballad, Low, Low Places, accompanied by just piano, bass and brushed drums. 
China Moses, daughter of Dee Dee Bridgewater and another, earlier, graduate of Cafe Society Swing sings a slinky, finger-snapping Bad Girls (Need Love Too) and a haunting Nothing But A Blues. MOBO nominated Ayanna Witter-Johnson provides Winters, an atmospheric number featuring cello, guitar and many wintry images. 
Me and My Crazy Ideas is done by the soulful voice of David McAlmont.
Newcomer Sandra Nkake gives us an intimate almost whispered song of longing, As If, featuring a lonely-sounding trombone. 
Alexis Gardner does the title track, a real swinger with witty words and short sax and trumpet solos; then we have Infatuation from Alexander Stewart. Stewart appeared with Moses in the London production of Cafe Society Swing, supported, along with Webb, on a Dionne Warwick tour and was a finalist when Jason Isaacs won the Crooner of the Year competion.
Open The Windows, a straightforward happy love song with effective repetitions and whistling is sung by Cherise Coryna; and Allan Harris provides a fast swing with Enough.
The final 2 tracks were my favourites. The rich classy voice of Jo Harrop, a not unfamiliar figure in the north east (Jo hails from Chester-le-Street), telling of the End Of The Affair, a love song with hope for the future, and then Liane Carroll, singing the superb lyrics of Words I Never Spoke, which everyone can identify with.
The CD was released on June 3rd 2016 on Splash Point Records, and there was a launch on June 7 at Pizza Express Jazz Club Soho.  I wish I’d been there!
Ann Alex.
Vimala Rowe, China Moses, Ayanna Witter-Johnson, David McAlmont, Sandra Nkake, Alexia Gardner, Alexander Stewart, Cherise Coryna, Allan Harris, Jo Harrop, Liane Carroll (vocalists).
Alex Webb (composer, arranger, piano, organ) + on various tracks:  Liane Carroll, Raphael Lemmonier (piano); Miles Danso, Alex Davis, Andrew Cleyndert, Fabien Marcoz (bass); Sophie Alloway, Andy Chapman, Jean-Pierre Derouard (drums); Sue Richardson (trumpet, Flugelhorn); Freddie Gavita (trumpet); Winston Rollins (trombone); Denys Baptiste (tenor sax); Nathaniel Facey (alto sax); Jo Caleb (guitar); Ayanna Witter-Johnson (cello); Andres Ticino (perc); Cherise Coryna (whistling).

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