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Bebop Spoken There

Wendell Brunious: "Because the blues is not 1,4 and 5 or 1,4,5,2,1. You could wake up with a flat tyre or a headache this morning, that's the blues, man" - (DownBeat, Oct. 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

15878 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 885 of them this year alone and, so far, 83 this month (Sept. 30).

From This Moment On ...

October

Mon 02: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Mon 02: FILM: Wattstax; 50th Anniversary @ Forum Cinema, Hexham. 8:00pm.

Tue 03: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 03: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. House trio: Michael Young (piano); Paul Grainger (double bass); Sid White (drums). CANCELLED!

Wed 04: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 04: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 04: Paul Skerritt @ Vespa Italian Bar & Steakhouse, Primrose Hill, Jarrow. From 7:00pm. To book a table - 0191 483 3355.
Wed 04: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 05: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 05: Sound the Trumpets @ King's Hall, Newcastle University. 1:15pm. Free.
Thu 05: Hot Club du Nord @ The Lubetkin Theatre, Peterlee. 7:00pm. £10.00. POSTPONED!
Thu 05: Thursday Night Prayer Meeting @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.
Thu 05: Tommy Bentz Trio + Mark Croft Duo + George Shovlin & George Lamb @ The Harbour View, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Harbour View Speakeasy's USA blues double bill + Shovlin & Lamb!
Thu 05: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Ragtime piano. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.
Thu 05: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 06: Alcyona Mick @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Fri 06: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 06: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 06: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 06: WORKSHOP: Philosophy of Arts & Entertainment @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 2:00pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Fri 06: Balo @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 6:20pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Fri 06: Paul Skerritt @ 3Sixty Champagne Lounge, Hadrian’s Tower, Newcastle. From 7:00pm. To book a table - 0191 933 8591.
Fri 06: Lexer/Mayes/Noble + Semay Wu + Miman @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 7:20pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Fri 06: Dulcie May Moreno @ The Vault, Hexham. 7:30pm. £20.00. Book in advance. Moreno with Alan Law, Paul Grainger & John Bradford.
Fri 06: Dean Stockdale Quartet @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm. 'Celebrating Oscar'.
Fri 06: Nu Brass Sounds: Big Brass Bash @ Billy Bootlegger’s, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free.
Fri 06: TBC @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Blind Pig Blues Club. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

Sat 07: WORKSHOP: Philosophy of Arts & Entertainment @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 10:15am. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Sat 07: Hot Club du Nord @ St Augustine's Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm.
Sat 07: Bugge & Niccols + Moore & Fairhall @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Sat 07: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. Tutor: Steve Glendinning - All the Things You Are. £25.00. Enrol at: www.jazz.coop.
Sat 07: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 6:00pm. Free.
Sat 07: Rie Nakajima @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 6:20pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Sat 07: Paul Skerritt @ 3Sixty Champagne Lounge, Hadrian’s Tower, Newcastle. From 7:00pm. To book a table - 0191 933 8591.
Sat 07: Samuel Blaser Trio + Toxvaerd & Zeeberg + Muramatsu & Welch @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 7:20pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Sat 07: Anth Purdy @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Sat 07: Rendezvous Jazz @ Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.

Sun 08: Zoë Gilby Quintet + Ubunye @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Line-up inc. Tony Kofi. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Sun 08: Tommy Bentz Band @ Tyne Bar, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. USA blues band.

Saturday, August 27, 2016

CD Review:Alexander Stewart - I Thought About You

Alexander Stewart (vcl) w. big band inc. Rob Barron (pno); Rob Anstey (bs); Andy Chapman (dms); Freddy Gavita (tpt); Andy Panayi (alt); Callum Au, Alistair White (tmb) as well as the City of Prague Philharmonic on 7 tracks.
(Review by Lance).
I've been a fan of Alexander Stewart since that night back in 2009 when I first heard him at London's The Spice of Life. I was knocked out then and I've been increasingly impressed by his progress.
This new CD - perhaps his most ambitious yet - rubberstamps my early judgement.
Yes, he's still a crooner, but he's today's crooner, albeit one who still looks over his shoulder and says, "If it was good enough then, then it's good enough now - if I do it my way!"
Stevie Wonder's Part Time Lover kicks things off with a wonderful Au trombone solo slotting in between the vocal choruses.
Willie Dixon's I Just Want to Make Love to You swings like Sinatra/Basie may have done on this one.
I Thought About You is rapidly becoming another Summertime but, with a difference, it's a tune you never get tired of hearing and, dare I say it? Jimmy Van Heusen was, with all due respect, more hip than either of the Gershwins. People forget, or don't realise,  the Gershwin songs we hear today are far removed from the composer's original intent which was schmaltzy Broadway show tunes. Jazz musicians and singers took them to a higher level. Freddy Gavita blows trumpet here and the symphony squad from Prague saw effectively away in the background.
Brother Can You Spare a Dime? - a Yip Harburg tune, written in the post World War I depression days - may seem a strange choice (apart from being a great song) but in today's turbulent times who knows that it won't become appropriate once more? Hopefully not, but this is the best version since Bing!
Human, the first of 4 originals by the singer, shows that he's no slouch as a composer/lyricist - Gavita pours some flugelhorn icing on the cake.
The Look of Love tends to slot into the easy listening genre (like most Bacharach/David) until Andy Panayi blows cool sax.
How Glad I Am brings back memories of listening to pirate radio stations in the 1960's and feeling as though I was part of a revolution even though the nearest they got to jazz was Kenny Ball!
Speed of Darkness, another original by Stewart, in conjunction with longtime collaborator Alex Webb. Tommy Emmerton provides the guitar blast.
The Sweetest Feeling, a Jackie Wilson classic hits the spot.
Fragments, another original, has a Gregory Porter feeling about it and Stewart doesn't need a funny hat! Listen to the string writing!
Suitcase of Dreams. A superb, relaxed original with Stewart floating above piano, bass, guitar and drums. A love song worthy of the GASbook or it's British equivalent. Superb!
A House is Not a Home. More Bacharach/David - they can play this in my lift anytime.
Alexander Stewart is a voice to be reckoned with. and an album that will certainly figure in my Vocal Discs of the Year 2016.
Lance.
Released Sept. 9 - pre-order.

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