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Bebop Spoken There

Ambrose Akinmusire: “ I am certainly always aware of what the masses are doing. And when I see too many people going one way, I'm going another way - even when I don't know what's over that way". DownBeat, March, 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

16287 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 16 years ago. 169 of them this year alone and, so far, 41 this month (Mar 18).

From This Moment On ...

March

Tue 19: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Michael Young, Paul Grainger, Tim Johnston.

Wed 20: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 20: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 20: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 21: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 21: Castillo Neuvo Trio + Conor Emery & His ‘Bones Band @ The Grove, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 7:30pm (7:00pm doors). £10.00. (£7.00. student).
Thu 21: Remi Banklyn + Chris Corcoran Trio @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.50. Chicago blues. An International Guitar Foundation promotion.
Thu 21: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Ragtime piano.
Thu 21: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm.

Fri 22: Vasilis Xenopoulos & Paul Edis @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. £8.00. SOLD OUT!
Fri 22: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 22: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 22: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 22: Nauta + Remy CB + Last Orders @ Hoochie Coochie, Newcastle. 8:30pm (7:30pm doors). Free.
Fri 22: Vasilis Xenopoulos-Paul Edis Quartet @ Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. £15.00. Opus 4 Jazz Club.
Fri 22: Redwell @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sat 23: Jambone @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 6:30pm. Free (ticketed). End of term performance in the Northern Rock Foundation Hall.
Sat 23: Milne-Glendinning Band @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 23: Red Kites Jazz @ Rowlands Gill Community Centre NE39 1JB. 7:00pm. Tickets: £12.00. (gibsidecommunityfarm@gmail.com). A ‘Build a Barn’ fundraiser. BYOB, tea/coffee available.
Sat 23: New Century Ragtime Orchestra @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £20.00. + bf (book in person at venue - no booking fee!). Featuring pianist Martin Litton.
Sat 23: Pete Tanton’s Cuba Libre @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 24: Musicians Unlimited @ Park Inn, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 24: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:30pm. Free.
Sun 24: Luis Verde @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm. Verde (alto sax); Joe Steels (guitar); John Pope (double bass); John Hirst (drums). Alto sax brilliance!
Sun 24: Elsie Franklin @ The Globe, Newcastle. 3:00pm. £10.00. Country blues. An International Guitar Foundation promotion.
Sun 24: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay Metro Station. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 24: Las Vegas Live with the Rat Pack @ The Forum, Billingham.
Sun 24: Ian Millar & Dominic Spencer @ Otterburn Memorial Hall. 7:30pm. £12.00.
Sun 24: Lindsay Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Note start time - 7:00pm.
Sun 24: Bold Big Band @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 25: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 25: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 6:30pm. Free.

Monday, October 03, 2016

CD [double] Review: Chet Baker - Live in London.

Chet Baker (tpt/vcl); John Horler (pno); Jim Richardson (bs); Tony Mann (dms).
(Review by Lance).
They came to bury Chet Baker - not to praise him. How wrong they were! Six nights at The Canteen in London in 1983 told the mourners [critics] that, although the sculptured facial features that had adorned so many magazine covers and album sleeves had been replaced by the tightly drawn, anguished, gaunt face of a man twice his age, the music hadn't paled. If anything there was a more fiery approach. Chet was still cool but the music burned more.
With a strong team of Soho Supermen behind him, Baker didn't let the listeners down - not if this recording is anything to go by!
LondonJazzBlog's major-domo, Sebastian Scotney, recalls in the album notes his memories of those nights at The Canteen. "I remember how assertive his playing was, how fluent and strong the lines were."
Words that are rubber-stamped by listening to the album. I'll even go out on a limb and say his playing is every bit as good as it was in the glory years. Bassist Richardson, who recorded the sessions on audio cassette, agrees, "I have a huge quantity of Chet Baker recordings and what we have here is the best."
The trumpet playing is great but let's not forget Chet was also a vocalist of no mean ability and it is here where the emotion creeps in. No, it doesn't creep, it arrives in a flood!
The almost whispered The Touch of Your Lips has a poignancy that brought near tears to my eyes. Omit near! Think of the last recordings of Billie Holiday where the voice was almost gone but the feeling, the emotive content, was there more than ever and you've got the picture. The trumpet solo following the vocal was, possibly the most lyrical on both CDs. Horler and Richardson stretch out, no doubt giving Chet time to get his vocal chords back on track. I think this is the most moving vocal I've ever heard by anyone anywhere although My Funny Valentine runs it close and, maybe, gets its head in front on the line!
I should also mention that Horler, Richardson, and Mann give Chet backing equal to anything he could have found in the jazz world at that time (Well maybe in NYC or LA - maybe).
Five years on he was dead...
Lance.
CD 1: Have You Met Miss Jones; Beatrice; For Minors Only; The Touch of Your Lips (vcl); Margarine (Tangerine!)
CD 2: With a Song in my Heart: Leaving; I Remember You (vcl/scat); My Funny Valentine (vcl); I'll Remember April.

1 comment :

Martin Hummel said...

Thank you, Lance, for your exceedingly kind words.
This project has been a labour of love, driven by exceptional music.
Chet's legacy lives on...
Best wishes,
Martin Hummel, Director, Ubuntu Music

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