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Bebop Spoken There

Billy Boy Arnold: “As long as you don't think old you're good.” - DownBeat, December, 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!"

Simon Spillett: A lovely review from the dean of jazz bloggers, Lance Liddle...

Postage

16051 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 1058 of them this year alone and, so far, 12 this month (Dec. 6).

From This Moment On ...

December

Mon 11: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 11: Interim Final Recitals @ Newcastle University. Details TBC.

Tue 12: Stu Collingwood Organ Trio @ Forum Music Centre, Darlington. 7:00pm. £10.00.

Wed 13: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 13: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 13: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 13: Bold Big Band @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:30pm.
Wed 13: Giles Strong Quartet @ Alphabetti Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 14: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 14: Hot Fingers @ The Lubetkin Theatre, Peterlee. 7:00pm. £10.00.
Thu 14: After Hours Student Jazz Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 14: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. . Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 14: Niffi Osiyemi Trio @ Harbour View, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 14: Mo Scott ‘Little Mo’s Festive Appearance’ @ The Schooner, Gateshead. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 14: Tees Hot Club w. Kevin Eland, Josh Bentham, Garry Hadfield, Adrian Beadnell @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 15: Paul Edis @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 15: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 15: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 15: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 15: Paul Skerritt @ Black Horse Inn, Crook. From 7:00pm.
Fri 15: Paul Edis: A Jazzy Christmas @ St Cuhtbert's Centre, Crook. 7:30pm. £15.00. SOLD OUT! Waiting list open.
Fri 15: Zoë Gilby Trio @ Seventeen Nineteen, Hendon, Sunderland. 7:30pm. £12.00. POSTPONED!
Fri 15: Strictly Smokin' Big Band @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 8:00pm. First night of two. SOLD OUT!
Fri 15: Darlington Big Band @ Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. £10.00. Opus 4 Jazz Club.
Fri 15: Baghdaddies @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £14.00.; £10.00.

Sat 16: Paul Edis: A Jazzy Christmas @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 2:00pm. A Jazzy Christmas + Jambone.
Sat 16: Porritt & Barrett & Friends Xmas Special @ Cullercoats Watch House. 7:00pm. £4.00.
Sat 16: Milne-Glendinning Band @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 16: Red Kites Jazz Band @ The Staithes Café, Gateshead. 7:00pm--9:00pm.
Sat 16: Hayley's Little Big Band @ Ellingham Village Hall, Chathill. 7:30pm. £12.00., £8.00.
Sat 16: Paul Edis: A Jazzy Christmas @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm.
Sat 16: Strictly Smokin' Big Band @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Second night of two.

Sun 17: Red Kites Jazz Band @ Gibside Chapel, nr. Rowlands Gill. 1:00-2:30pm.
Sun 17: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm.
Sun 17: Revolutionaires @ Tyne Bar, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. Rock ‘n’ roll excellence!
Sun 17: Tweed River Jazz Band @ Barrels Alehouse, Berwick. 7:00pm. Free.
Sun 17: The Globe Xmas Party @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. Multi-bill inc. David Gray’s Flextet + jam session.
Sun 17: Paul Edis: A Jazzy Christmas @ Queen's Hall, Hexham. 7:30pm. £17.00., £15.00.
Sun 17: Hayley's Little Big Band @ Amble Parish Hall. 7:30pm. £12.00., £6.00.
Sun 17: Snake Davis Trio @ St John’s Hall, Snods Edge, Shotley Bridge DH8 9TJ. 7:30pm. £15.00. from 07766 037893.

Friday, January 06, 2017

CD Review: Ron Boustead - Unlikely Valentine

Ron Boustead (vocals); Bill Cunliffe (keys/B3); Mitchel Forman (keys/B3Accordion); John Leftwich (bass); Jake Reed (drums/perc.); Pat Kelley (guitars); Bob Sheppard (saxes/flute); Bob McChesney (trombone); Ron Stout (flugel); Fabiana Passoni (vocal on Til Now).
(Review by Lance).
Unlikely Valentine is an apt title as I don’t get many Valentine cards these days – I think the last one was in 1982 and then it was meant for the house next door – at least that’s what I told my wife which was when she told me that she'd sent it!.
There was an occasion at Blaydon Jazz Club on one VD when Zoe Gilby, upon discovering that I hadn’t received any cards, dedicated the most famous Valentine song of them all to me. Lots of sympathetic purring all round but the sympathy didn’t develop further!
Zoe and Alan Law, incidentally, are on at the Jazz Caff tonight – 9pm and free!
Back to the CD.
Boustead has covered the genres over his 34 year career much of which is reflected in the album.
The title track, based on the chords of the Rodgers and Hart classic has a lyric by Boustead but, close your eyes and it could be Jon Hendricks, Mark Murphy or even, at a stretch, Mel Tormé. Cunliffe solos, arranges and Sheppard blows bop tenor. Think Marty Paich and you’ve got the idea.
Love Potion Number 9! Loved The Coasters recording – the lyric is out of this world – but never thought I’d hear it in a jazz context. A 6/8 jazz waltz with a touch of soul. B3 in there goosing it along.
Can you still buy bottles of the potion?
Let’s go out for Coffee is one of those contemporary lyrics that somehow catch the feel of today more than some of the better known GASbook items do. It's laidback and romantic with nice piano.
A must for every chanter/chanteuse.
I Won’t Scat has a Blossom Dearie feel to it but with B3 in there and it does have a few bars of some great scat!
Til Now (sic) a fluffy bossa with Passoni adding her vocal touches to Boustead’s.  If the album has a weak track this is it but, take it from me, it’s not that weak!
Autumn Leaves has Boustead vocalese - ing on a Chet Baker solo (he won’t scat but he will vocalese!) Tenor madness from Sheppard.
There's more much more. If this had been released in December it would be my vocal record of the year but, it's a long long time from January to December...
Lance.
Available - wait for it - on February 14. These marketing guys know their stuff.

1 comment :

Ron Boustead said...

Thank you for taking the time to listen to and write about my new CD, "Unlikely Valentine". We tend to create this music in our own little jazz vacuum, and it's always interesting and enlightening to hear reviews by objective, knowledgeable writers like yourself.
When you mention me in the same breath at Jon Hendricks, Mark Murphy and Mel Torme, you honor me more than you could know. All three are idols of mine, especially Murphy who I studied and emulated early in my career, and who took an interest in me and became, to some degree, my mentor.
I do love my new song "Coffee", so it's especially gratifying for you to single it out in the context of the Great American Songbook. I hope many other singer will take a crack at it.
And finally, I will remind you later in the year about your saying, "If this had been released in December it would be my vocal record of the year..."
Ron.

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