Total Pageviews

Bebop Spoken There

James Brandon Lewis: "Sometimes I'm not thinking about anything other than blowing the paint off the walls, and other times I'm narrating a story about my life." - (DownBeat 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

15516 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 536 of them this year alone and, so far, 25 this month (June 7).

From This Moment On ...

Fri 09: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 09: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 09: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 09: Castillo Nuevo @ Revolución de Cuba, Newcastle. 5:30-8:30pm.
Fri 09: Emma Rawicz @ Sage Gateshead. 8:00pm.

Sat 10: Miners' Picnic @ Woodhorn, Ashington. Music inc. Northern Monkey Brass Band (3:00-3:50pm); New York Brass Band (4:00-4:55pm).
Sat 10: Jeffrey Hewer @ The Vault, Darlington Covered Market, Darlington. 6:00-8:00pm. Free.
Sat 10: Front Porch Three @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. Americana, blues, jazz etc.
Sat 10: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

Sun 11: WORKSHOP: Tim Richards' Jazz Piano Workshop @ JG Windows, Newcastle. Time TBC. Further details tel. 0191 232 1356.
Sun 11: Jeremy McMurray's Pocket Jazz Orchestra @ Ropner Park, Stockton TS18 4EF. 2:00-4:00pm. Free.
Sun 11: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:30pm. Free.
Sun 11: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 3:00pm.
Sun 11: Groovetrain @ Innisfree Sports & Social Club, Longbenton NE12 8TY. Doors 6:30pm. £15.00 (£7.00. under 16).
Sun 11: Jeffrey Hewer Collective @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Sun 11: Jam No. 19 @ Fabio's Bar, Saddler Street, Durham. 8:00pm. Free. All welcome. A Durham University Jazz Society event.

Mon 12: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

Tue 13: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 13: Infusion Trio @ Forum Music Centre, Darlington. 7:30pm.
Tue 13: Alice Grace & Pawel Jedrzejewski @ Black Swan, Newcastle Arts Centre. 8:00pm. £12.00 (£10.00. adv.).

Wed 14: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 14: NUJO Final Jazz Jam @ Bar Loco, Newcastle. 6:30pm. Free. Newcastle University Jazz Orchestra's final jam session of the academic year. All welcome.
Wed 14: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 14: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 7:00pm.
Wed 14: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 15: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 15: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Gateshead Central Library. 2:30-4:30pm. £2.00. All welcome.
Thu 15: Castillo Nuevo @ Revolución de Cuba, Newcastle. 5:30-8:30pm.
Thu 15: Alexander Ord Trio @ Tynedale Beer & Cider Festival, Tynedale Rugby Club, Corbridge. Evening, time TBC.
Thu 15: Têtes de Pois + Nauta @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. Time TBC.
Thu 15: Indigo Jazz Voices @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:45pm. £5.00.

Wednesday, February 22, 2017

CD Review: Heather Bambrick - You’ll Never Know

Heather Bambrick (vocals, whistling); Mark Kieswetter (piano); Ross MacIntyre (bass); Davide DiRenzo (drums, perc); Rob Piltch (guitar); Chase Sanborn (trumpet, flugelhorn); John Johnson (saxophones); Guido Basso (flugelhorn on 2 tracks)
(Review by Ann Alex)
I don’t remember reviewing a CD from a Canadian singer before today. Hailing from the land of Joni Mitchell and the McGarrigle sisters, Heather Bambrick has a lot to live up to, and she compares well with her countrywomen, though she is, of course. doing a different type of singing. Ms Bambrick has been active musically for 20 years, as an award-winning vocalist, voice actor, broadcaster and educator. She has performed internationally with many other artists, including Ian Shaw, who is well known to Tyneside, audiences and, of course, much further afield. The material on the CD ranges from swinging jazz standards, pop songs, an original Bambrick penned song, a Kurt Weill number and even a folk song. The voice is very pleasing and versatile and the musicians are well accomplished. And you get good value from the CD which has 14 tracks.

I Only Have Eyes for You is the usual sort of jazz song performance, with a muted trumpet solo, then a return to the song which is improvised vocally. Fair enough I thought, but the tracks get more interesting as you continue listening. Lovers In A Dangerous Game shows tension produced by brushed drums; I Can’t See For Lookin’ has amusing lyrics ‘maybe I talk too much, maybe I’ve lost my touch’; the Arlen/Koehler spiritual influenced Get Happy is sung in a more bluesy voice, with all the musicians joining in; Far From The Home I Love is a wistful, melancholy song about a woman who is homesick yet wants to stay with her man; Dedicated To You has the voice brought close to the microphone, intimate and smooth jazz. The Bambrick original, I Don’t Mind A Bit, is an amusing song similar to My Funny Valentine, with lines such as ‘and socially you’re quite a twit’, and our singer whistles a half chorus, adding to the fun. Kurt Weill’s My Ship, a beautiful song about a luxurious ship which is bringing a lover back, includes a fine and appropriate guitar solo. Other tracks are: Never Never Land; How Does It Feel; You’ll Never Know; Surrey With The Fringe On Top; A Time For Love.
I was a bit puzzled about why the final track was included. This was the Newfoundland folk song Petty Harbour Bait Skiff, concerning a fishing boat disaster, a jazzy version, well sung with just a piano accompaniment. This was a sad song to end with and although the performance was good, the song seemed as if it belonged to a different CD, perhaps a CD wholly of jazz interpretations of folk songs. Nevertheless, it didn’t detract from the enjoyment of the CD as a whole.
This CD was released on February 10, 2017.  See www.HeatherBambrick.ca 

Ann Alex

No comments :

Blog Archive