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Bebop Spoken There

Delfeayo Marsalis: "Slide Hampton once told me that it's not always the person that is playing the highest or playing the fastest that's making the greatest impact." - (DownBeat March 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

15229 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 248 of them this year alone and, so far, 61 this month (March 20).

From This Moment On ...

March

Tue 21: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 21: Jam session @ Black Swan, Newcastle Arts Centre. 7:30pm. House trio: Jacob Egglestone (guitar); Jamie Watkins (bass guitar); Bailey Rudd (drums).

Wed 22: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 22: Darlington Big Band @ Traveller's Rest, Cockerton. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public). Note change of venue - this week only.
Wed 22: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 7:00pm.
Wed 22: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 23: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 4:00-6:00pm. Free.
Thu 23: NUJO Jazz Jam @ Bar Loco, Newcasatle. From 6:30pm 'til late. Free. Newcastle University Jazz Orchestra jam session. All welcome (students & non-students).
Thu 23: Kerrin Tatman + John Garner & John Pope @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 23: Sunna Gunnlaugs & Julia Hülsmann @ Sage Gateshead. 8:00pm. A two-piano gig. A Sage Gateshead-JNE promotion.
Thu 23: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Ragtime piano.
Thu 23: Sleep Suppressor @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £10.00., £8.00. adv. Upstairs.
Thu 23: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 24: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 24: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 24: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 24: FILM: Mo' Better Blues @ Forum Cinema, Hexham. 7:00pm.
Fri 24: Ian Millar & Dominic Spencer @ Scarth Hall, Staindrop, Co. Durham. 8:00pm. £10.00.
Fri 24: Archipelago + Bulbils @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.

Sat 25: Vermont Big Band @ Walker Community Centre, Walker, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Fundraiser for Benfield Juniours Football Club. Hot food available, BYOB.
Sat 25: John Logan & Friends @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Rat Pack, Motown etc. 8:00pm. Free (donations).

Sun 26: Musicians Unlimited @ Park Inn, Hartlepool. 1:00pm.
Sun 26: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 3:00pm.
Sun 26: Outlines @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. JNE promotion (upstairs).

Mon 27: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

Tuesday, June 06, 2017

CD Review: Kevin Fitzsimmons - Working Day and Night

Kevin Fitzsimons (vocals); Leon Greening (piano); Adam King (bass); Matt Fishwick (drums); Frank Griffith (ten sax); Lloyd Haines (ten sax on bonus track).
(Review by Ann Alex).
The information sheet provided with this review CD (from Beaconville Music) was a reviewer’s dream, with all the gen listed in bullet points and all you needed to know at the top of the sheet. I wish they were all like this. So I learned that this is Mr Fitzsimmons second album, recorded live at Soho’s Pizza Express Jazz Club  in 2016, and the album launch is at the same establishment on June 18 at 1pm. We have Gasbook songs, soul and rock classics, and two Fitzsimmons compositions, all inventively sung well, by our more than competent singer and a stellar band.
Fitzsimmons; a Londoner, a bandleader, a songwriter and a performer  at Ronnie Scott’s and further afield. His vocals have been used in TV and radio commercials. What’s more, our singer also did the original artwork on the CD cover.
The opening track, Working Day and Night, is busy, speedy, with lots of repeated notes in the piano solo, suiting the subject well. The original Don’t You Dare Get Bored With Me is edgy, with musical references to Work Song, when work is mentioned, and Old Devil Moon is made more devilish by  being sung in short sharp phrases. Sting’s Every Breath You Take is a real swinger, with clever band references to Don’t Get Around Much Any More. Here’s That Rainy Day becomes a Latin style tune and the original, Cuban Alibi, another Latin, is an edgy song about a last time meeting with a lover.
Other tracks are: This Masquerade and It Never Entered My Mind. The CD is cleverly finalised with a bonus track of Georgia On My Mind, an extended version with lots of playing around with the lyrics and an extremely long vocal note, a bit of forgivable showing off, forgivable because the singer and the band deserve to be listened to.
Available from Cadiz Music on the Jazzwurx label, cat no. JWR012CD from June 9. See www.jazzwurx.co.uk
Ann Alex.   

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