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Bebop Spoken There

Spasmo Brown: “Jazz is an ice cream sandwich! It's the Fourth of July! It's a girl with a waterbed!”. (Syncopated Times, July, 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

17328 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 16 years ago. 612 of them this year alone and, so far, 17 this month (Sept. 5).

From This Moment On ...

September

Tue 10: ???

Wed 11: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 11: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 11: The Tannery Jam Session @ The Tannery, Gilesgate, Hexham. 7:00-9:00pm. Free. A ‘second Wednesday in the month’ jam session.
Wed 11: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 12: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 12: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:30pm. £4.00. ‘A Great Day in Harlem’.
Thu 12: The Cuban Heels @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Pete Tanton & co.
Thu 12: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesborough. 8:30pm. Free. THC with guests Donna Hewitt, Bill Watson, Dave Archbold, Adrian Beadnell, Mark Hawkins.

Fri 13: Jeff Barnhart & Neville Dickie @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Two pianos, two pianists! SOLD OUT!
Fri 13: Noel Dennis Quartet @ The Old Library, Auckland Castle, Bishop Auckland. 1:00pm. £8.00.
Fri 13: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 13: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 13: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 13: Dilutey Juice @ Old Coal Yard, Byker, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £11.00. adv..
Fri 13: Ray Stubbs R & B All-stars @ The Forum, Darlington. 7:30pm. Classic blues.

Sat 14: Jeff Barnhart’s Silent Film Fest @ St Augustine's Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. Darlington New Orleans Jazz Club.
Sat 14: Customs House Big Band w. Ruth Lambert @ St Paul’s Centre, St Paul’s Gardens, Spennymoor DL16 7LR. 7:00pm (6:45pm doors). Tickets £10.00. from the venue or tel: 01388 813404. A ‘BYOB’ event.
Sat 14: Emma Wilson @ Claypath Deli, Durham. 7:00pm. £12.00. Acoustic blues.
Sat 14: Rat Pack - Swingin’ at the Sands @ Billingham Forum. 7:30pm.

Sun 15: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 15: Jude Murphy, Steve Chambers & Sid White @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 15: Tweed River Jazz Band @ Barrels Ale House, Berwick-upon-Tweed. 7:00pm. Free.
Sun 15: Panharmonia @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 16: Swing Manouche @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 1:00pm. £9.00.
Mon 16: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 16: John Hallam with the James Birkett Trio @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00. A Blaydon Jazz Club 40th anniversary concert!

Thursday, August 31, 2017

CD Review: Leo Richardson Quartet - The Chase

Leo Richardson (tenor); Rick Simpson (piano); Mark Lewandowski (bass); Ed Richardson (drums) + Quintin Collins trumpet on 3 tracks) ; Alan Skidmore (tenor on 1 track).
(Review by Lance).
Still early days but, when I heard this album my immediate thought was that all bets are off regarding the CD of the Year. I double checked - had I put on a Dexter Gordon CD by mistake? No this wasn't the great Dex - none of those amusing quotes that gradually become annoying!
Nothing to annoy here. Just pleasure of the kind that Dexter gave in between the quotes. Leo is the most exciting tenor saxist that I've heard since Simon Spillett arrived on the scene. This is hard bop Blue Note as it was when I were a lad. Think Jazz Messengers and, if you were on Tyneside in the early '60s, the Emcee Five.
Then imagine them having absorbed some of the contemporary sounds along the way and you're getting close. Close, but no cigar. The Leo Richardson Quartet, augmented by Quintin Collins (3 tracks) and Alan Skidmore (1) owe direct allegiance to no one and indirect allegiance to everyone recorded by Rudy Van Gelder.
Wow! I just don't know where to begin.
Blues For Joe, Joe being Joe Henderson is a natural for Leo blowing, as he does, with the same intensity as the late master and driven on by Ed Richardson (kinfolk?).
Demon E. Collins brings some Lee Morgan to the table and the two horns ensure that 'Blakey Lives'.
The Curve. A blues with a bridge - maybe that's the curve that's been thrown. It doesn't phase them. Still in quintet form, it's another belter. Reminds me of Sidewinder.
The Chase, needless to say, has stunning tenor and trumpet solos but it's Rick and Ed who lay claim to the cigars with Mark providing the lighter fuel.
Elisha's Song is a sumptuous ballad. Romantic but not cloying. Whoever Elisha is she must surely be overwhelmed by the outpouring of love from the tenor saxophone as well as a shorter but equally sincere display of devotion from the piano.
Mambo has but a tenuous relationship to the South American dance and nobody shouts 'ooh'! This doesn't stop it swinging!
Silver Lining; a tribute to Horace Silver that continues to lay down the groove before Alan Skidmore enters the warzone and the frontline advance under Mr. Skid who sets it well and truly alight. But, you ain't heard nuttin' yet ...
I've kept the good news till last.
The Leo Richardson Quartet are booked to play Darlington's Opus 4 Club (Travellers Rest, 2 West Auckland Rd., Cockerton, Darlington DL3 9ER.) on Friday, December 1.
Album available October 6, launch October 11 at The Spice of Life (ah memories!) Soho.
Check it out here.
Lance.

1 comment :

Russell said...

Leo played tenor in Matt Roberts Sextet at the Darlington Jazz Festival 2016 and 2017. An amazing player who generated feverish excitement. Opus 4 Dec. 1, be there.

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