Total Pageviews

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

Mon 20: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Mon 20: Central Bar Quintet plays Wes Montgomery @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 7:30pm. Feat. Joe Steels.

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.

Saturday, September 09, 2017

CD Review: Gareth Lockrane Big Band - Fistfight at the Barndance

(Review by Lance).
I first heard the Gareth Lockrane Big Band at the Spice of Life one heady afternoon at the 2013 London Jazz Festival. I was knocked out then and I'm knocked out now - with an album of this name, how could I not be!?
Fistfight at the Barndance: What a great title for both the album and the opening track!  Inspired by a riff his dad used to blow on harmonica Lockrane has expanded it into a number that does give image to a barn dance brawl with Dickinson, Lockrane and Stanley the ones slugging it out.

With such a stellar line-up it's impossible to single anyone out - apart from Lockrane that is. His compositions, arrangements and playing on an assortment of flutes, place him way up high in the upper echelons of British Jazz (correction, substitute 'British' with 'World').
Well, maybe I'll single out a few more!
If I didn't mention Paul Booth's tenor workout on, On the Fly I'd become personae non gratae  in the north-east jazz society, Paul being ranked alongside, Kathy Stobart, Derek Humble, the brothers Carr, Colin Oxley, Dave Cliff, Ronnie Stephenson, Chris Sharkey and a few others who have made their mark further afield (There are a few more in the pipeline!)
On the Fly features Lockrane, Fishwick (in cracking form) and Paul.
Ian Thomas whose drumming really pushes the soloists. Gardiner-Bateman, to me, a new name on alto, but not for long I guess.
Ross Stanley: Piano fine but put him behind the good old Hammond B3 (if it is such) and he becomes a man possessed!
Forever Now, a beautiful tune that is worthy of words, however, solos from Lockrane and Taimoori transcend words.
Big bands today are stuck between the devil and the deep blue sea. Do you go for the tried and tested formula of 70 years ago or the orchestral explorations of more contemporary bands?
I love Ellington, Basie, Shaw, Goodman etc. - on record. I don't want to hear today's musicians playing the old (or even updated) charts of the classics.
Likewise, I don't want to listen to some contemporary big name bands (in small pools, I admit) who bore the backside off of you with their pretentious arrangements - the Paul Whiteman's of today.
The bands I have liked in recent years include - Rob McConnell, Cincinnati's Blue Wisp Band, Jones-Lewis, Clarke-Boland, Gordon Goodwin and - Gareth Lockrane!
Lance.
The album is launched on Monday (Sept.11) at Kings Place, London. Details. Samples etc.
Gareth Lockrane (flutes/piccolo/compositions/arrangements); Sam Mayne, James Gardiner-Bateman (alto/soprano/clarinet); Graeme Blevins (tenor on 8 tks); Paul Booth (tenor on 3 tks); Nadim Teimoori (tenor/flute); Richard Shepherd (baritone/bass clarinet); Andy Greenwood, Tom Walsh, Steve Fishwick, Henry Collins (trumpet/flugel); Mark Nightingale, Barnaby Dickinson, Trevor Mires (trombone); Barry Clements (bass trombone); Mike Outram (guitar); Ross Stanley (Hammond/piano/Rhodes); Ryan Trebilcock (bass); Ian Thomas (drums); Hugh Wilkinson (perc.); Jonny Mansfield (marimba on 1 tk.)

No comments :

Blog Archive