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Bebop Spoken There

Branford Marsalis: "As ignorance often forces us to do, you make a generalisation about a musician based on one specific record or one moment in time." - (Jazzwise 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

15478 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 499 of them this year alone and, so far, 120 this month (May 27).

From This Moment On ...

May 2023

Wed 31: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 31: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 31: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 7:00pm.
Wed 31: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

June
Thu 01: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 01: Thursday Night Prayer Meeting @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Donations.
Thu 01: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Ragtime piano. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.
Thu 01: Jake Leg Jug Band @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Thu 01: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 02: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 02: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 02: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 02: Joseph Carville Trio @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm.
Fri 02: Claire Martin & Her Trio @ The Witham, Barnard Castle. 7:30pm. £25.00., £20.00. Feat. Jim Mullen, Alex Garnett & Jeremy Brown.
Fri 02: Guy Davis + Michael Littlefield & Scott Taylor @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. Doors 7:30pm. Blues double bill.
Fri 02: Anders Ingram @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Blind Pig Blues Club. Country blues. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

Sat 03: Newcastle Record Fair @ Northumbria University, Newcastle NE8 8SB. 10:00am-3:00pm. Admission: £2.00.
Sat 03: Pedigree Jazz Band @ St Augustine's Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm.
Sat 03: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. Tutor: Sue Ferris. £25.00. Enrol at: www.jazz.coop.
Sat 03: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 6:00pm. Free.
Sat 03: Rendezvous Jazz @ Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.
Sat 03: Papa G's Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

Sun 04: Smokin' Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm.
Sun 04: Central Bar Quintet @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00-4:00pm. £5.00. The Central Bar Quintet plays Sonny Rollins' Saxophone Colossus. Featuring Lewis Watson.
Sun 04: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 3:00pm.
Sun 04: Struggle Buggy + Michael Littlefield @ Tyne Bar, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. Acoustic blues.
Sun 04: Swinging at the Cotton Club: Harry Strutters' Hot Rhythm Orchestra @ The Fire Station, Sunderland. 7:30pm.
Sun 04: Richard Jones Trio @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 05: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

Tue 06: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 06: Jam session @ Black Swan, Newcastle Arts Centre. 7:30pm. House trio: Stu Collingwood (piano); Paul Grainger (double bass); Sid White (drums).

Wednesday, October 18, 2017

CD Review: Andrew Linham Jazz Orchestra - Weapons of Mass Distraction

Call me old-fashioned, not just because I love the moonlight, but because I tend to go along with (most of the time) Duke's maxim that it don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing. 
From the opening bars of Screaming Ab Dabs I knew that, even without any do-wah-do-wah- do wahs, this had that swing.
21st-century swing that is - timeless swing. The rhythms may not be the chug chug chug of long ago but the essential pulse is there irrespective of the meter. As the man once said, "If you gotta ask..."
Sharking in the Chalet (don't ask!) has a TV cop show feel about it with some fine piano from Tom Millar, fluent soprano from Tommy Andrews and an ensemble licensed to kill.
I Arksque You This (don't ask!) I'm not sure what the question is but if it relates to Rosie Turton's trombone solo then the answer is A+.
Dinosaur Face (don't ask!) opens with nice, relaxed pub piano, Sam Warner playing smooth trumpet, a brief moment from Chris Saunders, less brief from Andrew Robb on bass before Rich Perks perks the ante up. The ensemble's now in full flight. Phil Meadows floats around on soprano with the other soloists punctuating, the drama mounts, the dinosaurs are on the attack - is civilisation doomed? No! Meadows' soprano sends them packing and they become extinct until Laura Jurd discovers one 65 million years later but that is another story...
Pyrrhic Victory (don't ask!) sounds, to my ears, what the Goodman 1938 band may have sounded like in 2018. Some clarinet going on (Johnny Chung?); Tom Green moves his slide around a bit - another triumph for composer/arranger Linham but isn't it about time he blew?
Big Bertha's Quarter to Twos (don't ask!) Is one of those numbers that suggest somebody has opened up a jazz club in Nashville. Linham may have been involved in the shootout. That Big Bertha she's quite a gal...
Apples Aren't the Only Fruit (don't ask!) Andrew rides again with some baritone playing that doesn't take any prisoners and neither does Perks with a great guitar blast before Saunders sets the slide on fire.
Don't Mention Janet (we won't). Riley Stone-Lonergan is the one whose lips are sealed he kick starts the most exciting ensemble of the album - maybe of the year, maybe ever!
Henchmen Live the Shortest Lives (don't ask). Miguel Gorodi plays lyrical trumpet - beautiful.
Waitress Winking (don't ask!) Linham and Rosie - a flirtation twixt sax and trombone? Another amazing arrangement.
I Remember Fenton (don't ask!). The, presumably, late Fenton brings out the emotive side of Riley-Lonergan as well as that of arranger/composer Linham.
This is an absolutely amazing big band album. Is it a big band or a jazz orchestra or maybe a new dimension?
I don't know if Andrew Linham used up his whole box of tricks on these compositions and arrangements but, if he's still got a few more boxes to open, then look out world!
Lance.
Tommy Andrews, Phil Meadows, Riley Stone-Lonergan, Johnny Chung, Andrew Linham (saxes); Barney Lowe, Miguel Gorodi, Sam Warner, Matt Roberts, Andy Hall (trumpets); Rosie Turton, Tom Green, Chris Saunders, Barney Medland (trombones); Tom Millar (piano); Rich Perks (guitar); Andrew Robb (bass); Dave Ingamells (drums).
PS: I'm not 100% on the soloists as gleaned from the sleeve but closse enough for jazz I guess.

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