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Bebop Spoken There

Simon Spillett: “ Bebop and hard bop came naturally to him [Tubby Hayes]". Morning Star, March 28, 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

16287 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 16 years ago. 169 of them this year alone and, so far, 41 this month (Mar 18).

From This Moment On ...

March

Fri 29: FILM: Soul @ The Forum Cinema, Hexham. 12:30pm. Jazz-themed film animation.
Fri 29: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 29: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 29: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 29: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 6:00pm. Free. POSTPONED!
Fri 29: Thundercat @ Newcastle City Hall.
Fri 29: John Logan @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Fri 29: True Colours @ Barrels Ale House, Berwick. 9:00pm. Blues, jazz & swing.

Sat 30: Papa G’s Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sat 30: Pete Tanton’s Cuba Libre @ Whitley Bay Library, York Road, Whitley Bay. 8:00pm.

Sun 31: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay Metro Station. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 31: Ruth Lambert Trio @ Juke Shed, Union Quay, North Shields NE30 1HJ. 3:00pm. Free. Lambert, Alan Law & Paul Grainger.
Sun 31: Sid Jacobs & Tom Remon @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. USA/London jazz guitar duo.
Sun 31: Bellavana @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

April
Mon 01: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 01: Ray Stubbs R&B All Stars @ Billy Bootlegger’s, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 3:00pm. Free.

Tue 02: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Dean Stockdale, Paul Grainger, Abbie Finn.

Wed 03: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 03: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 03: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 04: FILM: Soul @ Forum Cinema, Hexham. 2:00pm. Jazz-themed film animation.
Thu 04: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 04: Funky Drummer @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Thu 04: Eva Fox & the Jazz Guys @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 04: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm.

Saturday, October 21, 2017

CD Review: Sherri Roberts - Anybody's Spring

Sherri Roberts (vocal); David Udolf (piano); Harvie S (bass); Akira Tana (drums); Sheryl Bailey (guitar).
(Review by Lance).
The seasons have provided fertile material for songwriters, often to the point of overkill with: Winter Wonderland, Autumn Leaves and Summertime being typical examples of good songs that have been flogged to death unlike Winter in Madrid (Ann Richards w. Kenton), Autumn Serenade and The Things We Did Last Summer which are all worthy of more exposure.
Spring, however, is a different kettle of fish - possibly because there are more of them [songs] - but, since Shakespeare's It Was a Lover and His Lass, Spring, like love, has ever been in the air and the airs on this album are 12 of the best sung by a lady who moved from theatre to song when she recognized that exploring the rich emotional life of a character through story can be done far more economically in a four-minute song than a two-hour play; that a well-written song is like a drama in miniature, distilled to its musical essence; and that singing, like acting, offers the means to externalize the deeper, internal self. She walked away from theatre and onto the bandstand, and hasn’t looked back since.
And I'm rather glad about that!
Initially, I missed the boat on this one. It was scheduled for release in March just after the vernal equinox but maybe I, or the mailman, was hibernating and so I never got to hear it until now. The theme is Spring - now a distant memory - but, such is the choice of songs, that indeed It Might as Well (still) be Spring.
A delightful choice of songs: It's Anybody's Spring; Spring Sprang Sprung; They Say It's Spring; It Might as Well be Spring; Joy Spring; Double Rainbow; Now at Last; One Morning in May; Lady Bird; While We're Young; Spring Isn't Everything.
Roberts is a class act, I've noticed how singers with a theatrical background know how to project a lyric and Sherri does just that albeit not as the great diva, more the ingénue who steals the show. Chet Baker or Shirley Horn spring to mind.
A stellar supporting cast keeps the momentum flowing. Solos by Udolf and Bailey impress as does Harvie S along with Tana's brushwork on One Morning in May or One Mornin' in May as Roberts tells it. Bass and drums also boot Lady Bird along prior to solos from guitar, piano, voice and drums. 
Four bars of Robbins' Nest sung by Roberts sees the track safely home.
I'm always saying that there are too many female singers rolling off the conveyor belts but, when they're of this calibre all I can say is, 'Keep them conveyor belts rolling'.
Lance.

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