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Bebop Spoken There

Béla Fleck: “ And that's the great thing about live performances, you take people on a journey. It doesn't have to be like something else they've heard. It's not supposed to be". DownBeat, April, 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

Thu 28: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 28: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Gateshead Central Library, Gateshead. 2:30pm.
Thu 28: Richard Herdman Quartet @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 28: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm. Guests: Josh Bentham (alto sax); Alan Marshall (tenor sax); Neil Brodie (trumpet); Adrian Beadnell (bass); Graham Thompson (keys); Steve Hunter (drums).

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.

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.

Wednesday, October 04, 2017

CD Review:Andy Brown Quartet - Direct Call (with a backward glance at Hank Garland)

Andy Brown (guitar); Jeremy Kahn (piano); Joe Policastro (bass); Phil Gratteau (drums).
(Review by Lance).
Patti was Goin' to Chicago - "Sorry but I can't take you". However, after, like Little Jimmy Rushing she done been here and gone, she done returned with this rather splendid CD bringing to my attention a very fine quartet.
I knew I was going to like it before I even played it. Any band that includes Hoagy's One Morning in May (the month!in their setlist is going to get my vote. The fact that it wasn't quite what I expected didn't harm it at all - if the tune's good enough it can handle all-comers.
One Morning in May's good enough - even played uptempo in 3/4 it still hit the spot.
Brown is one of those guitarists you could listen to forever without being bored or needing earplugs. Howard Alden, Joe Pass, Barney, Herb shared this quality with him. Alden still does and they have recorded together. Closer to home, James Birkett and Roly Veitch work the same side of the street.
Andy Brown may be the man out front but he's got three of Chi's best behind him.
Jeremy Kahn is my kind of pianist, lots of locked hands, block chord solos - Shearing, Garner, Peterson, Brubeck, Milt Buckner the influences. 
Policastro is the bassman's bassist. Not just for his timekeeping and sizzling solos but also the almost cello-like sound he produces on his arco solo on A Prisoner of Love.
Gratteau, likewise, epitomises taste in what I sometimes think is fast becoming a vanishing commodity
Well, maybe not as long as these guys are around. One of the tracks that really knocked me out (I know they all did) was Relaxing I'd heard the tune before but where? It's so catchy you need but hear it once and you know where it's going - and you wouldn't want it to go anywhere else. The album notes provided the answer: "From the late guitarist Hank Garland's landmark early sixties recording  Jazz Winds From a New Direction." 'Hey, I've got that!' I shouted excitedly to Daphne the cat. She was cool about it but I dug out the old Phillips vinyl (BBL 7475) and played it. With 17-year-old Gary Burton, Joe Benjamin and Joe Morello alongside Garland I saw from whence Andy Brown was coming from. This was great - a new love and a rediscovered old love. Perhaps I'll play them on alternate evenings - sorry Andy, I'm working late/sorry Hank it's my bowling club night.
I don't know if the Garland album is still available but you can get the Andy Brown Quartet disc on Delmark DE5023. (samples/buy)
The Jeep is Jumpin'; Prisoner of Love; El Cajon; Funk in Deep Freeze; Appel Direct; Relaxing; One Morning in May; Catch Me; Ela É Carioca; Freak of the Week.
Lance.

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