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Bebop Spoken There

Steve Fishwick: “I can’t get behind the attitude that new is always somehow better than old” - Jazz Journal, April 15, 2019,

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...

Postage

16034 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 1041 of them this year alone and, so far, 73 this month (Nov. 27).

From This Moment On ...

November

Tue 28: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Victoria & Albert Inn, Seaton Delaval NE25 0AT. 12:30pm. ‘Afternoon Jazz Tea Party’ £12.00. Tickets from: 0191 237 3697.
Tue 28: Full Score & Durham University Jazz Orchestra @ St Oswald’s Church, Durham. 7:00pm. £8.00., £7.00. conc., £6.00. DSM. ‘Singing with a Swing’. In support of the Angel Trust.
Tue 28: Pete Tanton’s Chet Set @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. £12.00., £10.00. Doors 7pm/Music 8pm.

Wed 29: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 29: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 29: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 30: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 30: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 7:30pm (7:00pm doors). Tickets: £25.00. inc. buffet. A Gatsby themed evening.
Thu 30: Jools Holland's R & B Orchestra @ Newcastle City Hall. 7:30pm.
Thu 30: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Ragtime piano. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.
Thu 30: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. Guest band night: Mark Toomey Quintet (Mark Toomey, sax; Paul Donnelly, guitar; Jeremy McMurray, keys; Peter Ayton, bass; Mark Robertson, drums). 9:00pm.

December
Fri 01: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 01: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 01: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 01: Paul Skerritt @ All Saints’ Church, Eastgate, Co. Durham. 7:00pm. Xmas Tree Fest.
Fri 01: Alligator Gumbo @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm.
Fri 01: Nu Sound Brass @ Billy Bootlegger’s, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free.
Fri 01: Struggle Buggy w. Jim Murray @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Blind Pig Blues Club. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sat 02: Paula Jackman's Jazz Masters @ St Augustine's Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. £10.00.
Sat 02: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. Tutor: Steve Glendinning. £25.00. Enrol at: www.jazz.coop.
Sat 02: Abbie Finn Trio @ Claypath Deli, Durham. 7:00pm.
Sat 02: Tenement Jazz Band @ John Marley Centre, Newcastle. Swing Tyne Winter Social. £8.00. + bf. Advance purchase only, no admission at the door. BYOB. Lindy hop workshop from 11:00am. £39.00.
Sat 02: Zoë Gilby Quartet @ The Masham, Hartburn Village, Stockton. 7:00pm. Feat. Noel Dennis.
Sat 02: Classic Swing @ The Nuthatch, 9 - 11 Bedford St, Middlesbrough TS1 2LL. 7:00-9:00pm. Classic Swing in trio format.
Sat 02: Paul Skerritt w. Danny Miller Big Band @ Westovian Theatre, South Shields. 7:30pm.
Sat 02: Vermont Big Band @ Whitley Bay FC. 7:30pm. £10.00. (inc. hot buffet). Tickets available from WBFC’s Seahorse pub club house.
Sat 02: Milne-Glendinning Band @ Ponteland Social Club, Northumberland. 7:30pm. £18.00 (inc. stotties & soup supper). A fundraiser for Hexham Constituency Labour Party.
Sat 02: Tom Remon & Laurence Harrison @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sat 02: Rendezvous Jazz @ Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. Xmas party night inc. buffet & special raffle. £3.00.
Sat 02: Groovetrain @ The Unionist Club, Laygate, South Shields. 9:00pm.

Sun 03: The Central Bar Quartet @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £10.00. The Central Bar Quartet plays Lou Donaldson’s Gravy Train. Featuring Jamie Toms.
Sun 03: Paul Skerritt @ Smith’s Arms, Carlton, Stockton-on-Tees. 7:00pm.
Sun 03: Johnny Hunter Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Sun 03: Jam session @ The Schooner, Gateshead. 8:00pm. Free.

Mon 04: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Mon 04: Northern Monkey Brass Band @ People’s Kitchen, Bath Lane, Newcastle. From 5:30pm. On-street gig supporting the work of the People’s Kitchen charity. Wrap up warm! Donate!
Mon 04: Michael Young Trio w Lindsay Hannon @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 7:00pm. Free.
Mon 04: James Birkett Trio @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £8.00.
Mon 04: Durham University Jazz Orchestra + Durham University Big Band @ Durham Castle DH1 3RW. 8:30pm. £6.00.; £5.00. concs; £4.00. DSM. ‘Jazzy Christmas’.

Friday, October 20, 2017

CD Launch: Oli Rockberger - Sovereign. Press release

(Press release)
Pianist, vocalist, songwriter and producer Oli Rockberger’s fourth studio release, Sovereign (his first for the Whirlwind label and following on from his self-release Old Habits), takes its title from the viewpoints of transition, growth and independence. The music for this album came together from a decision to return to his native London after sixteen years in the United States where, following successful graduation from Berklee College of Music attended as a Full Tuition Scholarship recipient, his hugely formative New York career developed as sideman to big-name jazz instrumentalists including Randy Brecker, Will Lee (with Steve Gadd) and Nathan East, to working alongside acclaimed singer-songwriters Carly Simon, Jesse Harris and John Mayer. Now based in the UK capital, Rockberger continues to work internationally as an in-demand sideman, with recent collaborations including Becca Stevens, Richard Spaven, Fridolijn and Louis Cole, in addition to his ongoing work with acclaimed UK songstress Laura Mvula, as a member of her touring band (keys/vocals). 
Sovereign features ten, intelligently-crafted songs, with stories and lyrics drawn from life experiences. Rockberger’s music is grounded in a love of soul, jazz, gospel and R&B and, at times, may suggest Steve Winwood or Peter Gabriel, Colin Blunstone or Bon Iver. Yet there’s a personal, affecting integrity to Rockberger’s work that marks it out distinctively, due in part to his compositional detailing and a strong empathy with his personnel. Working closely as a trio with drummer Jordan Perlson and bassist Jordan Scannella, he also invites further trusted names from his “New York family” – album co-producer Chris Abell, guitarists John Shannon and Ryan Scott, vocalist Hannah Read, while ‘The Garden’ (track 7) features bass from Owen Biddle and drums/programming/co-production from Zach Danziger (Rockberger, Biddle and Danziger have put out three albums as collaborative experimental electro-soul group Mister Barrington).
Recorded predominantly as live-in-studio takes, Sovereign’s visceral dynamic, combined with the richness of judicious overdubs, is key to the “perfect marriage” that the pianist hears in his favorite albums. From the country-blues Wurlitzer hook of ‘Let’s Stay Home’, through the buoyant, gospel-infused outpourings of ‘Burned’, to the edgy, soulful groove of ‘My Old Life’, here are songs that explore the push-pull emotion of human relationships, alongside an ever-present sense of leaving places behind and treasuring memories.
As a vocalist, Rockberger leans so meaningfully on his lyrics and drives them with impressive, pianistic fervour – American-rock ballad ‘Right Through Me’ communicating sincerity through the added dimension of Hannah Read’s pure vocal, and reverberant ‘The Garden’ tenderly expressing perseverance. Randy Newman-style ‘Ridiculous’ drolly envisages the heightened-reality ‘what if’ of an imagined coffee-shop encounter, while ‘Vertigo’s pacey vibe becomes underpinned by a darker, unknown quality. ‘Is Anybody Out There’ and tender pop-ballad ‘Let Go’ express themes of searching, moving on and belonging; and broad, rallying Hammond anthem ‘Justify’ is so gloriously uplifting.
Discussing the importance of the project, Rockberger explains: “I absolutely love and am proud to record and tour with other artists; but it’s also essential to have my own identity and creative voice – it feeds my soul in another way, as a songwriter, arranger and producer. Ultimately, I want to make music that gives people a warmth, or a feeling of being understood in some way. For me, songwriting is about making sense of what is going on in your life at that time; and, hopefully, other people that listen to it… can make sense of what they’re doing in their life, or what they’re going through, as well.”

UK Tour Dates 2017
20 October: Pizza Express Jazz Club, Holborn, London (Launch)
23 October: Ropetackle Arts Centre, Shoreham by Sea
14 November: Pizza Express Jazz Club, Soho, London (part of the EFG London Jazz Festival)

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