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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

15491 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 512 of them this year alone and, so far, 133 this month (May 31).

From This Moment On ...

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).

Wed 07: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 07: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 07: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 7:00pm.
Wed 07: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 08: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free. CANCELLED! BACK ON JUNE 15.
Thu 08: Easington Colliery Brass Band @ The Lubetkin Theatre, Peterlee. 7:00pm. £10.00.
Thu 08: Faye MacCalman + Blue Dust Archive @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 08: Dilutey Juice + Ceramic @ The Ampitheatre, Sea Road, South Shields. 7:00pm. Free. A South Tyneside Festival event.
Thu 08: Lara Jones w. Vigilance State @ Lubber Fiend, Blandford Square, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 08: Michael Littlefield @ the Harbour View, Roker, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Country blues.
Thu 08: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 09: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 09: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 09: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 09: Castillo Nuevo @ Revolución de Cuba, Newcastle. 5:30-8:30pm.
Fri 09: Emma Rawicz @ Sage Gateshead. 8:00pm.

Sat 10: Front Porch Three @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. Americana, blues, jazz etc.
Sat 10: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

Sun 11: WORKSHOP: Tim Richards' Jazz Piano Workshop @ JG Windows, Newcastle. Time TBC. Further details tel. 0191 232 1356.
Sun 11: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:30pm. Free.
Sun 11: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 3:00pm.
Sun 11: Groovetrain @ Innisfree Sports & Social Club, Longbenton NE12 8TY. Doors 6:30pm. £15.00 (£7.00. under 16).
Sun 11: Jeffrey Hewer Collective @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 12: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

Tuesday, November 07, 2017

CD Review: Alex Weitz - Luma

Alex Weitz (tenor); Tal Cohen (piano); Ben Tiberio (bass); Michael Piolet (drums).
(Review by Lance).
I'm not going to claim that this is the Album of the Year - how could I when there are so many?
Nevertheless, it will certainly be a lot nearer than the top than the bottom.
It's an honest album, by which I mean it doesn't hide behind any bizarre electronics and, to my ears, non-musical effects. Instead, we have hard swinging post-bop tenor contrasting with Debussy/Delius-like musical reveries that may hark back to Weitz's early days with the Tucson Jazz Institute Ellington Band where he versed himself in the music of Duke and Basie.

Fast forward to today and, although that foundation is built-in he's also built upon it. The great tenor players such as Griffin, Mobley, Getz, Jimmy Heath, Joe Henderson, Coltrane, and others have also left their mark from which Weitz has emerged as his own man. Not just a driving force but also a tender balladeer and composer. No pet shop fires here just a man laying his cards on the table and showing a full house.
Weitz may have composed and arranged all 9 tracks but he's not the only one to catch the ear. Pianist Cohen is as sympathetic a pianist as Weitz could wish for and, when he's let loose, he goes for broke. Tiberio holds it all together as a good bassist should whilst Piolet knows just when to put the boot in which is quite often.
Weitz received DownBeat's Outstanding Undergraduate Soloist award in 2013, as well as recognition from ASCAP as an outstanding young jazz composer. Methinks that in the future there will be more awards from DownBeat.
If not, I'll cancel my subscription and buy the NME.
Lance.

1 comment :

Christoph Büch said...

Hi Lance, quite a convincing review. I`m also a fan of the pure stuff. So, I probably gonna get me "Luna". Thank`s for the tip.
By the way, do you know Dudley Owens Aaron Wright Band "People Calling" (Origin 2012).
Should meet your taste, wonderful sax-blowing and a very warm acoustic sound. Sounds even a bit (of course only a bit ..) like "A Love Supreme". Give it a try!
Greetings from Berlin
Christoph

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