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Bebop Spoken There

Billy Boy Arnold: “As long as you don't think old you're good.” - DownBeat, December, 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!"

Simon Spillett: A lovely review from the dean of jazz bloggers, Lance Liddle...

Postage

16051 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 1058 of them this year alone and, so far, 12 this month (Dec. 6).

From This Moment On ...

December

Sat 09: Prudhoe Community Band @ Central Station, Newcastle. 10:00am - 12 noon. Charity fundraiser.
Sat 09: Durham Alumni Big Band @ Number One Bar, Skinnergate, Darlington. 1:00pm.
Sat 09: Castillo Nuevo Trio @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 5:30pm. Free.
Sat 09: Hayley's Little Big Band @ Middleton & Todridge Village Hall, Morpeth. 7:30pm. £12.00., £6.00.
Sat 09: Paul Skerritt @ Slaley Hall, Hexham NE47 0BX. 7:30pm. From £42.00.

Sun 10: Musicians Unlimited’s Xmas Party with Zoë Gilby Quartet @ Park Inn, Hartlepool. MU 1:00-3:00pm; Zoë Gilby Quartet 4:00-6:00pm. Tickets: £7.50.
Sun 10: Alan Law, Paul Grainger & Abbie Finn @ Darlington Market, Market Square, Darlington. 1:00pm. Free. A ‘Christmas Market’ outdoor gig. Wrap up warm!
Sun 10: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00-4:00pm. Free.
Sun 10: Funk Soul Sista @ Stack, Seaburn. 5:00-7:00pm. Free.
Sun 10: Beth Clarke @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 10: Hayley's Little Big Band @ Whittingham Memorial Institute, Alnwick. 7:30pm. £12.00., £10.00.
Sun 10: Tele-Port @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Line-up inc. Zhenya Strigalev.

Mon 11: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 11: Interim Final Recitals @ Newcastle University. Details TBC.

Tue 12: Stu Collingwood Organ Trio @ Forum Music Centre, Darlington. 7:00pm. £10.00.

Wed 13: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 13: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 13: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 13: Bold Big Band @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:30pm.
Wed 13: Giles Strong Quartet @ Alphabetti Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 14: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 14: Hot Fingers @ The Lubetkin Theatre, Peterlee. 7:00pm. £10.00.
Thu 14: After Hours Student Jazz Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 14: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. . Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 14: Niffi Osiyemi Trio @ Harbour View, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 14: Mo Scott ‘Little Mo’s Festive Appearance’ @ The Schooner, Gateshead. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 14: Tees Hot Club w. Kevin Eland, Josh Bentham, Garry Hadfield, Adrian Beadnell @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 15: Paul Edis @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 15: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 15: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 15: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 15: Paul Skerritt @ Black Horse Inn, Crook. From 7:00pm.
Fri 15: Paul Edis: A Jazzy Christmas @ St Cuhtbert's Centre, Crook. 7:30pm. £15.00. SOLD OUT! Waiting list open.
Fri 15: Zoë Gilby Trio @ Seventeen Nineteen, Hendon, Sunderland. 7:30pm. £12.00. POSTPONED!
Fri 15: Strictly Smokin' Big Band @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 8:00pm. First night of two.
Fri 15: Darlington Big Band @ Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. £10.00. Opus 4 Jazz Club.
Fri 15: Baghdaddies @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £14.00.; £10.00.

Wednesday, November 29, 2017

CD Review: Seth MacFarlane - In Full Swing

Seth MacFarlane (vocal); Joel McNeely (producer/arranger); Norah Jones, Elizabeth Gillies (guest vocals).
(Review by Lance)
Seth MacFarlane is more than just a Family Guy, to quote the title of the TV show he's perhaps best known for - in the eyes of Joe Public. However, in the more discerning eyes and ears of the Bebop Spoken Here readership, MacFarlane is much more.
He's just about the classiest male vocalist around at present. Is he a jazz singer? Was Sinatra, Astaire or Crosby? Are Bublé or Bennett? Who cares? His albums invariably hit the top spots on the jazz charts but what do they know?
What I do know is that he can interpret a lyric as good as any singer past or present. The only thing he lacks is that individual stamp that identifies any of the above names. MacFarlane, nevertheless, has such a great voice that upon hearing him on late night radio you'll end up having a sleepless night trying to put a face and a name to the voice.
The singer also had a hand in the arrangements by Joel McNeely suggesting tempos and subtle changes of mood. The result would have done Nelson Riddle proud.
The material is a mix of the lesser known and the almost forgotten. The blurb sums him up accurately.
MacFarlane is the rare revivalist who knows that the Great American Songbook is more than a 100 pages thick.
Take a look at the list:
1.          The First Time It Happens                 0:03:53  
2.          Almost Like Being In Love               0:02:49           
3.          Isn't This A Lovely Day                     0:03:41           
4.          For You, For Me, For Evermore        0:03:08           
5.          Like Someone In Love                      0:03:26
6.          That Face                                           0:02:36           
7.          If I Had A Talking Picture Of You    0:03:06
             (Featuring Norah Jones)           
8.          I'm Glad There Is You                        0:03:07           
9.          You Couldn't Be Cuter                       0:02:30           
10.        I Like Myself                                      0:03:55
11.        You Can't Love 'Em All                     0:02:25
12.        Have You Met Miss Jones?               0:03:06
13.        A Kiss Or Two                                    0:02:23
14.        But Beautiful                                      0:03:52
15.        Moonlight Becomes You                    0:02:58
16.        Bonus Track: My Buick, My Love and I         0:02:01
             (Featuring Elizabeth Gillies).
After Seth MacFarlane's debut album back in 2012 I was so excited that I got myself on the Press List for his concert at Ronnie's. Alas, such was the demand for tickets from his fans that the Press List was trimmed and me with it.
This has made up for that disappointment.
Amazon.
Lance.

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