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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

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 ...

December

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’.

Tue 05: Customs House Big Band @ All Saints Church, Cleadon. 7:00pm. Concert in the church hall. BYOB.
Tue 05: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Michael Young, Paul Grainger, Sid White. The best free show in town!

Wed 06: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 06: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 8:00pm. Free. Note later start time, concert performance (open to the public).
Wed 06: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 07: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free CANCELLED!
Thu 07: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Spanish City, Whitley Bay, Newcastle. 12 noon - 4:00pm. £26.00 (inc 3-course meal in in St Mary's Lighthouse Suite). SOLD OUT!
Thu 07: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Gateshead Central Library, Gateshead. 2:30pm. All welcome.
Thu 07: Thursday Night Prayer Meeting @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.Donations. Feat. Mark Sanders. CANCELLED!
Thu 07: Indigo Jazz Voices @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:45pm. £5.00. Downstairs.
Thu 07: Tees Hot Club: Just Friends @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. Guest band night w. Richie Emmerson, Ian Bosworth, Dave Archbold, Ron Smith, Mark Hawkins. 9:00pm.

Fri 08: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 08: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 08: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 08: Hayley's Little Big Band @ Woodland Village Hall, Bishop Auckland. 7:00pm. £12.00.
Fri 08: Sleep Suppressor + Redwell @ Head of Steam, Neville St., Newcastle. 8:00pm. £10.00. (£8.00. adv); £5.00. student.
Fri 08: Hot Club du Nord @ St Cuthbert's Church, Shadforth, Co. Durham.
Fri 08: Têtes de Pois + Nauta @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.00., £8.00.

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 Zoe Gilby Quartet @ Park Inn, Hartlepool. MU 1:00-3:00pm; Zoë Gilby Quartet 4:00-6:00pm. Tickets: £7.50.
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.

Friday, March 23, 2018

CD Review: Jeff Williams - Lifelike

Jeff Williams (drums); Gonçalo Marquez (trumpet); John O’Gallagher (alto saxophone); Josh Arcoleo (tenor saxophone); Kit Downes (piano) & Sam Lasserson (double bass)
(Review by Russell). 
In 2015 Jeff Williams recorded his third album as leader on Whirlwind Recordings. Outlier received rave reviews and this 2017 recording is likely to garner similar plaudits. Lifelike is his follow-up with much the same line-up although guitarist Phil Robson opts out having relocated to New York, John  O’Gallagher, alto saxophone, makes the trans-Atlantic crossing in the opposite direction and from a recent first gig together in Portugal, trumpeter Gonçalo Marquez comes on board. Otherwise, it’s an unchanged roll call – Josh Arcoleo, tenor, Kit Downes, piano and bassist Sam Lasserson.
Lifelike has a running time of a little over sixty minutes and it’s another live recording from London’s Vortex Jazz Club. Lifelike’s seven tracks, bar one, were written by bandleader Williams and if there is a common thread it’s the ever-present sense of swing that is no doubt embedded in the leader’s musical DNA having served his apprenticeship with the likes of Stan Getz, Lee Konitz, Joe Lovano and Cecil McBee. The sound is contemporary, forward-looking but it knows where it’s coming from. Some of the compositions were first released on earlier albums and hearing them played in concert  by this enhanced sextet line-up at the Vortex is rewarding listening. Trumpeter Marquez makes his mark on the opening track Under the Radar; fleet, nimble, abstract, expressionistic, a musician who has quickly assimilated Williams’ compositional ideas. The Interloper swings with Arcoleo’s tenor, a calling card follows in the form of O’Gallagher’s alto, and a constant throughout the recording is the cohesive ensemble work; Dream Visitor and the pensive, taut, fifties’ bop-like flame burning on the 1990’s composition Lament being just two examples.

Borderline finds Arcoleo wrestling with his tenor and, having tamed it, falls in with a joyful ensemble section, all the while directed by drummer Williams’ first-rate musicality. Gonçalo Marquez’ Canção do Amolador is ushered in by the composer’s tentative intro and in no time the sextet is engaged in a freeish, storming workout. Kit Downes, as ever, has it all covered, prompting, probing, playing the right thing at the right time. The album’s closer - all ten minutes plus of it - Double Life features yet more scorching tenor from Josh Arcoleo and that man Downes signs off in style. Jeff Williams is on a roll recording such high-quality material on Michael Janisch’s label. Let’s hope there is another in the pipeline.         
Russell          

Lifelike by Jeff Williams is released on Whirlwind Recordings (WR4721) on April 20th with a CD launch gig at the Vortex, London on April 3rd. Further dates into the summer months include April 6 at Brighton’s Verdict and April 12 at Birmingham Conservatoire’s purpose-built East Side Jazz Club.         

1 comment :

Danielle White said...

As amazing as the Lifelike recording is 'live' it's on another level. Your chance to see for yourself 3 April at The Vortex where it all happened. To book tickets: http://www.vortexjazz.co.uk/event/jeff-williams-lifelike-album-launch/

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