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Bebop Spoken There

Art Blakey: "You [Bobby Watson] don't want to play too long, because you don't know they're clapping because they're glad you finished!" - (JazzTimes, Nov. 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!"

Postage

15867 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 874 of them this year alone and, so far, 72 this month (Sept. 25).

From This Moment On ...

September

Wed 27: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 27: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 27: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 28: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 28: Alice Grace Quartet @ King's Hall, Newcastle University. 1:15pm. Free.
Thu 28: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Gateshead Central Library, Gateshead. 2:30pm. All welcome.
Thu 28: Faye MacCalman + Snape/Sankey @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 28: Zoe Rahman @ Jesmond United Reformed Church, Jesmond, Newcastle. 7:30pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Thu 28: '58 Jazz Collective @ Hops & Cheese, Hartlepool. 7:30pm.
Thu 28: Speakeasy @ Queen's Hall, Hexham. 7:30pm. £15.00. A Southpaw Dance Company presentation. Dance, audio-visuals, Count Basie, Benny Goodman, swing dancers etc.
Thu 28: Mick Cantwell Band @ Harbour View, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Ace blues band.
Thu 28: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 29: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 29: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 29: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.

Sat 30: John Pope Quintet + Late Girl + Shapeshifters @ Bobik's, Jesmond, Newcastle.
Sat 30: Papa G's Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

OCTOBER

Sun 01: Smokin' Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm.
Sun 01: Dulcie May Moreno sings Portrait of Sheila @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £10.00. Moreno sings Sheila Jordan with Giles Strong, Mick Shoulder & John Bradford.
Sun 01: Middlesbrough Jazz & Blues Orchestra @ Saltburn Community Hall. 2:00pm.
Sun 01: The Easy Rollers @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £13.70., £11.55.
Sun 01: Brand/Roberts/Champion/Sanders @ Blank Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Sun 01: Papa G's Troves @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 02: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Mon 02: FILM: Wattstax; 50th Anniversary @ Forum Cinema, Hexham. 8:00pm.

Tue 03: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 03: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. House trio: Michael Young (piano); Paul Grainger (double bass); Paul Wight (drums).

Wednesday, April 11, 2018

CD Review: Alyn Cosker - KPF

(Review by Lance).
A lot of disparate, often quite ethnic, elements in this album of compositions by Cosker. Serenity, for example, has Paul Towndrow wailing over a background of fiddle, mandolin, accordion, piano, bass and drums. A cacophony at times, but not an unpleasant one, in fact, more soothing to my ear than many of today's contemporary offerings.
Yatey Ate is dedicated to bandleader Tim Barella who came from Sunderland. Cosker recalls how he'd call out "Right lads, number Yatey Ate" which turned out to be no. 88 in the pad - McArthur Park. Davie Dunsmuir and Steve Hamilton are featured here. McArthur Park isn't.
Rachel Lightbody provides the voice in Dragons.
An amazing range, heather-covered hillsides spring to mind rather than fire-breathing creatures - that's left to Tommy Smith's tenor. A compelling track.
Purely Intertwined is based on the notion that love and friendship are intertwined (they certainly should be!) Joe Locke and Dunsmuir solo with Cosker ever present in support as well as providing his own lines on the notion.
KPF: Inspired by fiance Kirsty, has Alyn Cosker playing solo piano. Seems as though her grandad had a car with a number-plate that had KPF in the registration. He told her the letters stood for Kirsty's Pretty Face. Time to say 'Ahhhh!'
Hee Haw Twice features Dunsmuir and Hamilton over a jazz-rock rhythm. As befits the mode, lots of electronic wizardry in Dunsmuir's blast which isn't entirely to my liking although I know I'm in the minority here.
Eddi Reader provides the voice on We Were Young. An emotive vocal with sympathetic piano from Jim Cosker. The Adventures of Feskelar has Alyn Cosker in full-flight as he portrays his pet spaniel (Feskelar) getting up to all sorts of mischief even into space with Dunsmuir providing lift-off and Hamilton steering. This one pumps up the adrenalin!
Could Be Fate: written to celebrate whatever road life takes you on. Guitar and piano once again to the fore, their lyricism underpinned by the composer's powerful support - no shrinking violet is Alyn and the album wouldn't work if he was!
Shoogly Paw, says Alyn, is dedicated, with love, to all those virtuosos he's had the pleasure of performing with. The title comes from his future father-in-law's description of their hands when they play fast passages. Tommy Smith's solo matches that description and maybe a bit more!
Alyn plays piano on Two Stars in the Sky and the wistful vocal is by Fraser Anderson. A very moving eulogy applicable to anyone who's lost someone.
Well worth checking out - www.alyncosker.co.uk.
Lance.
Alyn Cosker (drums/piano/shaker); Steve Hamilton (keys/piano); Marcio Doctor (perc.); Davie Dunsmuir (elec. guitar); Colin Cunningham (elec. bass) + (on various tracks) Fraser Anderson (vocals); Adam Bulley (mandoline); Jim Cosker (piano); Laurence Cottle (elec. bass); Fiona Hamilton (fiddle); Kirsty Johnson (accordion); Rachel Lightbody (vocals); Joe Locke (vibes); Chas MacKenzie (acoustic guitar); Eddi Reader (voocals); Tommy Smith (tenor); Paul Towndrow (alto).

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