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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

Tue 26: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.

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.

Sunday, May 13, 2018

CD Review: Glenn Crytzer Orchestra - Ain't it Grand?

(Review by Lance).
We're back in 'The Swing Era', that gorgeous period twixt Dixieland and bebop when big bands ruled the roost. To draw another parallel, and one closer to home, none of the tracks would sound out of place if performed at Mike Durham's Classic Jazz Party held annually just outside of Whitley Bay. In fact, at least one of the musicians has indeed played there - trombonist Jim Fryer.
Jazz historian Will Friedwald, who wrote the accompanying blurb, prefers to think of them as, "not so much recreations but rather reimaginings".  A pretty fair description, although A String of Pearls doesn't sound that much different from the original Miller version even down to the solos. But then again, who's going to improve on the original Bobby Hackett chorus?
Thirteen of the thirty tracks are originals by Crytzer and he has captured the mood of the era so well that I was never sure which was which. And Crytzer's a man still in his mid-thirties!
I'm unable to identify the soloists, suffice to say they are all well-versed in the idiom. Booting tenor,  wailing alto, Artie/Benny clarinet, screaming trumpet, growl trumpet, blistering trombone, mellow trombone, romantic crooning, comic vocals. Music to listen to or dance to.
If you're old enough it's nostalgic, if you're young enough and haven't been media brainwashed, it's a voyage of discovery!
Lance
Glenn Crytzer (guitar/banjo/MD/arranger); Sam Hoyt, Mike Davis, Jason Prover (trumpets); Rob Edwards, Joe McDonough, Jim Fryer (trombones); Mark Loperman, Marc Schwartz, Matt Koza, Henry 'Ricky' Alexander (reeds); Rob Reich (piano); Ian Hutchison (bass); Andrew Millar (drums); Hannah Gill, Dandy Wellington (vocals).

1 comment :

Russell said...

Later this year (Nov 2-4) Jim Fryer returns to Mike Durham's International Classic Jazz Party (near Whitley Bay) as does USA cornet/trumpet player Mike Davis who made a big impact in 2017.

Davis, still in his mid-twenties, leads the New Wonders and the band's eponymous CD was reviewed in the pages of this blog in March. Crytzer's trombonist - Joe McDonough - also appears on Davis' album.

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