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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.

Tuesday, June 19, 2018

CD Review: Nick Costley-White. Detour Ahead

Nick Costley-White (guitar); Matt Robinson (piano); Conor Chaplin (bass); Dave Hamblett (drums): Sam Rapley (bass clarinet).
(Review by Lance).
It may be June but it seems to be jazz that is bursting out all over going by the endless stream of albums and young musicians that are arriving on the scene almost daily. Not just in London, but wherever there are seats of musical learning that incorporate jazz into the curriculum such as Birmingham, Leeds and, of course, Durham, Newcastle and Sage Gateshead. Whereas in the past an aspiring bass player would turn up at a jam session with an instrument still showing the chalk marks on the fingerboard hoping to sit in and thus further his knowledge from the gnarled veterans on the stand, these days, it's the gnarled veterans learning from the youngsters whose minds are crammed full of pentatonic scales, Lydian or Dorian modes along with polytonal themes.
Nick Costley-White graduated from London's Guildhall in 2012 and formed the Jazz Nursery in a railway arch at the back of Tate Modern. A project that ran successful monthly gigs almost until now.
During this period, Costley-White became an in-demand guitarist working with many well-known names.
Surprisingly, this is his debut album and it demonstrates just how versatile a guitarist he is. 
The opening Just One of Those Things does no disservice to composer Cole Porter rather it enhances the much-loved standard's jazz qualities without detracting from the original structure.
Loads of Bar Blues, an original take on the traditional form stays within that tradition proving the guitarist's learning didn't start on the last chapter.
Swing State's post-bop feel indicates the gradual move towards more contemporary waters although the solos by both Costley-White and Robinson wouldn't have been out of place on a '50s Blue Note session - the arrangement possibly would.
Detour Ahead, by guitarist, Herb Ellis is given a revised look that surely wouldn't have displeased the composer. Rich chords abound.
The 9 minutes of Thinky Pain adds Sam Rapley on bass clarinet and a darker mood prevails with Costley-White's sombre introduction whilst Rapley hovers ominously. The middle of the three sections has Chaplin ponderously 'walking' whilst Rapley reaches out to heights where bass clarinets usually fear to tread. But Rapley is no angel, briefly, he's the Devil Incarnate before the track runs out with all of the voices splendidly dissonant.
By the time the album closes with Bridges and My Number One, we've been on a journey that's traversed a distance in time with, I'm sure, even more detours ahead.
I've jumped the gun a little with this review as the Ubuntu Music release date isn't until July 13 and the Pizza Express launch concert not until July 31 but, I'm told, tickets for this latter event are going fast so don't hang about.
Lance

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