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Bebop Spoken There

Wendell Brunious: "Because the blues is not 1,4 and 5 or 1,4,5,2,1. You could wake up with a flat tyre or a headache this morning, that's the blues, man" - (DownBeat, Oct. 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!"

Postage

15878 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 885 of them this year alone and, so far, 83 this month (Sept. 30).

From This Moment On ...

October

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); Sid White (drums). CANCELLED!

Wed 04: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 04: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 04: Paul Skerritt @ Vespa Italian Bar & Steakhouse, Primrose Hill, Jarrow. From 7:00pm. To book a table - 0191 483 3355.
Wed 04: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 05: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 05: Sound the Trumpets @ King's Hall, Newcastle University. 1:15pm. Free.
Thu 05: Hot Club du Nord @ The Lubetkin Theatre, Peterlee. 7:00pm. £10.00. POSTPONED!
Thu 05: Thursday Night Prayer Meeting @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.
Thu 05: Tommy Bentz Trio + Mark Croft Duo + George Shovlin & George Lamb @ The Harbour View, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Harbour View Speakeasy's USA blues double bill + Shovlin & Lamb!
Thu 05: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Ragtime piano. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.
Thu 05: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 06: Alcyona Mick @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Fri 06: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 06: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 06: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 06: WORKSHOP: Philosophy of Arts & Entertainment @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 2:00pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Fri 06: Balo @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 6:20pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Fri 06: Paul Skerritt @ 3Sixty Champagne Lounge, Hadrian’s Tower, Newcastle. From 7:00pm. To book a table - 0191 933 8591.
Fri 06: Lexer/Mayes/Noble + Semay Wu + Miman @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 7:20pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Fri 06: Dulcie May Moreno @ The Vault, Hexham. 7:30pm. £20.00. Book in advance. Moreno with Alan Law, Paul Grainger & John Bradford.
Fri 06: Dean Stockdale Quartet @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm. 'Celebrating Oscar'.
Fri 06: Nu Brass Sounds: Big Brass Bash @ Billy Bootlegger’s, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free.
Fri 06: TBC @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Blind Pig Blues Club. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

Sat 07: WORKSHOP: Philosophy of Arts & Entertainment @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 10:15am. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Sat 07: Hot Club du Nord @ St Augustine's Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm.
Sat 07: Bugge & Niccols + Moore & Fairhall @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Sat 07: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. Tutor: Steve Glendinning - All the Things You Are. £25.00. Enrol at: www.jazz.coop.
Sat 07: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 6:00pm. Free.
Sat 07: Rie Nakajima @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 6:20pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Sat 07: Paul Skerritt @ 3Sixty Champagne Lounge, Hadrian’s Tower, Newcastle. From 7:00pm. To book a table - 0191 933 8591.
Sat 07: Samuel Blaser Trio + Toxvaerd & Zeeberg + Muramatsu & Welch @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 7:20pm. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Sat 07: Anth Purdy @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Sat 07: Rendezvous Jazz @ Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.

Sun 08: Zoë Gilby Quintet + Ubunye @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Line-up inc. Tony Kofi. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Sun 08: Tommy Bentz Band @ Tyne Bar, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. USA blues band.

Monday, August 13, 2018

CD Review: New York All-Stars - Burnin' in London.

Eric Alexander (tenor); Harold Mabern (piano); Darryl Hall (bass); Bernd Reiter (drums).
(Review by Lance).
Recorded at Pizza Express Jazz Club in Soho last November it took only a few bars for me to instantly know that this was going to be nigh unbeatable come December 31 and the CD of the Year listings.
If, like myself, you treasure those old Dexter Gordon, Joe Henderson, Hank Mobley Blue Note albums you will love this Ubuntu Music release (Sept. 7). It's the logical progression and keeps the flame alive and, to quote the album title, Burnin' in London.
Alexander and Mabern's association harks back to when Mabern was the tutor and Alexander the student at William Paterson University, Indiana. They have since met many times, now on a level playing field, each one feeding off the other. The tenorist blows with such amazing fluency that I can't think of any current tenor saxist I'd rather listen to whilst Mabern, who played on many of those Blue Note albums with such illustrious names as Lee Morgan and Freddie Hubbard proves that, even at 82, age hasn't withered nor custom staled his infinite variety (Ant & Cleo). His Nightlife in Tokyo proves he's no slouch as a composer either.

Almost Like Being in Love and I Could Have Danced All Night get things off to the most swinging of starts. All four players laying down their credentials leaving no one in doubt that they were listening to living legends.
Alexander is at his most lyrical on the number Julie Styne wrote for Doris Day's first movie, It's Magic. On the other hand, Mabern chooses the tune to display his impish sense of humour with quotes abounding.

More virtuosity on The Night Has a Thousand Eyes. A song from the film of the same name based on the Cornell Woolrich noir novel also of the same name. A longtime fave of modern jazz musicians (it has no connection with the Bobby Vee hit, also of the same name!) this performance ranks alongside versions by Trane and Stitt as definitive.
If, at this point, anyone wonders, can an album be that good? I'll just say that the track that knocked me out the most was, you'd better believe it, Summertime!

As my aversion to this most overworked tune is well known (I was pleased to note, in the film Geordie Jazzman, Keith Crombie shares my views) I realise eyebrows will be raised so I'll just say you've never quite heard Summertime played like this (tenor players, please don't try this at home or, even worse, on stage unless your name is Eric Alexander). Gershwin may have been turning in his grave but these guys were dancing on it! Once again, Mabern has some fun and the rhythm section go along with him all the way.
And, as always, the rhythm section is the last to get a mention which is unjust as Hall and Reiter solo and support to perfection.

Buy this CD, even if you never buy another one in your life, and catch them, if you can at the following: 
Sept.16: Band on the Wall. Manchester.
Sept. 17-19: Pizza Express Jazz Club, Soho.
Sept. 20: Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London.
Also dates in Italy, Germany, Norway, Austria, Switzerland and France.
Lance.
Release date: Sept. 7.

1 comment :

Francis tulip said...

Some old blue note tenor recordings are definitely treasured! I love joe Henderson generally but 'Our Thing' is one of my favourites.

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