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Bebop Spoken There

Spasmo Brown: “Jazz is an ice cream sandwich! It's the Fourth of July! It's a girl with a waterbed!”. (Syncopated Times, July, 2024).

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...

Josh Weir: I love the writing on bebop spoken here... I think the work you are doing is amazing.

Postage

17372 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 16 years ago. 656 of them this year alone and, so far, 61 this month (Sept. 17).

From This Moment On ...

September

Fri 20: Lindsay Hannon’s Tom Waits for No Man @ Gala Theatre, Durham. 1:00pm. £8.00. SOLD OUT!
Fri 20: Rob Hall & Chick Lyall @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Free (donations). SOLD OUT!
Fri 20: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 20: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 20: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 20: Leeway @ 1719, Hendon, Sunderland. 7:30pm. The Old Black Cat Jazz Club. CANCELLED!
Fri 20: Gaz Hughes Trio @ Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. Opus 4 Jazz Club.

Sat 21: Jason Isaacs @ Seaburn STACK, Seaburn. 1:00-2:45pm. Free.
Sat 21: Vieux Carré Hot Four @ The Beehive, Hartley Lane, Earsdon Whitley Bay NE25 0SZ. 4:30pm-6:30pm.
Sat 21: Baghdaddies @ Two by Two, Albion Row, Byker, Newcastle NE6 1RQ. 6:00pm.
Sat 21: Milne-Glendinning Band @ The Northumberland Club, Jesmond, Newcastle. 7:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Sat 21: Jude Murphy & Alan Law @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 22: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 22: Jason Isaacs @ St James’ STACK, Newcastle. 2:30-4:30pm. Free.
Sun 22: Dulcie May Moreno Quartet @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm.
Sun 22: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 22: Richard Herdman @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 22: Remy CB Band @ Blues Underground, Nelson St., Newcastle. 8:30pm. Free. Remi, 2024 Newcastle Uni graduate, superb soul/blues voice!

Mon 23: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 23: Paul Booth with the Paul Edis Trio @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00. A Blaydon Jazz Club 40th anniversary concert! SOLD OUT!

Tue 24: Dulcie May Moreno Quartet @ Newcastle House Hotel, Rothbury. 7:30pm. £12.00. (£10.00. adv. from Tully’s of Rothbury). Coquetdale Jazz.
Tue 24: Sarah Gillespie @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £16.50. Duo performance with Chris Montague.

Wed 25: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 25: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 25: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 25: Moonlight Serenade Orchestra UK: Glenn Miller & Big Band Spectacular @ Middlesbrough Theatre. 7:30pm.

Thu 26: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 26: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. ‘Contemporary Jazz & the Piano’.
Thu 26: The New 58 Jazz Collective @ Hops & Cheese, Hartlepool. 7:30pm. Free.
Thu 26: Jo Harrop & Friends @ Hexham Abbey. 8:00pm. ‘An Evening with Jo Harrop & Friends’. A Hexham Abbey Festival of Music & Arts event. £20.00., £5.00. child/student.
Thu 26: Neil Yates & Tom Remon @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 26: Loco House Band @ Bar Loco, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 26: Tees Hot Club @ Dorma’s Club, Middlesborough. 8:30pm. Free. Mark Toomey, Neil Brodie, Graham Thompson, Adrian Beadnell.

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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