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Bebop Spoken There

Steve Fishwick: “I can’t get behind the attitude that new is always somehow better than old” - Jazz Journal, April 15, 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!"

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 ...

November

Wed 29: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 29: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 29: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 30: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 30: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 7:30pm (7:00pm doors). Tickets: £25.00. inc. buffet. A Gatsby themed evening.
Thu 30: Jools Holland's R & B Orchestra @ Newcastle City Hall. 7:30pm.
Thu 30: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Ragtime piano. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.
Thu 30: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. Guest band night: Mark Toomey Quintet (Mark Toomey, sax; Paul Donnelly, guitar; Jeremy McMurray, keys; Peter Ayton, bass; Mark Robertson, drums). 9:00pm.

December
Fri 01: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 01: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 01: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 01: Paul Skerritt @ All Saints’ Church, Eastgate, Co. Durham. 7:00pm. Xmas Tree Fest.
Fri 01: Alligator Gumbo @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm.
Fri 01: Nu Sound Brass @ Billy Bootlegger’s, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free.
Fri 01: Struggle Buggy w. Jim Murray @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Blind Pig Blues Club. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sat 02: Paula Jackman's Jazz Masters @ St Augustine's Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. £10.00.
Sat 02: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. Tutor: Steve Glendinning. £25.00. Enrol at: www.jazz.coop.
Sat 02: Abbie Finn Trio @ Claypath Deli, Durham. 7:00pm.
Sat 02: Tenement Jazz Band @ John Marley Centre, Newcastle. Swing Tyne Winter Social. £8.00. + bf. Advance purchase only, no admission at the door. BYOB. Lindy hop workshop from 11:00am. £39.00.
Sat 02: Zoë Gilby Quartet @ The Masham, Hartburn Village, Stockton. 7:00pm. Feat. Noel Dennis.
Sat 02: Classic Swing @ The Nuthatch, 9 - 11 Bedford St, Middlesbrough TS1 2LL. 7:00-9:00pm. Classic Swing in trio format.
Sat 02: Paul Skerritt w. Danny Miller Big Band @ Westovian Theatre, South Shields. 7:30pm.
Sat 02: Vermont Big Band @ Whitley Bay FC. 7:30pm. £10.00. (inc. hot buffet). Tickets available from WBFC’s Seahorse pub club house.
Sat 02: Milne-Glendinning Band @ Ponteland Social Club, Northumberland. 7:30pm. £18.00 (inc. stotties & soup supper). A fundraiser for Hexham Constituency Labour Party.
Sat 02: Tom Remon & Laurence Harrison @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sat 02: Rendezvous Jazz @ Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. Xmas party night inc. buffet & special raffle. £3.00.
Sat 02: Groovetrain @ The Unionist Club, Laygate, South Shields. 9:00pm.

Sun 03: The Central Bar Quartet @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £10.00. The Central Bar Quartet plays Lou Donaldson’s Gravy Train. Featuring Jamie Toms.
Sun 03: Paul Skerritt @ Smith’s Arms, Carlton, Stockton-on-Tees. 7:00pm.
Sun 03: Johnny Hunter Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Sun 03: Jam session @ The Schooner, Gateshead. 8:00pm. Free.

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!

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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