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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

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.

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); Paul Wight (drums).

Tuesday, August 21, 2018

CD Review: Solon McDade - Murals

Solon McDade (bass/composer); Donny Kennedy (alto); Jeremiah McDade (tenor); Paul Shrofel (piano); Rich Irwin (drums)
(Review by Lance).
Another late bloomer. Released earlier this year, in April, it has been worth waiting for and not just for the quirky titles!
He's a Problem in the Locker Room has a boppy head with flattened fifths abounding as if we were back on 52nd St. There's a cool Lee Konitz/Warne Marsh feel to the ensembles on this and the subsequent tracks.

Buy the Tractor, an explorative piece that does nothing to explain the title but does plenty to make you appreciate the rich harmonies and the integration between soloist and support.

Do Airplanes Scratch the Sky? brings Mingus to Mind, not just in Solon McDade's bass solo but also in his writing which is very much in the Black Saint mode. The way the two horns blend is effective and their solos take us on fanciful flights. I wonder if saxophones may also scratch the sky?

Whatever Whatever has a nice uptempo swing about it, Kennedy soaring like a bird, with Shrofel and leader McDade joining in the fun.

The Ballad of Sir William Ormerod has a meditative piano solo - it's rather beautiful -bringing the horns in. The music is funereal and, if you know the story behind the title you'll discover just how appropriate it is. If you don't, then read up on it here. Solon's bass solo keeps the hearse moving majestically forward before the wild wake.

Off the Bed, Rose opens up with Kennedy's angular alto adventure followed by Shrofel's piano picnic, Jeremiah's japes and fantastic fours all-round. (Rose?)

Blues For Sebastian is just that although, unlike Sir William, we know as little about Sebastian as we do about Rose. It doesn't matter, it's as good as any blues number I've heard this year, not least because of the composer's bass solo.

Ali's Second Line. could this refer to "The Greatest"? Maybe, because the horns are floating in the ensembles and stinging in the solos with Rich Irwin's drums doing a kind of bebop Ali Shuffle. YouTube.

A Shorter Thing, no prizes for guessing the inspiration here (I hope!) Shrofel once again waxes lyrical. Solon too keeps the mellow mood going setting the horns up to take it to a gentle fade-out.

One thing this album proves is that Canadian jazz isn't American music's poor relation.
Lance.

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